WRITING YOUR MEMOIRS
There are many ways to go about putting together this one-of-a-kind product.
The first thing to do is to think about the "tone" of the memoirs you plan to write. Would a straightforward collection of family history best fit, or would they be more appreciative of a collection of humorous stories? Perhaps a themed collection is more appropriate. Theme ideas include, but are by no means limited to:
- holiday tales
- family vacations
- love stories
- beloved family pets
- funny childhood tales
- a history of a particular family residence
- family ghost stories
Once you have decided on the type of memoir you would like to create, it is time to start pulling together stories. Start by writing out sketches of all the tales you remember. Flesh out your memory by talking to other family members.. Arm yourself with a mini-tape recorder so that you can listen to the tales again at your leisure.
Of course, the next step is to sit down and write. Allow yourself plenty of time to pull together a descriptive and creative collection of memories. You have plenty of choices as to how you want to capture the tales in writing. If you are focusing on events in one person's life, you can write the entire collection in first-person, from the viewpoint of your storyteller. Or you can write from the "voice" of several different family members. Finally, you can write out the memories from a third-person narrator's perspective. Let your intuition guide you.
Depending on the type of memoir you are choosing to write, your writing can flow in many different ways. You can write chronologically, from earliest to more recent events. If you have chosen to write a "themed" collection such as "holiday memories in our family," each individual tale can be a chapter.
Creating a memoir is a labor of love. But it is something that can be cherished by family members for decades to come. You can even set up the memoir in a format that allows it to be added to over the years, by yourself and other members of your family.
The most important thing is to use your imagination and recall how you felt when hearing the tales you are trying to pull together.Labels: memoirs, retirement, writing your memoirs |
