Follow These Rules For Writing a Memoir in Your Retirement Years

When seniors consider writing a book in theirFor those of you who write in your retirement,
retirement, a great many turn to the memoir asthe lengthy years between the actual event and
their preferred vehicle. Some use it to leavethe telling of it requires outstanding memory skills.
younger generations with an understanding ofUnfortunately, you are at the point in life when
their heritage. Others consider it an ideal methodmany of us feel our memories are beginning to
of passing along inner-most beliefs, while moreslip somewhat. You must make a real effort to
pragmatic seniors may choose to share technicaltrigger recollections of people and happenings, and
knowledge that they have learned during theirthat's not always an easy task. I suggest you
decades in the workplace. Regardless of thefollow this simple exercise.
reason, you can join the thousands of SeniorsFor a week take one hour a day in total privacy.
who enjoy retirement writing.No distractions. Begin by thinking of events like
Interest in the memoir is nothing new. Forfamily get-togethers, holiday parties, a special
decades, even centuries, autobiographies anddress or suit you wore for a unique occasion,
diaries were very much a part of our culture. Buteven just the experience of going fishing with
it wasn't until the decades of the 1990's thatGrandpa or sledding on the hill behind Uncle John's
American readers hoisted the memoir to the tophouse. These are the cues to remembering, and
ranks of best selling books.you will be amazed at how well they trigger
Unfortunately, the integrity of this new trend wasendless other memories.
compromised by the shocking revelations thatWrite down everything that comes into your
several of the most popular memoirs of the daymind. Soon the important images will begin to
contained a great deal of fictitious information. Butform a patter. Instead of individual flashbacks,
don't let that hold you back from experiencing thethey will gradually knit together into the basic
catharsis and fulfillment one gains from crafting anoutline of the book you hope to write.
objective, honest review of one's lifeTargeting Your Audience
The ChallengeYour next step is to determine exactly the
No matter how careful you are to make youraudience you are writing for. Your choice of
writing absolutely factual, personal prejudice isevents may well be influenced by that decision. If
impossible to avoid completely. By that I don'twriting for a broad audience, you may be hesitant
mean that you should avoid expressing theabout revealing some of the more intimate
influence events had on you personally. Anmatters to anyone outside the immediate family.
effective memoirist invites the reader to share hisIf you target the young children of the family,
her experiences, but they must be offered withyou will not only choose events with great care,
as little bias as possible.you will also have to describe them in simple
One way to do this is to talk with anyone, familyterms that a child will understand.
members, friends, neighbors, who can help youYou also have to determine early-on whether the
view the incident with greater objectivity bybook is to be a history of the family or a more
understanding how it was perceived by them. Anarrow depiction of your own life. In other words
very simple example that I offer in my book Thewill you personally fit into the story simply as one
Writer Within You talks about your memories ofof the members of this family? Or will the story
your first day in school. But have you stopped tocenter on you and your development while the
think how emotional it was for your Mother whenfamily group serves only as a background to your
you waved goodbye and stepped onto the schoolown exploits?
bus. That moment was probably more traumaticIn either case, it is important that you attempt to
for her than it was for you. So try and aggregatecollect every possible detail that can contribute to
as many viewpoints as you can find from peoplebringing the story to life. Just as description is
were involved or were observers during thecritical in a novel, so it is in the memoir you write.
important moments in your life.You want your readers to feel a part of the
That naturally brings us to a closely related issue.story to the greatest degree possible. Therefore
How do you select the key experiences you planyou must give them a context in which to feel
to include in your book? This too is a dangerouslycomfortable. Be graphic in your descriptions of the
subjective challenge. The events you choose tolocales in which the tale takes place. Search your
write about present the reader with a good dealmemory for distinctive characteristics of the
of insight into your persona and how you viewpeople you write about, both physical and
your life.psychological. Make them real, as they certainly
Lawrence Gouldrup, whose expertise in memoirwere at the time of the story.
writing is recognized world-wide, explains this well,As a final consideration, realize that many of the
"As we experience life, we mentally distinguishcircumstances that impacted you will have little or
between those events and personalities that areno meaning at all for your readers. You must be
insignificant trivia and those that have becomecareful to select vignettes that you objectively
important and memorable to us."believe will interest others. If you want your
Indeed one of the hallmarks of the contemporarymemoir to be enjoyed by readers, it should not
memoir is that we dwell far more today not justsimply be a compendium of "I did this" and "I did
on the event, but on the impact it makes on usthat."
and on others around us. When you are able toNow that you have the parameters, sit down and
bring not only the event to life, but its significance,try it. As a retiree you have lots of time to think
you have created a richer, more meaningful storyand recall all those meaningful experiences that
for the reader to enjoy and even learn from.made you what you are today. Be generous
Trigger Pointsenough to share them with others.