Why *You* Should Write a Memoir

Every single writer I have worked with has wondered if their story is worth writing, if they’re really a writer, if anyone cares about what they have to say.

Every. Single. One.

Every single writer I’ve worked with has come to me a little shy, a little afraid of stepping outside their comfort zone, full of buts and maybe nots. Some writers come to me with a completed manuscript, and we tackle the big work of developmental revision together. Others come to me with a few essays written here and there, knowing that they have an idea but wondering if it has any value. And I meet some in the dreaming stage, the place where they feel that pull to write but don’t even know where to start.

Wherever you are in your journey as a writer (even if you don’t consider yourself a writer—yet), I know that place. I have worked with writers who started exactly where you are. And I know some of those places myself.

So why should you write a memoir?

The answer is simple: Someone needs to read your story. Someone is waiting to know about your experience, your growth, your struggles and triumphs. Someone is waiting for your story.

You may not be interested in being a published author. That’s okay.

You can still write and share your story.

You may have lived what seems an uneventful life—what would there be to even write about? That’s okay.

You’ll be surprised when you start digging and uncovering story after story you have to share.

You may think that the memoir genre is saturated and that someone has already said what you have to say. That’s okay.

No one has written your story. No one else knows what it is to be you. No one else but you knows the transformations you’ve experienced to be who you are.

When you start to believe in your story, you’ll start to see yourself as a writer. And when you see yourself as a writer, you’ll start to believe even more in the power your story. You’ll be swept up in a magical cycle that elevates and validates and connects.

That’s what story does. That’s what your story can do.

I’m hosting a NaNoWriMo group for creative nonfiction writers (and yes, you can be a creative nonfiction writer) that begins on November 1. This mastermind will be a transformative experience that will help you know your story and know how to write it. If you need guidance, support, partnership, feedback, community, you’ll find it in The Story Architect.

If anything I do in this space has any impact, I want it to be this:

Your story matters.

I believe in the power of your story, and I want you to believe it too.