Writing a #memoir or #autobiography can be fun and #healing at the same time, depending on what you're including in the book. These non-fiction stories either touch on a specific area in your (or someone elses) life, or the entire life. That is the difference between the two.
I always knew I wanted to share my story--the full story, of my life. I chose now because I thought I had enough books written to reveal my experience as a writer. It also helps revealing what happened in my life that shaped my life as a writer. The process did help some of my healing. Of course, I don't think I will ever get to the point where I am fully healed, but at least I can look back at my past and say, yes I am a survivor and this is why. I was able to look back at specific times in my life and understand things better now than I could then. And writing about it could possibly help others understand their past. Maybe people would treat others differently as a result. That is my prayer.
After writing the majority of my life's story, I decided I wanted to write a memoir also. A memoir only touches one area of a person's life--may it be a #journey through school or just one day in someone's life. Or, it can be about a topic like writing, in my situation. I will be writing my writing journey as a #permafree story, that's forever free in case you didn't know. But I'm also going to share my journey from being #homeless, something I was already going to share but decided to call it a memoir because it is.
How do you decide which to use--memoir or autobiography? It depends on the story you want to share. Do you want to share your entire life, giving different areas while showing growth and maturity? Or is there one specific time in your life (or another person's) that you want to share?
Do you use pictures or leave them out? That is up to you and the style of the story you share. I don't think there is a rule that says you must use pictures in either area of non-fiction.
How many pictures do you add? There isn't quite a limit, though you don't want to include too many that the file becomes too large. The bigger the file, the more expensive it gets to print, which changes the price tag. If you are going to make the book available as an ebook as well as print, that can make a difference as well. Of course, you can create two different versions if you'd like.
How much detail do you share? Again, that's really up to you. The more you share, the longer the story becomes. Is it important to share everything? It depends on the message you're sending. You don't have to share everything about everything. Some areas can have more details than others. It depends on how important those areas are and that message it brings. Broken is mostly about being bullied and how it pushed me into who I became as an adult, but I shared more than those bullied moments in my life because they mattered just as much. I didn't have an equal balance in my life so the details aren't balanced. Since I did survive, I wanted to share how it affected me and why I believed it was an important part of my life--being bullied. Today, I can say that though I didn't know it at the time when I prayed, asking "why me" all those times. It took more than 30 years to really understand that.
The beauty of these stories is that no two people had the same life. Your experiences are different than mine. You may have never experienced the pain of being bullied. You could have been on the other side of it. You also could have never known anyone who experienced it. That means your story as well as mine, is important. And it is worth telling if you choose to tell it. How you tell it (first, second, or third person) is up to you as well. I chose first person in mine because it was more personal and that was the feeling I wanted to show.
If you were to write a memoir or autobiography, what would you share? Would you have it on a personal level, or keep it business-like (how to make money writing a book or something else)? Comment below and let's talk about it. Thank you!!
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