Denis Ledoux's Blog, page 8

Interview with Denis Ledoux French Boy / A 1950s Franco-American Childhood

DL: The following interview I conducted with myself is available to anyone wishing to reproduce it in a blog, on a website on in print media. We ask only that you let us know  you are using the piece.
Q. Can you tell our readers what  French Boy  is about and why you were impelled to write your book? What was driving you to spend the time, energy, and money to get this book out into the world?A. I wrote impelled by a strong desire to record the life of my community—the Francophone Canad...

Three Pillars of a Powerful Memoir

There is power in writing your story. Your memoir can transform you as it leads to understanding the energy in your life and ultimately making that energy work for you.

The three pillars of a powerful memoir I want to talk about are the old stand-bys of character, action, and setting. A story is not a journal entry. Unlike a journal, a memoir needs development.  Ranting and raving fit into a journal but not into a story—unless ranting and raving are in the dialog. Story has its own dynam...

Press Release: French Boy / A 1950s Franco-American Childhood by Denis Ledoux

NOTE: You are invited to the book launch for French Boy! The links to attend live or via Zoom are at the end of this press release.

Re: French Boy / A 1950s Franco-American Childhood / Denis Ledoux, Soleil Press, 2024, 345 pages, photos, $19.95.

Contact: Memoirs@TheMemoirNetwork.com

Release date: October 16, 2023

“It was a surprise for me to discover as a child that French was not the majority language in Maine, let alone the US,” recalls Denis Ledoux of his Franco-American boyhood in h...

3 Decisions That Sustain Your Memoir Writing

I want to share with you three decisions you can make to help you to succeed more quickly and easily at memoir writing.

Over the last two decades, I have coached many, many writers—more writers than I can remember. In those years, I have seen some people soar with the experience—it’s as if they can do no wrong—while unfortunately, I have seen others coach with me for periods of time without making any apparent change or progress.

This experience has enabled me to come up with three deci...

Five Tips for Avoiding Vagueness in Your Memoir

Avoiding vagueness in writing is something many writers struggle with.

When writing slips into vagueness, the reader reads and rereads the text and does not quite “get it.”

I’m sure this has happened to you. You are reading something and you find yourself wondering: “What’s the author trying to say? What’s going on here?”

Not a good place for an author to land a reader.

In this week’s video, we explore how to write more clearly and vividly. I have assembled five tips for avo...

10 Ways to Stop Writer’s Block

Why should writers have writer’s blocks? Do plumbers have plumber’s block? Do accountants have accountant’s block? 

A block is simply a failure of process. A plumber lines up his pipes and couplings and begins to work. And an accountant takes her spreadsheets out and begins to analyze them.

Ways to Stop Writer’s Block

In the case of a writer, it is a failure of a writerly process or a professional approach to one’s work that gets dignified with the name of “writer’s block”. 

...

You Don’t Have to Rush To Complete a Memoir

 

Writers will sometimes tell me that they are blocked and can’t seem to get back into writing. I have a surprising answer for them: don’t write just now to complete a memoir. It’s ok to be stalled for a while.

Let me give you a little scene in which I came to the viability of this conclusion.

One summer when I was serious about gardening, I went away on a late June trip. It was a fun vacation with my family, but the trip fell at a time when the garden seriously needed daily we...

What is Your Memoir’s “BIG WHY”

What is your memoir’s BIG WHY? Without a BIG WHY, your memoir will not shine. You story will be smaller than it needs to be.

As I interview prospective clients for coaching—something I do often, I listen to why their reasons to write a memoir. Many do not yet have a compelling reason to write their memoir, a pushy “why.” I strongly suspect they will not continue into coaching or editing—and may not finish their memoir at all.

What is your memoir’s BIG WHY?

Yes, there is somethi...

Banish Fear of Revealing Too Much: Be a Bigger Presence in Your Memoir

The fear of revealing too much of ourselves in the memoir we are writing can be paralyzing.

We wonder: “What will people say? How will people react to what I am revealing?” So…

We hold back in our writing. We stop ourselves from personal revelation, from sharing secrets.

The fear is founded—it’s not always a friendly world out there. And, of course…

As we reveal too much about ourselves, we may be opening ourselves up to abuse and misunderstanding. But…

Excessive reve...

12 Reasons People Quit Writing a Memoir

I have been asking myself what are the reasons people quit writing a memoir and how to help them persevere. I have drawn the following list from my experience with the people who have begun to work with me and then stopped writing.

The answers to why people quit are so varied! Here are some I have come up with as I have pondered the topic. Below is a list that contains both very valid reasons and some that I consider simply wimpy. If you find yourself harboring feelings that I bring ...