Denis Ledoux's Blog, page 9

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...

Writing Hooks to Open a Paragraph or Chapter

“How do I start a chapter so that it has writing hooks that capture the reader’s interest?” you ask.

In this post, I give you three surefire ways to open a chapter or even the whole of your memoir. You’ll use one of these writing hooks time after time.

These three methods involve creating curiosity in your reader. This curiosity via writing hooks is easy for you to ignite so that your reader will want to read your story.

The first of the writing hooks

The first technique is ...

Self-Editing Tips for Memoir Writers

The self-editing tips I’m sharing with you in this post will save you a lot of time and mistakes! Whether you are self-editing as you write or are going through your manuscript one last time before sending it to a professional editor, you’ll find these tips to be super helpful for better self-editing.

While I am offering you the steps in a linear way—mentioning one thing and then another—in practice as you go through your manuscript, you’ll do well to be aware of all of these steps at on...

Don’t Worry About a Thing / Katherine Sullivan

Denis Ledoux: At The Memoir Network, we had the pleasure of working with Katherine Sullivan for several years as she edited her memoir, Don’t Worry About a Thing, with one of our editors, Frances King, and focused on book production with Sally Lunt. Because of her insightful articulation of her life experience, 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 you were...

Start to Write Your Memoir

Below, I have organized a video writing course on how to start to write your memoir. These six videos (admittedly an arbitrary number), once mastered, will guide you well through the start of your memoir writing experience.

Already started? This can be a great review to recharge your energy

There are so many great videos on the channel on how to launch your writing! How can I limit myself to 6 to help you to start to write your memoir!

Once you go to each video you will notice that each ...

Too Much Backstory–Are you making memoir writing more difficult than necessary?

How much backstory is too much? Today we will discuss how to avoid too much backstory in your memoir. My goal is to help you write better the first time around. The earlier you write better the less you will have to edit and rewrite.

I hope this is not you…

You are writing a scene about a time when you—alas—got fired from your job. As you write about this vignette, you throw in a back story about your college studies, about how much you loved your major and how eager you were for the w...

Before Sending Your Manuscript To An Editor / Part 2: Use of Time

Note from the Editor: This second installment of Before Sending a Manuscript to an Editor series offers basic editing tips around time use of time. For Part 1: Self-Editing Techniques Click here.  For Part 3: Time Sequencing and Flashbacks Click here

Clean Up Your Use of Time

This second post on self-editing revolves around the use of time. In the next post, I will write about time sequencing and flashbacks.

1. The historical present looks like the past, but it isn’t.

What tense are you...

Better Self-Editing: 3 Easy Techniques

In today’s post, we look deeply into 3 techniques for better self-editing—obviously there are many more but these three are a start for a short post.

I have been a memoir editor since 1990. In that time, I have worked with hundreds and perhaps thousands of memoir manuscripts.

A few manuscripts have come to me requiring only slight tweaking. The texts are clear, coherent and concise. They are nearly ready for publication. Their authors have created an interesting and well-crafted piece of...

Who is Your Memoir Narrator?

 

This may sound like a trick question, but it’s not. In fact, “who is your memoir narrator?” is a very serious question that will determine—or at least greatly influence—the tone and the theme of your narrative and how your reader views your story as being truthful.

Your choice of memoir narrator and the consequences of this choice.

The memoir narrator provides the “voice” in which you tell your story. You have many choices as to which voice, or sensibility, you will use. These form you...