Everyone has a story. Maybe yours seems more mundane than the stories of the Michelle Obamas and the Matthew McConaugheys of the world, but I promise you, every tale is worth telling.
At Ballast Books, we strive to create an environment where anyone can write a book. You might not have any celebrity gossip or stories about living in the White House, but memoirs about grief, parenthood, illness, and all other facts of life are just as important—maybe even more so. The average person can’t relate to the high-profile life of an actor on the cover of a magazine, but they might just find a missing piece of themselves in your so-called “ordinary” story.
If you find yourself hesitating to write a memoir because you don’t think your story is important enough, remember, there’s someone out there living through the same hardships you’ve endured. They need your guidance. They need to know that they aren’t alone. So let us help you tell your story.
Here are five tips to help you start writing your memoir.
1. Make the personal universal.
While your memoir might be your personal story, the goal is to make it relatable to more than just yourself. Your story should resonate with your audience and make them feel like they’re reading about a friend or even themselves, not someone they’ve never met. To make your personal story universal, you need to tap into the visceral, shared emotions and determination of the human spirit. If you’re honest with your story and the distinct humanity of the relationships we share with each other, the differences in the details won’t matter. Readers will not only see your story but also gain a new outlook on their own lives. You may have started out writing your memoir for yourself, but by the end, it should be for the world.
2. The smallest details are the most important.
Details are the spice of life. Without them, our lives aren’t very interesting. Take this, for example: “As a child, I went to the same beach every summer.” Okay, I’m starting to understand something about you. But what if you wrote it like this: “My family has gone to the same beach on the East Coast every summer since my mother was a child, when my grandfather was so overcome by the long stretches of unspoiled beauty that he bought a plot of land and had a house built to use for generations to come.” See how much better it is when you pack in the details? Of course, there’s a thin line between too little and too much, so you don’t want to go overboard, but details will help the reader appreciate your story and also prompt them to reflect on their own life experiences.
3. Start with a scene.
Have you ever read a memoir that starts with “My name is John Smith, and I’m fifty-six years old” or something of the like? Probably not. The first chapter of your book is the most important. Time is precious, and if you don’t immediately draw your reader in, they might move on to the next memoir. Starting with a scene is the best way to avoid this. If your book is about a cancer diagnosis, don’t start with your name, address, and date of birth. Start with what it felt like to be in the doctor’s office when you heard the news. How your throat probably constricted and your stomach tightened into knots. How you wondered who you would call first and how you would break it to them.
We aren’t robots. Readers want to feel what you felt and see what you saw, not read a list of facts. The best way to draw your reader in is by putting them in the room with you and giving them a front-row seat to the action. Your memoir might not be an epic fantasy full of dragons, but that doesn’t mean the reader shouldn’t want to devour every page.
4. Memory is nonlinear, so your memoir can be nonlinear too.
You might feel inclined to write your story from beginning to end in the exact order everything happened. Birth, school, job, family . . . The reality is that life isn’t that simple. When writing a memoir, you want to tell the reader about your most impactful moments, and they won’t necessarily be chronological. When you remember your life, what sticks out? It could be a lesson you learned in childhood, a present-day struggle, or a consideration of your future. Instead of worrying too much about the timeline of your life, write what means the most in a way that makes thematic sense. Life isn’t just a string of days put together. It’s the moments that matter—that we remember. And if you think hard, you might find that these moments have more in common than you imagined.
5. Be vulnerable.
We get it—, it’s hard to open your heart and mind to strangers. But the truth is, if you don’t get vulnerable in your memoir and get down to the nitty-gritty of your life, you won’t forge an emotional connection with your reader. Don’t worry—, readers aren’t going to show up and laugh at you for the hardships you’ve been through. They want to know what you have to share with the world and, more than that, they want to relate to it.
Besides, being vulnerable doesn’t always mean displaying the worst parts of yourself and the worst moments of your life. It could also mean sharing a funny, embarrassing moment or a time you were so happy you cried. You just have to show your reader that you’re human too.
Now it’s time to get the juices flowing and share your story! If you’re considering writing a memoir or have already written one, submit your book idea to Ballast Books here. We know your story is important, and with our help, the world will know it too.