How to write a memoir?

Get expert advice from Brenda Peterson’s newest book “Your Life is a Book” on how to write a memoir. Brenda is a seasoned writer, who has written 17 books, which range from her first memoir Build Me an Ark: A Life with Animals, chosen as a “Best Spiritual Book of 2001,” to three novels, one of which, Duck and Cover, was chosen by New York Times as Notable Book of the Year. Her new memoir, I Want To Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here on Earth was selected by The Christian Science Monitor among the Top Ten Best Non-Fiction Books of 2010.
- See more at: fireitupwithcj.com/how-to-write-a-memoir-brenda…

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----------HIGH LEVEL SUMMARY (hyperlinks)----------------

1:06 How memoirs can help you get clear with your purpose? Growing your life spiritually and psychology.
1:36 Why write a memoir? A memoir helps you gain perspective on your life.
2:39 What was Brenda saying to herself about herself in her memoir? Brenda shifted her memoir from a voice of a spiritual life with animals to becoming an animal and writing from that perspective. BONUS: We get to hear from her spirit animals in the show or have technical difficulties. I like to imagine them as animals :)
6:04 How do you find your voice? Brenda shares how developing your voice takes a life time. Brenda describes how she writes with a singer's voice.
7:59 What will you discover after you finish a memoir? Brenda describes how writing has helped others become kinder, more self-aware, more spiritual, happier and healthier. In writing a memoir, you will know yourself from witnessing yourself and others from a detached perspective.
12:09 What is a memoir? How is it different than autobiography?
13:22 Arc of story for a biography and a memoir- Memoirs don't have to follow a chronology.
18:36 What is a misery memoir? A memoir must offer the reader a gift or lesson, a payoff, and not be a gripe session.
20:00 What is a difference between a blog and memoir? A blog is a slice of life and window that doesn't connect to anything else unless you have a themed blog. A blog is a one-sided conversation with a stranger.
23:01 How do you know that your life story is worth telling? Every person has a story to tell about their life and every person is worth writing about.
25:35 Brenda shares two incredible stories about how some of her clients have had physically healing through writing a memoir.
27:01 CJ has a major aha about a memoir linking it to her spiritual wisdom.
31:13 What are the big steps in the process? Where should you start? Brenda shows the sticky notes and process she used for a recent book "I Want to be Left Behind" that includes sticky notes.
38:50 How do you know what to distill and cut from your story? 39:40 How do you come up with a pattern?
41:39 How do you deal with families who are unhappy with your version of your family story?
43:15 How do you deal with truth and accurately telling very old stories that you don't recall exactly?
48:11 Writing tips (Check out the above blog post for links)
Focus on the journey not the destination.
47:17 Spiritual memoirs: Tips. Focus on the ?'s not the answers. Focus on the journey not the destination. Focus on people who inspired and taught you not necessarily what you are teaching. You are a doorway to other wisdom and a listener.
47:45 EAVESDROPPING: A fun exercise from the book to find your own voice.