Memoir Writing Needs Inner Work as well as Outer Work

Whether as a coach or as an editor, when I have engaged with writers, I have often found similar presenting problems—

I don’t have time, I never had a good grammar education, I have so many stories to tell I don’t know which one to start with.

Frequently, these “reasons” writers present for not writing are symptoms of underlying issues. They tell me the writer has probably gotten stuck avoiding the inner work of writing.

Let’s look at what “outer work” is first.

Outer work is about techn...