HOW TO WRITE A MEMOIR

How to Write a Memoir

For 35 years, Irene Graham, Author of The Memoir Writing Workbook

has guided people from all walks of life to write their stories. Irene shares 14 key tips on how to write a memoir.

1. How do I write a Memoir?

The only answer to this question is, “Learn the craft of memoir writing.”

Memoir Writing requires understanding how to create story from life experience. You probably wouldn’t take a scissors to cut a friend’s hair if you are not a hairdresser – so don’t think you can write your memoir if you don’t know how!

Don’t waste precious writing time ‘trying’. Learn the craft. Develop your life experiences. Turn them into story.

The Memoir Writing Workbook by Irene Graham, (available on this website) is based on right-brain/left-brain writing techniques. It shows you how to trigger memory, develop, structure and write your memoir. And how to create story. It is a treasure trove of all things memoir.  A tried and tested innovative and simple writing process that works.

Our task as Memoir Writers is to embrace our well of memory and find the story that’s in our heart.

2. What is the difference between memoir writing and autobiography?

Autobiographical Writing encompasses a whole life – a life story usually written chronologically from birth to a given point in time.

Memoir Writing is about drawing upon life experiences and memories and focusing them into a memoir – usually upon a particular subject and the impact it had on the writer’s life.

It is important you understand the genre of memoir writing, and not mix it up with Autobiographical Writing or Biography. The Memoir Writing Workbook highlights these details, so you understand the subtle differences.

You can have many memoirs – but you (generally) only have one autobiography.

Do read my Blog: Memoir vs Autobiography

3. Learn Story Creation

In memoir writing, you need to be able to translate your life experiences into story. Therefore you need to understand how to create story.

Writing is like a jig-saw – one must fit each piece together to complete the whole. If you leave an element of story creation out, your story will be one dimensional. It just won’t work. It won’t engage the reader.

Therefore understanding how to create and write story using your life experiences is the fundamental principle of knowing how to write a memoir.

The Memoir Writing Workbook by Irene Graham shows, in a concise and creative way, how to create story using life experiences, and how to weave the elements of story together so your story hops off the page!

If you don’t understand how to create story, you will never write a captivating memoir – one that someone wants to read.

Do read my Blog: How to Write a Memoir About Your Life

4. What is a Writing Voice?

You don’t want to write a misery memoir, the ‘oh poor me, look what happened to me in my life’ story. You want to be able to write your story so that you keep your readers’ interested, so that they keep turning the page.

Understanding Writing Voice is key to being able to write about the most traumatic events in your life – so that your readers will want to read your story… to see what happened.

Exercises are a great way to find, develop, and deepen your Writing Voice. There are a multitude of writing exercises in The Memoir Writing Workbook that show how to find the writing voice that fits your story, and how to handle and use the Retrospective Voice creatively, so to gain greater depth in your language and writing.

You will start writing creatively when you find your unique writing voice.

Do read my Blog: How Can I Tap into My Creativity

5. Recall Memories

Recalling memories is key to finding your story. The story that you want to write. You will need to trigger life experiences from your life path.

Be prepared to dig deep into your well of memory and recall times in your life that made a difference.

Evoke details and focus on what was important, and what transformations happened in your life.

Right-brain/left-brain writing techniques in The Memoir Writing Workbook help trigger memory, and provide easy access to long forgotten events and even moments in your life.

Knowing what you have in your life to write about, will help you define what it is you want to write.

Do Read my Blog: Right-Brain vs Left-Brain

6. Character Development in Memoir

Whether you are writing creative non-fiction or fiction, stories are all about characters. They are the backbone to the story, the crucial element that conveys your narrative.

It is obvious in a story when the author is familiar with the people he or she is writing about.

Well-developed characters result in interesting, meaningful writing and make readers keep turning the pages.

The Memoir Writing Workbook provides visual writing exercises to help develop people/characters in your story. These exercises are fun to do, and allow the writer to form depth in characters, which is essential in writing, not just memoir.

In your well of memory reside the people that made a difference and influenced your life.

7. Reflective Understanding

An important ingredient in memoir writing is your ability to reflect upon your life and communicate this reflective observation to your reader.

And there are many options in how you choose to handle this aspect of memoir writing in the structure of your story.

Introspection will bring about clarity in your writing and the reader will subsequently identify with the substance of your story on a much deeper level.

Retrospective Voice is a powerful tool in writing memoir. It can be used in many ways to help show your story on the page. The Memoir Writing Workbook provides key insights into developing this aspect of your writing voice, with multiply exercises and examples of how to effectively engage with this all important element of memoir writing.

Reflection upon your experiences will bring about the retrospective voice in your writing.

8. Back-Work!

Back-work is the art of developing and planning your story. All writing entails back-work. It is a very important element in the creative process.

Like any journey, if you don’t plan where you are going you usually get lost or go around in circles.  It is like this also in writing, if you have a destination, you will know what to develop and therefore gain direction in your story.

