New posts have been few and far between around here lately, but there are some good reasons for that.
First, I’ve been working with a talented copywriter to expand this website to function as more than a blog. With my webmaster, we’re revamping the entire site and making changes based on what memoir and family history writers (as well as sincere wannabes) have told us they want and need.
Second, I’ve been focusing on writing personal essays. As a memoir and family history writer, I’ve learned it can be useful to start small. As in, with an essay.
That means you don’t have to think in terms of writing an entire memoir or history of your family. You can break your project into small parts by writing individual essays. For example, you can write a short piece about:
• The jobs you’ve held,
• The houses you’ve lived in, or even
• The pets you’ve loved.
Of course you can write short but challenging essays, such as:
• What you wish you’d told your parents when you were a kid,
• Why you chose the wrong career, or
• The reasons an important relationship failed.
For more prompts to get you writing short pieces—personal essays—take a look at: Supercharge Your Life Writing With These Ideas.
For a sample essay about family see, On Family, Chosen Family, and Sisterhood.
If you need help getting started on your memoir, essays, or family history, check out what others say about working with me, and get in touch.
And subscribe to this website to be notified of new posts to help you in your memoir, essay, or family history writing. They’re on their way.
Hi Lynette,
I can’t wait to see your newly revamped site. I’ve always admired the way it was set up as it is – so I can only imagine how beautiful and useful it will be when finished. Thanks for these essay ideas. My goal is to write more of those as well. Meanwhile, I, too, am having my website rebuilt, featuring the book. Did I tell you the title? It’s “Redlined: A Memoir of Race, Change, and Fractured Community in 1960s Chicago.” Will look forward to your changes!
Thank you, Linda. I’m quite eager to see your new author’s website. Your book couldn’t be coming out at a better time. I feel readers will want to read a personal history such as yours, which will shine a light on how where we are today stems from where we were, back in the 1960s and earlier.