HOW TO WRITE A MEMOIR ESSAY.

Tips on writing a personal story.

WHAT IS A MEMOIR?

It is a life story written down on a paper.

Before writing a memoir of your own, do a research of yourself.

Everyone has family photo albums and/or videos.

IN THE PROCESS OF RESEARCH…People surrounding you do have

something to tell about you too, to describe you as a person, a friend, a

son or a daughter, a brother or a sister, a mother or a father maybe

etc. you may come up with a questionary.

MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD…

• Memoir essay has a life experience as its focus.

• Your life experience speaks for you representing you as an author to the

audience.

HONESTY IS THE KEY…

• It is about honesty otherwise it will not be you and memoir is not going

to be yours. • Some memoirs do serve for their owner to be praised to the skies but

those ones, which are frank even though if there is nothing to boast

about are of the highest value.

REVEAL YOURSELF…

• Your reader must feel what kind of person you are while reading your

memoir essay. • If you tend to be atrocious, show it

honestly or if you have a good sense of humor – do not hesitate to

tell a joke or two so your spirit permeated the work.

EDITING…

• Pay extra attention to editing of your essay.

• Re-read it a few times.• check on words choice so there were

no repetitions, poor vocabulary.• Check on grammar, bad grammar

will speak of you as of an uneducated.

ABOUT OTHERS…

• Memoir essay contains a thesis statement just like any other type of an

essay. • You do not need to try to be a writer

when you write about a family of your own. Just stay yourself .

• You are your product. A transaction between you and the experience you

remember and emotions you experienced is crucial in memoirs.

• Mentioning your family members, you need to show the pages they are mentioned on

to them. This is what a courtesy requires so there was no a bad surprise for them when

and if it goes in print. • A family might have a trait (-s) it would not

want it to be revealed because of the fact to be rather unpleasant but overall it would

feel nice to leave a trace in the history besides it is unlikely of you to do that from

malice.

MAKE STATEMENTS…

• Once a memory is chosen, decide on how to present it.

• Decide on the order your presentation is going to flow.

• Make it alive.• Make it clear. State why it is

important for you.

TO CONCLUDE…

• There is Dutch school of painters where a painting is within a panting.

For example, you see a person sitting next to a wall on the panting and there is a painting on this wall the person is sitting next to. The same with memoir, your life is a painting and memoir is another painting hanging on the wall.