MEMOIR “memoir” comes from the French “mémoire” or “memory.

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A memoir is a narrative, written from the perspective of the author, about an important part of their life. Memoir
authors choose a pivotal moment in their lives and try to recreate the event through storytelling. The author’s
feelings and assumptions are central to the narrative.
Memoirs still include all the facts of the event, but the author has more flexibility here because she is telling a
story as she remembers it, not as others can prove or disprove it.
In Night, the Nobel Prize-winning title, Elie Wiesel tells his own story about one period of his life – how he
survived his teenage years at Auschwitz and Buchenwald.

TYPES OF MEMOIRS
There is no finite number of memoir sub-categories, just as there are no finite types of experiences we have as
thinking, feeling human beings. So, what does memoir mean today? Most of them fall into several large types,
but with a definite chance of overlap.
1. Transformation memoirs are written after an author has endured a great challenge. These stories almost
always include a theme of redemption, whether it’s achieved or missing.
For example:
a. Finding Freedom, Erin French first discovers her love for cooking as a young girl in her father’s
diner in Freedom, Maine. But in early adulthood, she struggles through prescription drug addiction, a
daunting custody battle for her son, and multiple rock-bottoms, until she ultimately finds renewal
through her community and love for food, opening the critically acclaimed restaurant The Lost
Kitchen.
b. Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares is Aarti Namdev Shahani’s family
immigrant story, of how an unknown dealing with a drug cartel led to her father being sent to Rikers
Island, and a study in how difficult it is to make it in America.
c. Educated is Tara Westover’s incredible account of how she overcame a childhood spent in
survivalist camps in rural Idaho and worked her way into Harvard and Cambridge universities.
2. Confessional memoirs are unapologetically bold. The author shares painful or difficult secrets about
themselves or their family and how it has affected them.
For example:
a. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions shocked readers in that it was a secular coming-of-age story, and
because it contained unexpected details of his life, like his sexual preferences.

b. Running with Scissors is Augusten Burroughs’ childhood laid bare. His mother left him to be raised by
her psychiatrist who lived in squalor, never sent him to school, and never protected him from the
pedophile living in the back yard.

3. Professional or celebrity memoirs cover important moments in the author’s rise to fame and success.
Some examples include:
a. I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai details her horrible attack by the Taliban, her recovery, and her
decision to fight for girls’ education worldwide.

b. Just Kids by Patti Smith is a beautiful recollection of her friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe in the
years before they became famous.
4. Travel memoirs let us escape with the author and learn about a time and place through their experiences.
For example:
a. Cheryl Strayed’s Wild takes us on her emotional solo journey along the Pacific Crest Trail as she grieves
the loss of her mother and her marriage.
 b. A Year in Provence is Peter Mayle’s heartwarming account of the year that he threw caution to the wind
and moved his family into a crumbling, 200-year-old farmhouse in the French countryside.

How to Write a Memoir

Is there a part of your life that is begging to be turned into a story? It might be time for you to write a memoir.
Here’s how to get started.

First, choose a pivotal moment in your life. It can be as broad as “my childhood” or as narrow as “that time I
went to prison.” (Hey, it worked for Piper Kerman.)

Consider why this time period is important. What struggles did you endure? What lessons did you learn? What
universal truths will capture a reader’s imagination?

Start gathering your memories, as many as you can. List the people you experienced this moment in time with,
how they looked, and the conversations you had with them. Capture your feelings about every event and don’t
hold back. The best memoirs bare it all.

Now, structure your memoir like a novel. There should be a clear story arc. The retelling of your memories
should include descriptions of settings, and three-dimensional characters that readers will care about. Recreate
dialogue as faithfully as you can.

Ultimately, readers want to know “how.” How did you survive this situation? How are you now? Most
importantly, how have you changed? If memoirs have one thing in common, it’s an author who shares the
lessons of his or her life for the greater good of all.