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10 Ways to Use Your Life Story in Nonfiction Writing

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NinaAmir's avatar Posted on Monday, July 26, 2010 by NinaAmir

Recently I participated in a round table discussion for a teleseminar offered by the National Association of Memoir Writers. Our subject: the intersection between memoir and other types of nonfiction. That got me thinking. Lots of ways exist to use your life story in nonfiction writing besides writing straight memoir.

  1. You can use your life story as anecdotes or vignettes for a lead into a researched article. You can do so as the conclusion to an article as well. Plus, anecdotes provide great ways to illustrates the points you make in an article.
  2. Your life experience can provide the premise for a researched article; then you can use anecdotes to illustrate your points or simply as a lead into the piece.
  3. You can expand on #1 or #2 and write a whole researched nonfiction book based on your experience.
  4. You can use your life story as the premise for a personal essay.
  5. You can create a blog on a topic related to your memoir and write posts and publish them.
  6. You can take the lessons you learned during the events detailed in your memoir and write about them in more detail; offer how-to articles, advice columns, coaching columns, interviews with experts, etc.
  7. You can choose to write about a hobby or some other area of interest in which you have some experience (or in which you are willing to get experience), and then include your experiences in the book.
  8. Create information products that solve problems and include information about yourself and how you came to find the solutions.
  9. Create information products based on your life experiences — ones that would have helped you — and include your experiences (good and bad) in the product.
  10. Compose how-to-write-better articles using anecdotes about your writing process.

If you like writing memoir or using your life story or your life experiences in your writing, these 10 ideas should keep you busy for a while!

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responses (7)

EllaMae's avatar EllaMae
EllaMae said to NinaAmir
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I've been writing parts of my life story in a blog for several years now.  I just do it whenever something really inspires me these days.  My problem is there are chunks of time (my 20's!) and events (being raped, more than once) where I was completely miserable and lost.   With the entries I have so far I have been able to find something positive that has come out of the experiences, but these could be very dark if I write all of it.  Eventually I got help and things changed, but I haven't been able to get myself to write down all these depressing things. 

I know it's helpful for people to know about others going through tough times and surviving but for msyelf, I don't always care to read stories about abuse, etc.   I have made a start on it, though I have no idea how long it might take me to finish.

http://rooanne-rosesindecember.blogspot.com

 

NinaAmir's avatar NinaAmir
NinaAmir said to EllaMae
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I find that writing about "negative" things that happens can be "positive" if you offer lessons learned or show how you became stronger or in some way help others with your retelling. Don't just make it a story about the bad thing that happened to you. Make it a story about your triumph and you will inspire others to triumph as well.

EllaMae's avatar EllaMae
EllaMae said to NinaAmir
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Thanks for your response. I'm going to keep working on it. But it's hard......

 

DianeL's avatar DianeL
DianeL said to NinaAmir
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I posted this on another of your posts - 6/23 on personal essays, but it is pertinent to this...

"Can you go home again?" I wrote an essay, "Following in My Mother's Footsteps" about returning to my birthplace after 68 years. "I stood in the same spot mirroring a picture of my mother sitting by the fireplace when she was expecting me." I have heard the adage, "You can't go home home again", and I read one article that says that does bear merit if you have been gone from home many years. Have you been back to your childhood home? Do you live in your childhood home?

The song is from the Blog of Ronnie Citron-Fink - Care2

There is an old Jackson Browne song that comes to mind, “Looking Into You.” It chronicles his experience of going back home:

Well, I looked into a house I once lived in
Around the time I first went on my own
When the roads were as many as the places I had dreamed of
And my friends and I were one
Now the distance is done and the search has begun
I’ve come to see where my beginnings have gone.

NinaAmir's avatar NinaAmir
NinaAmir said to DianeL
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Yes...I commented on it there. That's my favorite Jackson Browne song...Keep up the writing!

EllaMae's avatar EllaMae
EllaMae said to DianeL
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This is so poignant.   I don't think I ever heard that song - I will have to find it.   I dream about the house I grew up in all the time.

 

Linda J's avatar Linda J
Linda J said to NinaAmir
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I think this is a wonderful and informative post that encourages those thinking of writing their life stories, have a passion for words but don't know where to begin. I really like the blogging idea that brings out a bit at a time as this might not be so overwhelming, as long as the writer is computer/Internet savvy. Memoir writing begins with journalling, and blogging is the 20th Century journal.   

I am involved in a Sherwood Park writer's group in Alberta and we've been recently asked to form a program of some kind to address just this with a local senior's club. Our group mission statement "supporting local writers ... any age, any stage..." speaks to the work we do with those who enjoy the written word but may just be starting out on their writing journey. It is a wonderful feeling to supply information and support to those who share your passion, and I just want you to know that I love your article.

Hmmm, permission to use and reference some of your points in our program or workshop?

Thanks and keep on writing. You can check out our web site www.wfscsherwood.com and my recent blog entry http://www.vibrantnation.com/our-blog-circle/wildhorse33s-blog/writing-a-healthy-life/

 

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