Denis Ledoux's Blog, page 33
July 18, 2019
How to Write Your Personal Myth into Your Memoir (Part 2) / A super easy guide to writing deeper memoir
Myths are the stories we create to express how we perceive the world and life. How we live our lives is determined by the myths we live by, but our lives also reveal our myths to ourselves and to the world. What are your myths? Look at your life, at your feelings, at your responses to others. That is where your myths reside! That is where your life as a myth can be found. Have you explored the role of myth in your life? Have you introduced the concept of myth into your memoir?
The full pri...
July 17, 2019
Crossing the Pacific to Reach the World War 2 Theater
This excerpt is from Business Boy to Business Man, the memoir of Robert Verreault as told to Denis Ledoux. The memoir was published in 2013.
The military would never tell servicemen where we were going during World War 2, but it was a fairly easy bet that we were headed for Hawaii as a first leg to the Japanese front. The night before we were to board our ship, I had supper in San Francisco with the girlfriend of one of my friends. It would be the last time in a long while that I would h...
July 16, 2019
When Should You Start Working With a Writing Coach?
When is the best time to start working with a writing coach? The obvious answer is when you feel the need to, but “the need to” is not always obvious. Writers will put off the coaching process because they may conclude that it is polished material they need to submit to a coach. This is akin to putting off going to the doctor until when you are feeling well or putting off getting cleaning help until you have straightened out the house.
Writer’s also get confused and mix up working with a co...
July 11, 2019
How to Write Your Personal Myth Into Your Memoir Part 1
The following is the first installment of a three-part series on the use of myths and archetypes in memoir writing. In this first post of How to Write Your Personal Myth Into Your Memoir, I write about both archetypal patterns in general and about the martyr archetype. In the second post, I write about the orphan and the martyr. In the third post, I write about general considerations of using myths and archetypes. These posts are excerpted from Turning Memories Into Memoirs / A Handbook fo...
Your Life as a Myth Part 1
The following is the first installment of a three-part series on the use of myths and archetypes in memoir writing. In this first post of Your Life as a Myth, I write about both archetypal patterns in general and about the martyr archetype. In the second post, I write about the orphan and the martyr. In the third post, I write about general considerations of using myths and archetypes. These posts are excerpted from Turning Memories Into Memoirs / A Handbook for Writing Lifestories.
Myth...
July 9, 2019
Every Story Needs a Believable Memoir Setting
Writers seem to grasp the need every memoir has to have well-developed character and action, but the same is not true of memoir setting.
Too many writers omit to tell us enough of the setting of their story to make their memoir feel solid and real. It is as if we are reading about spirits who do not inhabit a tangible world.
Setting places your characters in a context and makes them “real.”The memoir setting is both where and when your story occurs.
The where is the place in which the sto...July 2, 2019
Memoir Ghostwriting – How Much Does It Cost?
Memoir ghostwriting is a viable option if you choose not to write your memoir yourself. There are many reasons you would choose not to write a memoir by yourself and most of them are good.
Understandably, people want to know how much memoir ghostwriting will cost. Depending on the length of your memoir, it may take months and even years to complete your book. Here are a few considerations for you to ponder over as you assess how much a co-author might cost.
1. Asking “How much will it cost...Memoir Ghostwriting – How Much Does a Memoir Cost?
Working with a memoir ghostwriter is a viable option if you choose not to write your memoir yourself. Depending on the length of your memoir, it may take months and even years to complete your book. Understandably, people want to know how much memoir ghostwriting will cost. Here are a few considerations for you to ponder over as you assess how much a co-author might cost.
1. Asking “How much will it cost to have my memoir ghostwritten?” is like asking “How long will it t...
June 25, 2019
10 Tips: How to Write A Better Memoir
Writers ask me what they can do the most easily to write a better memoir. While I can understand the wish to write more quickly and easily, I’m going to share with you that writing a better memoir needs to be done slowly and thoughtfully. A rushed job is probably going to be a botched job.
The following are my recommendations to boost the quality of your memoir writing. They are obvious tasks which form the substance of this post. Each tip below comes loaded with links. In some instances, t...
10 Tips to Write A Better Memoir
Writers ask me what they can do the most easily to write a better memoir. While I can understand the wish to write more quickly and easily, I’m going to share with you that writing a better memoir needs to be done slowly and thoughtfully. A rushed job is probably going to be a botched job.
The following are my recommendations to boost the quality of your memoir writing. They are obvious front end tasks which form the substance of this post. Each tip below comes loaded with links. In some in...
