Denis Ledoux's Blog, page 9

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 ...

A Year in China with the SARS epidemic

  Denis Ledoux: At The Memoir Network, we had the pleasure of working with Nelida Napuli Co as she polished her memoir, Vinegar and SARS, with one of our editors, Frances King, and focused on book production with Sally Lunt. Because of her insightful articulation of a unique experience—living in China during the SARS epidemic, I am delighted she agreed to do the following interview (conducted by email.)

Denis: Can you tell our readers—your fellow writers—what your book is about and why y...

Your Memoir: Write with Your Audience in Mind

This video is about niche writing and how to write with your audience in mind.

Many writers of memoir do not write keep their audience in mind.

It is perhaps inevitable that writers indulge time in a certain fantasy that their book will appeal to a large audience and be popular. Unless you are already famous—like Michelle Obama or Harry Windsor—or writing about an experience that was in itself very well known—a major flood or a nuclear disaster, for instance, your book is not lik...