So, you’ve been convinced: You know you are in a unique position to share the stories of your life and you are ready to tackle the work of writing a memoir.
The benefits are obvious to you: Your grandchildren and beyond will have the chance to know you long after you are gone. You can share your wisdom and life experiences through storytelling rather than preachy pestering. And, you may be the only one who still remembers any of the family history. Best of all, you get to experience the powerful effects of reflecting on your life.
But how do you begin? Will you recruit help or tackle the project yourself? With some motivation, you can write your memoir yourself. If that sounds too daunting, you can hire someone to write and publish your memoir for you.
As you consider your options, keep in mind the main steps to create any memoir:
The writing
Illustration and photos
The editing and proofreading
Book production (layout and printing)
Each of these steps is unique and requires a different skill set. Thus, even if you are ambitious and ready to write your memoir, you don’t necessarily need to do all the steps yourself. It’s perfectly acceptable to write the narrative and then hire someone to edit and produce the book.
So how do you decide how to move forward in capturing your story? What to do yourself and when to hire an expert? Let’s weigh the pros and cons for each step of the process.
Which steps to completing your memoir will you take on?
step one: writing your stories
The writing is the meat of your memoir. Writing the manuscript is also the hardest and most time-consuming part of the process. What do you talk about? How do you say it? What is a story arc again? It’s no wonder this step is where memoir projects lose steam.
If the idea of sitting alone in front of a blank screen (for many, many hours) thrills you, you may be up for the challenge. People who enjoy the process of writing and believe in their writing abilities are good candidates for this kind of project. If you are someone for whom writing crystallizes your thinking, writing a memoir is a very fulfilling exercise. If you’re familiar with getting your thoughts down on paper, go for it!
To get started, try my free memoir guide. It’s a great worksheet to help you on your writing journey. And if need some writing tips, be sure to take a look at its accompanying blog post about how to write a memoir.
Conversely, there are plenty of valid reasons to hire a memoir service to write your memoir instead. Maybe you’re unsure of where to begin, what to say, or how to organize your stories. Perhaps you are a slow writer or don’t have the time. Then there are the technical aspects, like keeping track of your manuscript versions, keeping backups, and tracking what you have already said in a previous chapter. It’s a lot, especially if you are not confident about your writing skills.
Happily, there are options for people who don’t like to write. Take a look at the services our members offer to see if any of them might be right for you. If you’re not a natural wordsmith, don’t let that interfere with the dream of having your own memoir published.
step two: gathering illustrations and photos
They don’t say a picture is worth a thousand words for nothing. Memoirs become alive when we can see the speaker and who or what is shared on the page. Besides photos, you can include drawings, artwork, illustrations, or other scanned documents.
This category of work is easier to assess as something you want to farm out or not. If you have the images picked out, know how to scan photos, and are confident in managing digital files on the computer, then DIY is the way to go.
Hiring a service is a great option if you don’t have the time, knowledge, or equipment to scan photos. If the thought of sifting through family archives looking for old photos is overwhelming, it’s easy to find help with this step. This is also where professional artists can be called upon for custom drawings or illustrations.
Regardless of whether you write your memoir yourself or hire a professional, always keep an eye out for a potential cover photo of your memoir. This photo, which will visually signal the contents of the book, is often considered the most important part of the artwork.
step three: editing & proofreading
Spoiler alert: Everyone should have a trusted partner look at what you (or your memoir writer) wrote. Even if you don’t care deeply about punctuation rules, you should still have someone look for typos. You’ll be glad you did. It’s upsetting to finally have your published memoir in your hands only to find a glaring typo staring you in the face. Our brains know what we meant to write and will autocorrect mistakes when we reread our own work. Meanwhile, getting a proofreader is very easy and generally affordable (and if you feel you can’t afford to pay anything, at the very least ask a member of your family or a willing friend!).
As far as editing goes, that’s a more personal choice. Copy editors look for more than just typos. They’ll tell you when sentences aren’t clear. They’ll point out style issues that don’t align with a specific standard, like Chicago or MLA. They’ll comment on your particular writing style. Receiving feedback on your writing is a much more sensitive thing than correcting a typo.
It's perfectly fine not to use a copy editor. However, feedback on personal memoirs is an important part of the process. Books are gifts to the readers. How will they feel about what you wrote? Does what you wrote make sense to a first-time reader? If you plan to write the book yourself, another pair of eyes is truly valuable before printing it.
step four: publication (layout + printing)
Book publishing is complex. Yet with modern technology, individuals can manage the printing process from their personal computer. It’s pretty neat to be able to produce a book from soup to nuts without leaving your own home!
You may be up for DIY if you have the patience to care not only about what the book says, but also how it looks. You’ll need to download software, upload files, and do the work of graphic design. You’ll also need to research the various local and virtual printing services.
Hiring a service may be best for you if you have a special vision for your book but don’t know how to get there. It’s okay if you don’t want to spend time learning how to publish a book when you only plan on doing it once!
Envision this: celebrating your finished memoir!
Whether or not you decide to DIY or hire a service for any or all of the process, the best part of writing your memoir is when it’s done. As many seasoned writers have said, “I hate writing. I love having written.” The process is both challenging and rewarding. Whether you DIY or hire professionals, in the end, you will have an important heirloom that will be loved for generations.
Any member of the Biographers Guild of Greater New York can help you think through a memoir project. I hope you’ll give one of us a call to discuss the details of your project.
Clémence Scouten, based in the Philadelphia area, helps people curate and preserve their family history stories and materials, providing an array of end products from archived collections to memoirs.