How to Write to the End / Eight Strategies

By Denis Ledoux

In Write to the End / Eight Strategies to Thrive as a Writer, you'll learn how to apply a number of techniques and best writing practices to keep you writing—your book will not only survive but it will excel. Successful memoir authorship is not beyond you.

The part you will probably enjoy the most? It probably be tapping into the energy that led you to begin to write and making use of this renewed energy to see you through to completing your manuscript. You will love finishing your book manuscript.

One day soon, you will hold your published book in hand.

Whether you are writing a memoir, creative non-fiction, or fiction, if you need help to follow through or pick up your writing again, the suggestions in Write to the End are solid. With its guidance, you will never again let a manuscript lie abandoned in your computer.

Write to the End / Eight Strategies to Thrive as a Writer, doesn't contain fluff. Each strategy is clearly delineated.

This book, as all Memoir Network books, helps you to "write from the inside out" so that you might learn how to trust yourself in this process of becoming a writer. It is part of a writing series of Memoir Network Writing books. More are on the way. Please check back for additional titles.

With this guide, you'll find that you Write to the End and thrive as a memoir writer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Denis Ledoux
• Release date: Mar 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311329257

Denis Ledoux

YOU CAN LEARN TO WRITE FROM THE INSIDE OUTI believe in the power of telling our personal and family stories. These are our hero's journeys, and by telling them we honor ourselves and the people we have come from. An important early task for the writer is go inside and find the story that is worth telling. The story is not about "nice" words; it is about honest words, visceral words.LIFESTORIES FEED USStories have always played an important role in my life. I grew up in a three-generation home with paternal grandparents who lived upstairs. I heard tales of my extended family and their history recounted by the family storyteller, my grandmother Ledoux. These stories were a food for my soul. I could not get enough of them, and her gift to me was that she was a voluble, entertaining storyteller.I began writing as a short-story writer, drawing on family characters, settings, and stories for my fiction. In 1989, I won the Maine Fiction Award for Mountain Dance & Other Stories. My other titles include What Became of Them and Other Stories from Franco-America (1988), and Lives in Translation: An Anthology of Contemporary Franco-American Writings (which I edited in 1990). In 1992, I published (and it is still in print) Turning Memories Into Memoirs / A Handbook for Writing Lifestories; in 1996, The Photo Scribe / How to Tell the Stories Behind Your Photos; in 2009, The Consumer's Guide to Ghostwriting, in 2013, a memoir—We Were Not Spoiled. E-publication includes the books listed here in Smashwords as well as others.MAKING THE LEAP TO BECOMING A MEMOIR PROFESSIONALIt was a natural leap from my own family stories to helping others to record their stories in well-written accounts that apply all the techniques of fiction writing to autobiography, family reminiscence, and scrapbooking.In 1996, I was honored as Lifewriting Professional of the Year by the Association of Personal Historians.THE MEMOIR NETWORKToday, I continue to work as a writer, educator, teacher, autobiography co-author, memoir-writing coach, editor and publisher. I direct The Memoir Network, an international group of lifestory writing teachers who use my method and materials to lead the popular Turning Memories® and Photo Scribe® workshops and programs.My Memoir Network offers Memoir Professional Packages for individuals wishing to do what we call memoir work in their communities. [http://thememoirnetwork.com/memoir-professional-packages/] Please inquire if you are interested in becoming a Memoir Professional.BUILD YOUR MEMOIR-WRITING LIBRARYYou will find a number of my memoir-writing e-books on Smashwords. Begin to purchase them now so as to develop your memoir-writing library. These are the best memoir-writing books available anywhere at any price.BEYOND THE BOOKSIf you need more than these great books, give me call at 207-353-5454 for a free consultation to determine whether coaching, editing, or ghostwriting is a good fit for you. When you're ready, we can also do book production for you.Keep writing and stay in the memoir conversation.

Book preview

How to Write to the End

Eight Strategies

Denis Ledoux

Thank You Gifts

I hope you have enjoyed this book. As a thank you for placing your trust in me, I would like to gift you with of the following course:

Start to Write Your Memoir. In this free, five-lesson mini-course, whether you have not written a word or are already composing your memoir, this e-course will help you to calibrate—or recalibrate—your effort.

Master easy and effective techniques for a successful writing launch—or re-launch—taught in this free memoir-writing course.

A Simple Request

If this book contributes to your writing—whether to its quantity or its quality—would you please take a moment to write a short review of the book on Smashwords It can be as short as 20 or 25 words! Honestly! Do your fellow writers a favor and tell them how much they might expect of the e-book you have just read.

Email me: [e-mail]

Tweet: twitter@denisledoux

Join us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/TheMemoirNetwork

Read and comment on my blogs: The Memoir Writer’s Blog

The Memoir Professional’s Blog

©Copyright 2020 Denis Ledoux

ISBN: 9781311329257

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations.

KUDOS FOR DENIS LEDOUX

I.

Denis Ledoux won the 1989 Maine Fiction Award judged by Elizabeth Hardwick and the juried 1991 and 1996 Maine Individual Writing Fellowships.

II.

Over the years, we’ve been fortunate to have people speak well about The Memoir Network, about Memoir Network products and about Denis.

~ Time Magazine wrote of Denis in an article on memoir writing in April 1999: Denis Ledoux has helped thousands of people get started writing their memoir.

~ The Christian Science Monitor ran either roundups or feature articles on Denis. Three times.

~ His Turning Memories Into Memoirs was deemed by Booklist (the review medium of the American Library Association) as very beneficial…helps writers get off to a great start.

~ Rhonda Kanning Anderson, co-founder of the early (and for long time) premier scrapbooking company, Creative Memories, said of his Photo Scribe: The Photo Scribe has inspired me to a new level of photo-journaling. This practical step-by-stop guide can enable anyone to discover the depth of their memories.

~ Bottomline Publications acknowledged Denis’s work (in two feature articles) as a memoir ghostwriter, editor and coach.

~ The Cincinnati Post praised Turning Memories Into Memoirs / A Handbook for Writing Lifestories: …a step-by-step manual, lots of examples, a fine appendix and a detailed index, making it a useful reference over time.

III.

Denis has been interviewed on a variety of radio stations in cities as far flung as Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Montréal. He has been interviewed by NPR affiliates as well as Radio Canada Acknowledgements

A heartfelt thank-you to the following editors who helped so generously and competently in the editing process of this book. It is a better book for their contributions:

Katherine Crowther a UK-based, creative and professional freelance writer.

Colin Dunbar, who has over three decades experience in technical writing and book design, lives South Africa. He is the author of https://formatbookinword.com, where he shares everything you need to know on how to format your book in Word.

Sue Lammers lives in Tennessee where she is writing her memoir.

Dedication

To all the writers who wrote to the end.

Congratulations. You are heroes!

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: You Don’t Have to Rush Into Memoir Writing Again

Chapter 2: Re-read Your Lifestories

Chapter 3: Returning to Fundamentals: The Memory List

Chapter 4: The Memory List Will Jumpstart Your Writing

Chapter 5: Create a Schedule for Success

Chapter 6: Get