You are not Michelle Obama. And that's OK.
When you're writing memoir, you can only start from where you are. Decision #5 from Sixteen Superpowers Memoir Writers Need to Have.
Photo by Nicola Styles on Unsplash
5. Start from where you are. (And where you are is: You are not Michelle Obama.)
YOUR MANTRA: I am not Michelle Obama.Â
Make peace with this on the front end, and all will go well for you. The book publishing world will tell you all kinds of discouraging things about publishing a memoir. Most of them will be about whether you have a platform that is big enough to get a literary agent and a six-figure deal.Â
Stop worrying about this. If you are writing a book, there are readers who want it, and there are publishers who will get your book to them.Â
Instead, make a list of 10 to 12 memoirs that are like yours and by people who are not mega-famous, people who are steadily working hard at their craft and building readers on the merits of their work. Map out their paths so you can see their trajectory to becoming a memoirist that you now have heard of. Go all the way back to the point in their lives before you ever heard of them. How did they get there?
DECISION: Believe, right now, that you are writing a book that matters and you’ll find a publisher.
ABOUT SIXTEEN SUPERPOWERS OF MEMOIR WRITERS
It’s easy to write a memoir! All you need to do is write something with universal resonance that is true and comes from your life.
Let’s get real. To write a memoir, you need a basket of superpowers.Â
As a memoir writer with a forthcoming book (BOUNDLESS, coming December 2024 - pre-order here at Bookshop | Barnes & Noble | Amazon and as a book coach/developmental editor who works with memoir writers, I’ve learned quite a lot about tapping into literary superpowers.
What’s enduring about memoir is that it is real, and it matters. A few decisions you make on the front end will determine whether it will go well.
In this series of posts, I give you 16 decisions to install at the beginning of your journey. Make these pacts with yourself, stick to them and you’ll get there!
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The Sixteen Superpowers of Memoir Writers: Make These Decisions on the Front End, and All Will Go Well for You
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