Based on the amateur memoirs I’ve read, I think the most common mistake—the mistake most likely to damage the readability of your book—is becoming a slave to chronology.

by Steve Zousmer

It’s often said that there are a million ways to tell a story—and thus a million ways to start one. So how do you generate a good starting idea? First, you need to be aware of your choices.

by Steve Zousmer

Memoir author Matt Rothschild says there are issues you need to consider before telling your story.

By Matt Rothschild

Lessons and tips for working on specific aspects of your writing.
—From WD's Writer's Workbook section

Turn your dream novel into a reality by taking some tips from the worksite and using this Story Plan Checklist.

by Karen S. Wiesner

Isabel Allende found a release for her grief in the form of a memoir written to her departed daughter.

by Jordan E. Rosenfeld

An aspiring fiction writer realizes her story is better told as a memoir.

by Jordan E. Rosenfeld

NaNoWriMo’s Chris Baty shares five tips for writing your book in a month.

by Chris Baty

In this excerpt from Writing Life Stories, Bill Roorbach teaches you how to pay attention to and translate your memories and how to overcome your resistance to remembered places and events.

Bill Roorbach, author of Writing Life Stories, has publications in both creative nonfiction (memoir, essays, nature writing) and fiction (novel, short stories). He's also the William H.P. Jenks Chair in Contemporary American Letters at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. The advice he emphasizes is this: Write every day.