Is it time to write your memoir, life story or history?
I'm Kiwi writer, publisher and newspaper owner Charlotte Squire and I'd love to help
Kia ora dear memoir writer, My team and I have just finished making another newspaper for our Golden Bay. It feels like a Friday! Hereโs the thriving little newspaper I recently bought, in case youโre interested. Just as it is when Iโm writing articles, when youโre entering into the world of memoir writing (whether youโre writing about …
I spent today at my newspaper (which I surprised myself by buying in May) - the GB Weekly - helping to finish it for the week. We sent it away to the printers in Christchurch this afternoon, and the next time Iโll see it is this Friday when it arrives in my letter box. Itโs …
Kia ora! How is your memoir coming along this week? Iโve been editing a few great books lately. Theyโre written by everyday people who, when you dig just below the surface, have lived extraordinary lives. When Iโm reading over a well written draft, there are many things I look for. I wanted to tell you …
Kia ora, With this monthโs theme being โharvestโ (today Iโm freezing grapes and grated zucchinis, and itโs thrilling), I want to ask you to consider what youโve grown in your lifetime? Is this a story you could include in your memoir? Perhaps youโve grown a family, a community or a home? Maybe you grew a …
Kia ora fellow writer, How are things coming along this week? I love it when people ask me questions and last week a farmer called me asked me โwill you need to write it all proper and formal? Thereโs a lot of humour in my family and we do swear sometimes.โ Great question. Hereโs what …
Continue reading "How ‘myself’ can I be in my memoir or life story?"
Kia ora *|FNAME|* Itโs nice to pop into your world today, and exciting to welcome you newbies to my (mostly) weekly memoir chat. Iโd love to know how you found me (considering how little marketing Iโve been doing lately)! If you want to explore a few years of memoir tips, pop into my blog. The …
Kia Ora, well hello there lovely, Someone recently asked me why people write their memoirs and life stories and I had to pause, because in my memoir focused brain, there are so many reasons! One big one is the value of passing on the stories of your life, so that children and grandchildren are able …
Kia ora lovely, Howโs that memoir of yours coming along today? Yesterday I met with my Golden Bay memoir group, and someone was saying they were unsure whether to dive deeply into one aspect of their story, or write more generally. They saw they could very quickly end up with waaaay too much info for …
Kia ora from mid-summer in Tฤkaka ๐๐ผ I write to you from a busy home, overflowing with teenage boys, a clingy dog, a husband who keeps escaping to his man-shed to paint water colours, and social butterfly of grandmother. Have you wondered how to write a story that people canโt put down? Every now and …
Continue reading "How to write a memoir they can’t put down"
Kia ora, Howโs that memoir of yours coming along this week? I get so inspired by the people Iโm guiding to write their stories. Yesterday I took a monthly community memoir class and one person shared a funny, surprising, moving story that was built around her love of the humble banana box. Through a series …
Continue reading "Crafting the extraordinary around the ordinary"
Kia ora lovely human, I think the time has come ๐ Yes, letโs dust off those Christmas memories of yours and share them with readers of our memoir writing community. Would you like to email me half a page (about 200 words) about a favourite Christmas memory of yours? Donโt hold back. Be it strange, …
Kia ora dear writer, How are you on this fine Thursday? Did you manage to work on your memoir this week? I hope so. Iโm neck deep in editing Mikeโs book, researching the history (or should I say โher-storyโ) of a hydro power station, and helping Jodie produce the second edition of her dadโs book …
Kia Ora, well hello there ๐ I write to you from stormy Tฤkaka. Howโs that book of yours coming along this week? Iโll tell you whatโs on my mind as I write and edit this week: loose ends. Theyโre everywhere in life, and memoirs and histories are no exception. When you reach the later stages …
Kia ora lovely human, Howโs your story coming along? Did you do any work on it today? Do me a favour and arrange to do one small thing on it before the end of the day, OR tomorrow. And then keep doing more โone small thingsโ daily, and watch what happens. So let's talk about …
Kia ora lovely, howโs that story of yours coming along this week? Remember, the first draft needs to be messy, because creativity isnโt tidy. Itโs gloriously expressive. So let it out, and go easy on yourself โค๏ธ there will be plenty of time to tidy it up later, during your second, third and fourth drafts! …
Continue reading "Josephine’s hair experiment (+ last few days to join new memoir programme)"
Kia ora, Iโve got a photo in the garage somewhere of me, aged two, sitting in my favourite bowl, wearing my favourite (and only) beaded necklace. I am beaming in the way children do when theyโre in the place they most want to be. Itโs a hot day but I have my bowl of cool …
