Denis Ledoux's Blog, page 11

Writing Another Person’s Memoir: Can you use the first person pronoun?

Shouldn’t writing another person’s memoir be called writing biography rather than writing memoir? You the writer are, after all, not the subject. Doesn’t that make it a biography?

But, are there occasions when a biography can justly be called a memoir?

In one of my books, A Sugary Frosting / Life in a 1960s Parsonage, I used lifestories that my late wife Martha Blowen had composed—and to which I added text. And…

I called the finished book a memoir.

Was this appropriate?...

Writing Negative Experiences into a Memoir

Of course, your memoir will have a lot to say about your family, your relatives and your community. How do you write about them when your feelings are not necessarily positive? Do you omit any mention and “make nice?” How do you avoid being mired in the quicksand of destructive emotions as you are writing negative emotions into a memoir?

When writing my childhood memoir, French Boy, I had some sorrow surrounding my father and some simply critical feelings about my mother. In short, I was writing...

Writing more Deeply: The pain in telling the truth

My new memoir, French Boy (due out in late 2022), is about my childhood. Much about this time in my life has a context that is unique and consequently different from that of my contemporaries. This memoir has a place in the world of memoirs, and I want it to find that place, but writing it has also brought up some pain which I did not want. Once again, I found out that there is pain in telling the truth.

My parents were thoughtful and loving people so their behavior towards me is not...

5 Better Ways to Describe The People in Your Memoir

Without other people, our lives and our memoirs risk becoming dull. Although ideas are pivotal for many individuals, relationships are even more commanding. We are intrigued with who other people are and how they function. “Who’s that? What are they doing? Where did they come from?” These are question we want answered. To write a strong story, capitalize on this interest.

The people in your memoir are your characters. It is your job to bring vivid characters to the attention of your read...

9 Tips for a Fast Start Writing Your Memoir

Ever wish you had the secret of generating a fast way to fast start writing your memoir—or most any other book?

A proven way to start writing is to follow a set of steps that will help you get into the writing habit. When I wrote and published A Sugary Frosting / A Memoir Of A Girlhood Spent in a Parsonage, I appreciated the efficiency and effectiveness of my writing process all the more. A Sugary Frosting is the story of the first 20 years of my deceased wife’s life. She had written a n...

Similes and Metaphors: Don’t Let Them Scare You!

“I don’t quite know how to describe what I’m feeling,” you might say during your writing as you grope for a way to describe in words this emotion that is beyond words. There is a solution to this dilemma that writers often resort to—but too many writers are sure they can’t handle it. The solution? It is the use of images, specifically similes and metaphors. These will bring your text to a level beyond words.

Not sure how to handle these literary techniques? Not to worry. The following ar...

Showing up for my memoir– again!

Last week, it occurred to me that I was putting off – does that really sound better than “procrastinating”?—doing the final edit of my memoir, French Boy.

I had already gone through it rather extensively for the umpteenth time and had made changes in Microsoft Track Changes.

Now my task was to go through all of the changes both make sure that I wanted those changes and make sure also that I had not introduced new mistakes.

Showing up for my memoir

I had done precious little in the ...

Dramatic story development, rather than dramatic events, adds up to an interesting memoir

To view this post as a YouTube video, click here.

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People will sometimes suppose that only big drama can make an interesting memoir. Of course, there are many readers who require constant titillation if they are to remain reading. Perhaps they are not the readers you should be seeking for your memoir. Nonetheless, nearly all readers require some attention to “interesting.”  

No, I do not believe that it is the scope of the drama of your memoir that is the crucial element to cr...

Self-Publishing Means Extroversion!

I am committed to independent publishing—even if self-publishing means extroversion . Ever since I realized two things, this has been my mode of publication.

This is what I understood many years agoI have a much more solid and true sense of my audience than any publisher could have. (My first book, a collection of short stories—What Became of Them and Other Stories from Franco-America—outsold what I had read was the average sale of a collection published by a NYC publisher.)One day, I...

Beginning the End Stage Before Publication

Last week, I realized I needed to acknowledge to myself that I was in the end stage before publication of writing my memoir. For one thing, I finally came up with a name—French Boy / Growing Up Franco-American—that I’m likely to keep. (So many titles in the trash!) This title reveals the content of the memoir—a good title has to position a book for its audience. A good title says: “This book is for you.”

My natural audience

Since I am a self-publisher, I am super aware of audience. While...