A few weeks ago, I asked you to blog a biography. This week’s blog challenge is:
Blog your memoir.
A memoir is an auto-biography. It can be about your whole life, and your perspective of your life lived, or it can be just a story from your past, a moment about your life shared publicly.
Writing a memoir is different from a biography, and different from blogging about your day-to-day life. It is your point of view on your life. It isn’t someone else’s perspective but yours. Your life, told your way.
For more information on writing memoirs, see:
- Writing Memoir and Personal Story: How to write about yourself without boring your audience
- Writers Digest – Write a Memoir to Remember
- Inkspell – Memoir Writing
- BBC World Service – How to Write Memoirs
Remember, this is a blog post challenge, not a book challenge. If writing this blog challenge inspires you to write a book about your life, I expect a little thank you in the credits (kidding!), but for now, write something within reasonable size, possibly highlighting a pivotal moment in your life or a personal story you want to share.
And afterwards, come back here and share the lessons you learned about writing your own story on your blog.
These blogging challenges are published weekly and are an attempt to kick your blogging ass. They serve to challenge your thinking and efforts in blogging and blog writing. To participate, start challenging yourself now. Today. Go for it.
Past Blogging Challenges
- Blog Challenge: What Have You Learned This Year?
- Blog Challenge: What is the Most Unusual Blogger You’ve Found?
- Blog Challenge: What Keywords Make You Number One in Google
- Blog Challenge: What’s Your Blog’s Story?
- Blog Challenge: Who Is In Your Feed List?
- Blog Challenge: Who Is Linking To You?
Site Search Tags: blog challenge, blogging challenge, memoir, memoir writing, writing memoirs, memoir challenge, autobiography, auto-biography, writing tips, writing techniques, how to write, how to blog, telling a story, story telling, storytelling 
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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network, and author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.
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11 Comments
Lorelle, I’ve just stumbled across your blog here, and wanted to say that it is a wonderful thing you are doing.
What a nice coincidence. A few days ago I was writing a post on how I learned how to code and went down memory lane. Even though I wrote it two days prior to this challenge, writing a memoir of a moment felt really good. I hardly blog about my personal life but I felt really comfortable and immediately noticed that writing became so much easier. It is an excellent way to add a personal touch to a post.
It made me consider doing it more often because I noticed a flow in my writing.
As it happens I wrote something auto-biographical the other day.
Spilling My Guts
and
More Gut Spilling.
While they are cheating a little as they were written before the challenge, I did show me a thing or two:
1. Friends will understand. Others can either appreciate or ignore it.
2. It’s nice being able to write this way. I believe it’s called stream-of-consciousness writing and while I made some effort to convey my feelings I just “let it flow”.
3. It’s not easy!
Lorelle, you had me going down memory lane at the perfect time! Yesterday I drove past three houses of my youth. The words just spilled out. I did learn that with memoirs (for me) it’s a good idea to get the inspiration stirring away from the comp. Then, when I have a good subject in my head, let the computer “accept” the inpiration rather than be the reason for the writing. Thanks for giving me a smooth place to learn that today!
Driving by the Houses of My Youth
As a memoir writing workshop leader, I loved seeing this challenge! Writing about a moment is a great way to start a memoir. To borrow from author and Yale writing professor, William Zinsser, your autobiography is the whole iceberg of your life experience, but a memoir is “the tip of the iceberg.” If you write about many moments, in say, essay form, pretty soon you’ll have a book-length memoir.
Hi Lorelle,
Another resource for memoir writing is Story Circle Network. It’s a non-profit organization devoted to helping women tell their life stories. So if your blog challenge really lights a fire under a reader, SCN could be a great next step to help them move beyond a single blog entry.
Kudos to you on presenting such a wonderful variety of tips!
~Becca
I was working on my bio upon my wife’s request after reading my synopsis of my life. I was looking for questions that inspire writing an autobiography and came across this blog. I’ll check it out in more detail AFTER I write for 1.5 hours. 😉
I came across your site accidentally a few days ago and what an incredibly great idea. I love the idea of blog challenges. My blog is my journal about our family. Sometimes I struggle to think of something to write about, but no more! Thanks for the inspiration. Here’s my Memoirs of a Moment…
Pure puppy love. There’s nothin like it. People can’t love like this. Only God loves like this.
Pure, unfiltered, sweet, absolute, unchanging, never ending, non-judgemental, no-questions-asked-total-devotion, doggy love.
I laid down in a quiet room tonight, away from the noise, and Sam joined me. He snuggled up onto my big soft tummy. I softly sang his song to him over and over… “Sammy, Saaaaammmmy, Sammy Sammy Sammy, Saaaaammy. Saaaammy, Saaaaamy, Sammy Sammy Sammy, Saaaaaaaammmmmmy”.
(This used to be Roxie’s song, and I told him so. But I had to change the words for him.)
His body relaxed, he looked into my eyes for a long moment. His eyelids got very heavy and he slowly drifted off to sleep. I could feel his chest expanding with each breath.
Quiet time with my baby boy. He’s the only baby left in my house. It reminds me of holding my other babies and rocking them to sleep in my arms. This must be close to Heaven.
Hello, I really enjoy your blog. I create custom memoir volumes and journals with thought provoking questions on each page to help those interested in writing a memoir get going. Could you please take a look if you have time!
I really enjoy your blog. I create custom memoir volumes and journals with thought provoking questions on each page to help those interested in writing a journal or memoir get started. Take a look and be sure to download your free eMemoir Volume to get started! http://handhewn.co.nr ‘Every person’s life is a contribution to the story of mankind and each person’s story that isn’t recorded is like a missing page from the greatest story ever created.’ Hand Hewn
Sorry, Lorelle. You can delete my long story above. I didn’t realize I was supposed to post the story on my blog. I used my Tumblr account since Matilda and I don’t use Women’s Memoirs to post our stories (except occasionally in the KitchenScraps section). Here’s a link to my blog post for your challenge: The Power of Stories.
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