Minute Memoir Method: The simple way to write your life story

By Rix Quinn

     A memoir is generally considered to be non-fiction writing based on personal events, history, or perspective.

     But in this book I want you to think of it as a powerful story about a personal or family experience that is entertaining, educating, or offers a useful idea.

     A  memoir combines techniques of flash fiction (short stories under 1000 words) with components of biography.

     The prime ingredient is EMOTION. Its message might appeal to the intellect also. But to be remembered, a story must first capture the reader's emotions.

     While writing dozens of biographical sketches, I developed a story format that can be applied to business histories, new product creations, and even advertising and public relations.

     I call it the Minute Memoir . . . short, dramatic, and educational.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Quinn Publications, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224249305

Rix Quinn

RIX QUINN is a former magazine publisher who now writes a weekly humor column for over 100 newspapers. He also create radio-style recorded Minute Messages for trade and business magazines.

Book preview

MINUTE MEMOIR METHOD

The simple way to write your life story

by Rix Quinn

© Copyright 2024 by Quinn Publications, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except brief excerpts for the purpose of review, without written permission of the publisher.

This is a book of opinions about biography, writing, and essay techniques. It is not a substitute for counsel of professional services. The publisher and editors disclaim all liability resulting from the use of the information in this book.

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Secret 1—Study the history of newspaper and magazine Minute Memoirs

Secret 2—Teach yourself to think of simple solutions

Secret 3—Learn to combine the Minute Memoirs with flash fiction’s format

Secret 4—Supercharge a Minute Memoir

Secret 5—Checklist to make a Minute Memoir stand out

Secret 6—One Single Specialty = Fame and Memorability

Secret 7—Fear Is the single most powerful motivator

Secret 8 – Combine critical components of a Minute Memoir

Secret 9—Enhance the Memoir with a Twist

Secret 10—Learn the horrible downside to competition

Secret 11—A Minute Memoir should emphasize tiny niches

Secret 12—Know how to turn a problem—and a story—upside down

Secret 13 – Attempt to write every single story as a Minute Memoir

Secret 14—How to create the perfect title or heading

Secret 15—Your first sentence is the most important one

Secret 16—You don’t like my favorite sentences? Then try these!

Secret 17—Keep them reading

Secret 18—End every Minute Memoir with one major point

Secret 19—Alternative approaches to a Minute Memoir

Secret 20—Practice writing Minute Memoirs

Secret 21—Use the Minute Memoir approach for personal interviews 

Secret 22—Aphorisms and the Minute Memoir

Secret 23—Questions, answers, and advice columns

Secret 24—How a Minute Memoir tackles school essays and reports

Secret 25—How a Minute Memoir improves speech introductions and reference letters

Secret 26 – A Minute Memoir for obituaries, tributes, and funeral speeches

Secret 28—How to get Minute Memoir ideas from popular songs

Preface

A memoir is generally considered to be non-fiction writing based on personal events, history, or perspective.

But in this book I want you to think of it as a powerful story about a personal or family experience that is entertaining, educating, or offers a useful idea.

A  memoir combines techniques of flash fiction (short stories under 1000 words) with components of biography.

The prime ingredient is EMOTION. Its message might appeal to the intellect also. But to be remembered, a story must first capture the reader’s emotions.

My own life is a series of stories, which I could separate into three segments.

Part One—I was born the son of a weekly newspaperman who became editor of an Army daily during World War 2, and then a business magazine publisher. Mom was a teacher with a degree in economics. (I didn’t know what an economist did until my second year of college.)

The family is chock-full of communicators.

One aunt was a school principal. Her husband published a national magazine for high school coaches.

Another worked for the naval department. Her husband was a personnel director and historian at the Census Bureau.

My parents’ friends were newspaper editors, columnists, sportswriters, biographers, an Associated Press correspondent, magazine publishers and editors, public relations execs, and ad agency writers.

Virtually everyone I knew wrote descriptive articles.

Part Two—I wrote for the high school paper, the college literary magazine, and then graduated to find few writing jobs available. So, for a few years I wrote product copy for major department store chains. I described everything from radial tires to fishnet hosiery. (Who knew fishnet had so many uses?)

In the late 1970s I joined Dad’s trade magazine publishing company as an editor. We covered several industries. We were recognized as biographers for the industries we served, and compiled memoirs of inventors, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers within those industries.

In l989 we sold our largest title to another magazine company.

Part Three—I began to write short memoirs and biographies for magazines in several industries. I also wrote a weekly humor filler feature, which was syndicated by a national group. And, I created comedy segments for a radio network.

Today, 30 years later, I still write a weekly comedy feature, and I develop short memoirs for newspapers, magazines, and book publishers.

While writing dozens of biographical sketches, I developed a story format that can be applied to business histories, new product creations, and even advertising and public relations.

I call it the Minute Memoir . . . short, dramatic, and educational.

Introduction

A few years ago, Dad stood silently at a graveside funeral service. As he scanned the cemetery monuments nearby, one of them caught his eye.

The marker carried the man’s name, and the birth and death dates, Dad remembered. And beneath that were three words: ‘He grew peaches.’

Dad suddenly realized that a person’s life—his specialty and his passion—had been summed up in three words. How many of us can present our message in only a few words, or a few paragraphs?

The Minute Memoir in its purest form answers a question or solves a problem. A news story should answer who, what, where, when, why, and how.

The Flash Fable concentrates primarily on WHY and HOW.

How many of us can simplify a message so much that everybody will understand and remember it?

We spend our entire lives learning, remembering, and