Want to be a better writer? Then READ more.
Writing a memoir can be a challenging and daunting task. It requires that you delve deep into your personal experiences and emotions, and to present them in a way that is engaging and relatable to readers. One way to improve your skills as a memoir writer is to read memoirs written by others.
Gain Inspiration and Ideas
Reading memoirs can provide you with inspiration and ideas for your own writing. Seeing how other authors have approached their own personal stories can help spark creativity and new perspectives in your own writing. You can learn from other writers’ styles, techniques, and approaches to storytelling, and apply those lessons to your own work.
Learn from Other Writers’ Mistakes
Reading memoirs can also help you learn from the mistakes of other writers. You may come across a memoir that has a similar theme or style to your own, but that falls short in some way. By analyzing what didn’t work in the memoir, you can avoid making those same mistakes and improve your own writing.
Understand the Structure of Memoirs
Memoirs can be structured in a variety of ways, and reading different memoirs can help you understand the different structures that can be used. For example, some memoirs may be chronological, while others may be structured thematically. By reading different memoirs, you can gain insight into how different structures can be used to tell a compelling story.
Develop Empathy and Understanding
Reading memoirs can also help you develop empathy and understanding for others. Memoirs are often deeply personal and reveal intimate details about the author’s life. By reading these stories, you can gain insight into the experiences of others and develop a deeper appreciation for the diversity of human experiences.
Improve Your Writing Skills
Finally, reading memoirs can help improve your writing skills. By reading well-written memoirs, you can learn new vocabulary, sentence structures, and writing techniques. You can also improve your ability to write compelling dialogue, description, and character development.
Look, I believe that everybody should always be in the middle of reading a book, no matter what. Whether you are writing your memoir or not, reading is simply a healthy exercise that will never get old. On top of that, in my opinion, we are currently in a golden age of memoir. Whether it’s high-profile actors, musicians, and other public personalities, or less familiar writers whose exceptional storytelling skills help their memoir resonate at the same level as somebody we are familiar with, it’s a great time to be both reading and writing memoir. There’s no excuse to not be always in the middle of a good book. But it’s especially helpful if you are in the process of writing your own story.
