Writing Your Autobiography or Memoir

Which one is the best way for you to tell your life story?

More and more celebrities are telling the story of their lives through books in the form of biographies or memoirs. But this is not an exercise reserved only for public figures. If you have a story to tell about your life that you believe will inspire others, by all means get to work on telling it. This is where an autobiography or memoir could also work for you.

“The autobiography is the story you write about your life . . . The memoir . . . is . . . your feelings on issues (and ruminations on tidbits of your life) .”

Before you start writing, let's get clear on what an autobiography is and what a memoir is. The autobiography is the chronological story you write about your life. You take your reader on a journey from your birth to your present day, but as you do this, omit the mundane parts of your life. Focus on writing about those events that affected you or shaped your life in some way. The memoir does not follow a chronological style. Your focus is writing your feelings on issues and sharing tidbits of your life with your ruminations about them that, for example, may perhaps have redefined your perspective on life.

After you have determined which style you will use to write about your life, make notes on the parts of your life or thoughts that you want to focus on in your book. Put aside the time as best as you can and find a nice, quiet area to write your book. If you need assistance writing it, there are many people who are willing to help you including myself. I truly do enjoy helping people write their life stories and then seeing the look of pleasure on their faces when they finally hold their completed, printed, published life stories in their hands.

So if you have been thinking for a moment of writing your life story, it's time to stop thinking about it. Start working on it so you can leave a written legacy for your family and/or friends.