MEMOIRS

“The remembrance of things past.” Proust

If you are famous, you probably have a ghostwriter, so this is not for you. This is for those of you who want to leave something for your family, have a family saga to tell or wish to take a journey into the past and find meaning about your life in a new way.

The family memoir is a simple enough form and I coach the writing of them in a straightforward way. There is homework to retrieve and organize the material in an appealing manner. What to include in creating a story line is very important to this type of memoir. Frequently one determines this by themes that emerge from the material itself.

The second form of the memoir is skillfully recounting an exciting story some member of your family, or you, participated in. A good example of this is all the stories that have been written by Jews who escaped from Nazi Germany during WWII. I recently spoke with a writer who is writing a memoir of his family’s relationship with the Czar of Russia and all their hardships in the turmoil that followed revolution.

The third form of memoir is very intriguing. This is a personal form in which the writer’s purpose is not necessarily publication or even to pass the document along to his family. The motive is to revisit, through recording in writing, a lifetime of events. The sojourner attempts to be with events in such a way that the accumulation of them results in a renovated or completely new view of the meaning that his/her life has held. This is a marvelous endeavor and very rewarding for both the coach, that’s me, and the person who chooses to examine a life through writing a memoir.

Coaching and document analysis and creation: $75 an hour.

Call 970-769-1022 to make contact and have a courtesy, initial conversation to discuss your concept.

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