In an easy step-by-step process, by following the innovative Memoir Map in The Memoir Writing Workbook, you won’t get lost in your writing journey.

Back-work works!

Back-work is the route to connecting with your life story; it is another key to writing creatively.

Do Read my Blog: How to Start a Memoir When You Don’t Know Where to Begin

 

9. Truth in Memoir Writing

Dishonest writing comes from holding back on telling the truth, not telling it like it really was.

Dishonest writing results in one-dimensional work, with little imagery and no impact. Dishonest writing will leave the reader wanting – wanting to know what really happened, wanting to know the truth and ultimately wanting to ditch your story because it is dishonest and hence uninteresting.

Honest writing will enliven the realness of your story and draw empathy and understanding from the reader.

Understanding the tricks to including Truth is important. The Memoir Writing Workbook shows you how to use this crucial element of writing memoir to your advantage, to make your story hop off the page, without having to hold back on key elements of your life experiences.

Truth lies in the by-roads we don’t always want to travel. Yet when we do, we seem to cross a threshold.

Do Read my Blog: Can Anyone Write a Memoir?

10. Setting in Memoir Writing

Identify with your environment. Show the reader where you were and what was going on around you at the time of your story.

There will be times in your writing when it is important to the story to hone in on certain background details that made a difference. At other times, distance is more appropriate, because the details are not important to the story.

Setting provides atmosphere in your story.

Visual Writing techniques and writing tricks in The Memoir Writing Workbook show how to engage with setting, and find the atmosphere of your story without long and lengthy descriptions.

Include details to enable the reader to identify with your world and the era you are writing about.

11. Theme in Memoir Writing

To bind your work together you need to find the theme of your memoir. It provides the direction of your story and focuses your work. Theme allows your writing to find a form, remain interesting to the reader, and relate the message you want to tell in the best way possible.

Staying aware of your theme helps avoid going off on a tangent writing about incidents that do not relate to your overall story.

A key ingredient in writing memoir, Theme is the glue that binds your work together. Irene Graham has found a unique way to tap into this element of story, and with exercises and various thought processes you will find how to access this vital ingredient for your story in The Memoir Writing Workbook.

Theme is the purpose of your journey, the message of your story – the hook that binds your work together.

Do Read My Blog: How Can I get Feedback on my Memoir?

12. Research your Memoir

Research will enhance your writing. The closer you get to the facts of your story, the deeper and more informative your writing will become.

It is important that the facts within your story – dates, street names, names of building etc – are correct. If they are incorrect, it shows you did not care enough to get it right, and this lowers the authoritative voice in your memoir.

It is also important not to get so bogged down in research that you feel incapable of writing your story!

Irene highlights various ways to help direct Research, in The Memoir Writing Workbook.

Research is the key to filling in the missing pieces that are inherently important to your story.

13. Structure in Memoir Writing

Structuring memoir is about putting all of the pieces of the jig-saw together.

How you choose to arrange and structure your personal story is a large part of the creative process and encompasses all of the aspects of memoir writing.

It is important to define where you want to start your memoir, where it will bring you to, and how you will end it.

Using a visual writing technique, highlighted in various ways in The Memoir Writing Workbook, you will learn how to view and visualise a number of options to help structure your manuscript. These techniques can be used for manuscripts at all stages – from new work in development to an already completed first draft that needs reworking.

How you mix the ingredients of your life story provides the structure to your memoir.

14. Start a Memoir Writing Club

A Memoir Writing Club is similar to a book club, except each member of the group is actively engaged in writing a short or full length life story.

As an alternative to writing your memoir in private, which is a very creative process, developing each element of your story within a group not only provides focus and feedback, it also provides direction. It is highly recommended to Start a Memoir Writing Club in your local area or online, using The Memoir Writing Workbook as your guide. Engaging with others through writing is a lot of fun, don’t underestimate it.

Irene Graham’s: The Memoir Writing Workbook is designed as a simple step-by-step writing process to guide people through the route to writing memoir. Tried and tested since Irene launched the first edition on 11 May 2009, The Memoir Writing Workbook works!

Start a Memoir Writing Club details

Free LIVE Discussion
Sunday 12 July 2026

How to Start a Memoir Writing Club/Group using The Memoir Writing Workbook as your guide.

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11:45am
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4:45pm
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Ireland


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    Details: The Memoir Writing Workbook

    Write Your Memoir with Irene Graham

    Irene Graham is celebrating 35 years facilitating memoir and fiction writing workshops and retreats internationally. Irene is author of The Memoir Writing Workbook.

    Since 2009, The Memoir Writing Workbook has only been available exclusively to participants in Irene’s courses. But now, for the first time, this very successful 240 page / 36 multi-part exercise workbook is available to buy.

    If you want to learn story creation and write your memoir using right-brain / left-brain techniques and visual writing exercises – then this is the book for you.

    More Info:

    Start a Memoir Writing Club using The Memoir Writing Workbook

    I don’t believe in Writer’s Block; it just means you are not asking the right questions.

    Irene Graham

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