Recently I was asked to assist with editing a narrative memoir (one with dialogue). This is not exactly the direction my business was meant to go in, but I’m so glad I took on the project: ‘A Lifetime of Dreams’, by Eddie Robinson. 

Memories are important. Capturing them with a fine eye for the substance of life, now that’s a skill. Putting in dialogue and creating scenes with details of times long gone by is part knowing creative fiction writing and part knowing thyself. And by the age of 89, you would have experienced love, loss, triumph, despair and funny moments, just like Eddie here. Why trust an idiot like ChatGPT with editing that life story?

Some people start with the simple facts about their life. Yet wouldn’t it be much more important to share all of those non-glossy moments with your descendants, and pass along some hard-won life lessons, than just put your achievements and facts?

And, isn’t it true that facing our fears about putting it all down for anyone to read… is a triumph in itself? For, through the prism of our writing (even with some editing help) we find out new things about our life, our parents, our struggles.

Or, if it’s more about a particular topic, we can reflect and bring to light more connections in our mind about that topic, sometimes coming to a conclusion on what this means to the world at large.

But How do We Make it Interesting?

There are techniques to make one’s story interesting to others when they don’t know you. Dialogue, metaphor, analogy, and the long one–allegory–all spring to life, ready to help. Using cliches in a clever way or popping in a touch of humour can lighten things up.

Narrative memoir is closer to fiction, whereas autobiography is retelling a life, stage by stage. It’s fine to initially not know which to use… because creative writing is all about experimentation.

A simple tip is to read Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark. I enjoyed the different techniques learnt in this book, and rate it 5 stars.

Write for Life, by Julia Cameron, is a nice sit-down-and-read book about writing that may dispel some fears. It is good value because the book is a very large format, containing a multitude of tips.

Write for Life is written for every writer, and every writer should read it.

The links above are Amazon links, and we are an affiliate – so we get a tiny 4% commission but you get the same price as always.

Next Steps

If you’re curious about the ways that my editing and publishing support business can help you, please get in touch for a 25-minute introductory call.

If you want to stay out of trouble, stay clear of Facebook ad-clicking on ‘Publish my Book’ offers for cheap, stay wary of Fivver editors (use of ChatGPT or Grammarly) and instead rely on local editors with testimonials.

You can also talk to past clients or look up their books on Amazon, generally.