The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing a Memoir: Expert Guidance on Crafting Your Most Meaningful Story

I used this book to help a client write her memoir. The information is eye-opening. It is so important to know what to include and what omit. She does a good job of pointing out things like: will your family talk to you after you write the memoir! LOL. But that's actually a very useful question. I also like the way she wrote about the different kinds of memoirs and how to make them work.One problem was the printing. My copy had many, many pages where the type was smooshed together. A very bad printing job. I should have asked for another copy to replace this one, but I had highlighted so many passages, I decided against it. Make sure your copy is clean before you read it. I've read thousands of books and this is the first time I've ever experienced that!Dan JanalBook coach and author of "Write Your Book in a Flash: A Paint-by-Numbers Systems for Writing the Book of Your Dreams - Fast!"

Costello's guide to writing a memoir is an extremely well crafted, specific, nuts-and-bolts description of the elements required not only for a memoir but for most kinds of novels as well. It provides practical advice on how to approach such a project, and how to get through it, and how to have it reviewed in manuscript form by one's peers. And, beyond that, how to get it into print. Most such guides tend to be vague about important steps in the process. This one is comprehensively detailed. Even if you don't plan to write a memoir, you'll find it fascinating if you like to write.

When I recently began thinking about writing my own life story, I thought certainly it would be a relatively straight forward project. Why not? I had all the credentials and experience to accomplish my mission. I had a solid liberal arts and journalism school education from a good public university and more than 25 years of experience working in the journalism profession during which I have published hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles covering a wide range of subjects.But as I discovered from Victoria Castello's guide, writing a memoir is a different - and much more complex - process than writing news stories and magazine features. In a news or feature article, you tend to answer the questions: What is this and what about it? When writing a memoir, the writer goes a step further and answers a third question: So what? To answer this third question, and make your writing come alive, Castello explains that a memoirist has to incorporate a host of literary techniques into the narrative, such as voice, plot, character development, dialogue, scenes, and much more.Castello does an admirable job of explaining these terms and how to incorporate them into your memoir. Her book has helped me make the transition from the short news story to book-length narrative through this very easy-to-follow guide that makes you think about both the big picture and the details. The book not only covers the writing process, but also delves into legal issues and how to get your memoir published. I recommend this book for anyone who is thinking about, or is in the process of, telling his or her own life story through a memoir or similar writing vehicle, regardless of whether you're a beginner or veteran journalist.

I loved this book! It explained a lot things I didn't know were involved in writing a memoir, yet it didn't make it seem impossible to accomplish.

I am a fan of Idiot guides. The information is always presented in straight forward fashion, well indexed and accessible for future reference.Lots of books out there for writing memoirs, but this one is a good one.

This book was extremely helpful in guiding me to the completion of my first memoir genre book. The author's seasoned, realistic approach to writing a memoir is second to none. Highly recommend it!

First book to buy if you are thinking of writing your memoir or just some stories for you kids. How to start, gather thoughts, layout design and just write. Then check the book for sentence structure.

Outstanding ok. Very helpful.