Method to Memoir
Uncovering Universal Insights in Memoir Writing
Techniques to help you find meaning in your writing.
Bob boarded a Greyhound Bus for Marine training the day he turned eighteen. Too young to vote or drink but not too young to be sent to Vietnam. Stories? Bob has them. And he’d like to write not just about fear and dying. He knows there’s something more profound, but it’s hard to find the right words.
Becky became the mother of her four younger siblings when she was nine, the year her mother disappeared. Her father was kind but overwhelmed with work. Becky has plenty of memories, both hopeful and tragic, but she has trouble moving beyond ‘this happened, and then this happened’.
“I can’t find something in my life that readers will care about,” she says.
What readers want in a memoir is a sense of Universal Truth.
A universal truth is an insight into life and human nature relatable across different cultures, times, and experiences. It reflects fundamental aspects of the human condition, such as love, loss, struggle, growth, and mortality, making it resonate with a broad audience.
In memoir essays, this truth helps connect the specific experiences of the author…
