Choose a poignant moment in your life that has led to great change, growth, or understanding for you—something significant, even if the catalyst is something incredibly small, so long as the epiphany it sparks is larger, if not life-changing. The more focused it is on a single time or incident in your life, the better. This will help define a single “chapter” of your life in what could be a potentially larger memoir.
Make sure to write in first-person, and as if you are telling a story—the story of your life. In this way, writing a memoir can be incredibly similar to writing fiction. Story, for example, develops much the same as in fiction, and memoirs also incorporate setting, scenes and summary, dialogue, and a cast of characters, etc. However, unlike fiction, what is written in a memoir must be factual, or at the very least, true to one’s memory. Contrary to how it might appear, writing a memoir may, actually, involve some research. Don’t be afraid to talk to friends and family members who might be associated with the moment in your life you have chosen. Their memories might help fill in any gaps you may have in your own memory.
Keep the following guidelines in mind, too:
Memoir chapter must be at least six pages in length.
Memoir chapter must focus on a specific moment, or incident in the author’s life.
Memoir chapter must be written in first-person.
Memoir chapter is written in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins all around.
Memoir chapter is written as a factual story, incorporating numerous conventions of fiction writing.
