Write Your Memoir in a Year
52 powerful prompts to write your life and finish your book
Have you ever wanted to write your memoir but had no idea where to start? That is why I created The Prompted Memoir. It is for anyone who has ever wanted to write about their life, heal their story, and uncover their voice.
As a Trauma-Informed Book Coach, I’ve had the privilege of working with individuals from all over the world who are writing for the same reason: to heal past pain, many of whom aspire to write memoirs. The common struggle I’ve encountered is– “I want to write my story, but I don’t know where to begin, how to structure it, and feel overwhelmed by the process.” Often, these writers would halt before they even started. This deeply saddened me as it was evident that writing about their life was a profound longing and, dare I say, a calling. So, I resolved to create a solution that would assist them in writing their memoir with ease, clarity, and direction–The Prompted Memoir- A DIY course for you to write your life with a new powerful prompt each week!
These prompts are organized into 52 chapters, one for each week of the year, with powerful writing prompts that help you engage themes of grief, body, and childhood in order to tell stories about your life. The idea of The Prompted Memoir is simple– Write a new short story, essay, or narrative poem based on the prompt each week in up to 1-3 pages. After a year, you will have a memoir that tells your story in 52 chapters. No matter whether you are a new writer who has no idea where to begin– these prompts will offer you direction to tell your story. Or, if you are a busy single mom who wants to write a book but can’t find the time– these weekly prompts will invite you to show up for an hour or two a week so that you can write your memoir at a steady pace for a year.
The word memoir stems from the Latin word mémoire, meaning memory. Though memories can sometimes be hard to recall in detail, especially after intense grief, these memories still live deep within the recesses of our body’s inner knowing and subconscious. Perhaps that is why so many write their stories, whether it’s through reflective journaling or with the intention to share with others. There is, at the core, a longing to understand our life. Joan Didion said it well when asked why she wrote, “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see, and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”
I started writing from the moment I learned to put words onto the page. This is evidenced by the stacks of journals in my closet dating back over twenty years. No one told me to write, not really. It was an intuitive outlet for catharsis that taught me early on that writing is where I could be honest and vulnerable and, ultimately, where I could be myself. The first memoir I wrote was on my parent's oversized desktop when I was twelve years old. Story after story filled over thirty pages. Was it good? Probably not, but it taught me early on that writing stories was the thing that would help me feel, heal, and reveal my life.
My hope for you, dear reader, is that these prompts will take you on a profound healing journey as you reflect on your life. They will enable you to finally pen the memoir that has been stirring in your heart for years. I firmly believe that there is nothing more potent than sharing our stories. It has the potential to transform us as we see our own life mirrored on the page, and it can uplift others who need to read stories of resilience to feel less isolated. As Brené Brown beautifully said, “One day, you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through, and it will become someone else’s survival guide.” I sincerely hope the same will be true for you with The Prompted Memoir.
Go check out The Prompted Memoir, which includes up to 52 powerful prompts for curating a complete memoir, writing tips, resources, and steps for the next steps when you complete it. You will need to become a paid subscriber to access this powerful DIY memoir writing course. Once you sign up, go to the shortcut guide to find all the prompts as they become available each week.
Here are the first three prompts for free to get ya excited!
Write about the first neighborhood you grew up in
Write about your go-to hiding spot as a kid
Write about a family tradition you grew up with
I hope you love it and that it awakens your story.
Love, Megan