Making Meaning of Your Memories

It's easy to convince yourself you can't start writing your memoir until the conditions are right—a dedicated home office, a beautiful desk, the perfect ergonomic chair, a laptop that doesn't lag. None of that is true, and waiting for it is one of the sneakiest forms of procrastination.

You don't n...

One of the reasons memoirs never get written is a subtle saboteur: an imagined audience standing over the writer's shoulder—a parent, a sibling, an ex, a future reader with opinions. Even before a single sentence is typed, that imagined judgment can shut a story down completely.

So here's a rule wo...

Some days you sit down to write your memoir with a clear memory in mind, and the words come easily. Other days you sit down, stare at the page, and nothing comes. Either way, you write.

It sounds counterintuitive—how can you write when you genuinely don't know what to say? But "nothing to say" is r...

You might think your author platform begins the day your book is finished. It doesn’t. It begins the moment you decide your story is worth sharing. And for many writers—especially memoir writers—that moment comes long before the final chapter is written.

So… what is an author platform?

An author p...

Every writer faces self-doubt. But memoir writers face it in a particular and personal way, because the subject matter is you. Your life. Your choices. Your wounds and your recoveries, your failures and your reinventions. When you write a novel, rejection is about the work. When you write a memoir, ...

This week in Memories to Manuscript, my course to get started writing your memoir, three writers read scenes from their lives. Different decades, settings, and emotional terrain.

But as I listened, I found myself noticing something deeper; not just what they wrote, but what good memoir writing requ...

You want to write your memoir—but something keeps getting in the way. Time. Energy. Fear. Perfectionism. Life. All legitimate barriers.

But writing a memoir isn’t just about finding inspiration. It’s about building habits.

In Atomic Habits, James Clear’s best-selling book on how to make tiny chang...

Every writer has their version of it—that tightening in the chest before you sit down. The sudden urge to fold laundry instead of writing. The inner whisper that says, “What if this isn’t any good?”

We often think fear means something’s wrong. But in truth, fear is the gatekeeper to your real work....

Memoir writing is hard. Finishing a first draft—whether it took you weeks, months, or years—is a major milestone. But it’s only step one in the long, meaningful process of turning lived experience into a finished manuscript.

Many writers hit this moment and think: Now what? You have thousands of wo...

If you’ve ever struggled to decide where to begin your memoir—or how to include important backstory without confusing your reader—you’re not alone. Memoir writing isn’t a straight line. Life doesn’t unfold neatly from birth to now, and neither should your story.

That’s where flashbacks come in.

A ...

Writing a memoir is a bit like hiking a mountain you’ve never climbed before. At first, you’re filled with energy and excitement. The air feels fresh, the view is full of possibility. But as the path winds upward, you hit rocky sections. The climb gets steeper. You may even wonder if you’ve lost you...

Writing a memoir takes time, energy, and courage.

And there will be days when you wonder if it’s worth it.

Days when the words won’t come.
Days when you feel like no one will ever read it.
Days when the doubts get loud.

That’s why every memoir writer needs a ‘why.’

Why Your “Why” Matters

Your “...