The Memoir Method Podcast

This episode is for the writer who is ready to take a serious look at their work. Part of becoming a published author is the ability to get honest and serious about your own writing and drafts. Memoir can make this especially difficult, but I’m here to show you how and when to go into editing your own work. I know it’s intimidating, and it’s also a skill that you can learn! Let’s get started. Enro...

This episode is for the writer who is writing, has a big chunk of a manuscript even, but isn’t sure about when to enlist the help of an editor. I’ve worked with a lot of writers who have had negative or lackluster experiences with editors before, and my intention in this episode is to empower you to choose the right editor at the right time with the right manuscript. Let’s get started. Enroll in T...

This episode is for the writer who wants to make sure that the reader will be on her side and know what she’s thinking and what she’s experiencing. Writing yourself as a character can be tricky, because you can assume the reader either needs explanations that are actually too much information or that the reader can read your mind. Today we’re going to learn how to see yourself as a character and h...

This episode is for the writer who is afraid that no one will buy their book. You want people to read, buy, and share your book, but you don’t actually believe that it will happen. Breaking into the publishing world feels so out of reach that you’re paralyzed with the prospect of building an author platform and that fear that no one will buy your book is loud. I’m here in this episode to disrupt t...

This episode is part of a series where I take already published memoir and break down what works and why (and what doesn’t work and why). I’ve found that when I’m teaching my Memoir Method concepts to my writers, they benefit from seeing how these principles play out in memoir that you can find at the bookstore. This month I’m looking at the memoir Sociopath by Patric Gagne. You can find part 1 of...

This episode is for the writer who still calls themselves aspiring. I'm going to get a little salty in this episode because the truth is that that single word is cannibalizing your author career. Spoiler alert, if you think about yourself as an aspiring writer, it will take you a hell of a lot longer to publish your book than you want. Let's talk about it. Sign up for my free, private podcast seri...

This episode is part of a series where I take already published memoir and break down what works and why (and what doesn’t work and why). I’ve found that when I’m teaching my Memoir Method concepts to my writers, they benefit from seeing how these principles play out in memoir that you can find at the bookstore. This month I’m looking at the memoir Sociopath by Patric Gagne Sociopath by Patric Gag...

This episode is for the writer who can’t even imagine what publication will look like for them. You are so stuck in the weeds of writing and editing that even thinking about what happens after you finish your draft overwhelms you. I want this episode to be a gentle invitation for you to rethink how you feel about the publication process. Perhaps it’s not the work of writing and publishing that is...

This episode is for the writer who wants to better understand the publishing industry. Pop culture has sold us a very shiny, very curated picture of the publishing industry—New York skyscrapers, champagne book launches, and the lucky author who got picked from the slush pile. But here’s the truth: publishing is an industry, and when you understand it for what it really is, you get to take back con...

This episode is for the writer who has had to refine what they think memoir is. We’ve been sold a specific concept of memoir through publishing, and you’ve likely gone into the process with certain beliefs and ideas about the genre and the writing process. And then, to no one’s surprise, the experience of writing is so much different from what you had thought it would be. In today’s episode I’m go...

This episode is for the writer who thinks (or used to think) that self-publishing is, for whatever reason, less than traditional publishing. When you think of self-published books you think of Comic Sans, cheesy covers, and awkward marketing. You’ve been taught to consider self-published as lower quality, that traditional publishing equates to “good writing.” In this episode I want to debunk the s...

This is a series where I take published memoir that you can find at any bookstore and run it through the perspectives and lenses and frameworks that I use with my writers to help you figure out what works in memoir and why it works or what doesn't work in memoir and why that might not work. Our first book, I'll be spending a couple episodes on this with you, is Careless People by Sarah Wynn Willia...

This episode is for the writer who keeps saying, I just need more time, or maybe I'm just not ready yet, or need to have one more round of edits. I'm going to say the thing that no one else is saying. I'm going to talk about what's really holding you back. Because your publishing fate is not with an agent. It's not with an editor. What happens to you as an author in the publishing industry is 100...

This episode is the kickoff for a new series on The Memoir Method podcast where I examine already published memoir with an editorial eye: what works, what doesn't, and why. Our first memoir on the examination docket is Careless People by Sarah Wynn Williams, a behind-the-scenes, tell-all memoir about working for Facebook and Meta. This is part 1 of 2. Buy your copy of Careless People here. If you...

This episode is for the writer who looks at the headlines and freezes. The world is overwhelming and scary and uncertain. It can be hard to know what your role is, because there seems to be so much that we could do but sometimes we wonder if any of it actually makes a difference. This episode is your reminder that what you bring to the table matters, especially with your writing. Let’s get into it...

This episode is for the writer who is ready to be an author. The writers who find themselves in my world do not just want to write a book, they want to be a published author. I’m here to show you that what happens with writers in my spaces goes beyond the manuscript and invites them into a whole new identity as an author. The work of The Memoir Method is transformational in every way, and I’m exci...

This episode is for the writer who dreads the querying process. You know how things are supposed to go when it comes to traditional publishing, and you believe that traditional publishing is the only legitimate way to get your work out there. But secretly, you hate the hoops you have to jump through with traditional publishing. You hate the rejection and feel that there has to be a better way. The...

This episode is for the writer who is afraid to call herself a writer. If I had a magic wand, she'd want me to use it to make her feel like who she wants to be. She's looking outward to find that validation as an author that she deeply desires, but the secret that we're going into today is that no one can give you that identity except yourself. We're going deep today, friend. Let's go. Instantly a...

This episode is for the writer who is ready to reimagine memoir. There's a lot about the publishing industry, about memoir, about storytelling, about creative nonfiction that doesn't necessarily serve us. And there are a lot of rules that we feel are a part of the publishing industry, and you're not wrong. And so this episode is for the writer who is ready to challenge those rules, who's ready to...

This is an episode for the writer who thinks they just need more time to figure out their book. I get it, you’re a perfectionist. You’re waiting for everything to be just right. Just one more beta reader, one more editing pass, one more read-through—and wait! You can change that and rework that and move those scenes around. Your writing time is beginning to feel more like a groundhogs day (and whe...

This is an episode for the writer who wonders if their story is even worth telling. We’ve been talking a lot over the past few episodes about clarity and purpose in your memoir, but what happens when that imposter syndrome creeps in. While I like to keep Tuesday episodes specifically about writers that I work with, today I want that writer to be YOU. I speaking directly to and about you today, and...

This is an episode for the writer who keeps rewriting the same chapters—without getting anywhere. I’ve talked a little bit about the memoir rewrite cycle, where you slip into overwriting and overediting, because you think that one more pass will magically make things click. Today I want to go deeper into this concept and talk about how to use your clarity to support your manuscript. Let’s spend so...

This episode is for the writer who is over-complicating the process. I'm going to share a bit about my own writing process and projects and show you how what I teach actually works and how I apply it to my own work. Publishing is a weird industry with a lot of smoke and mirrors to it, and I want to help you see the craft of writing differently so that you can interact with your writing in a refres...

This is an episode for the writer who keeps searching for the perfect structure. You have rewritten the same sections over and over. You've worked on flow. You've adjusted pacing. You've been rewriting and rewriting and rewriting, but you still don't feel finished. You still don't feel like you're ready to move on to the next stage. So this episode is for you, my friend. Let's get into it. Take my...

This episode is about a writer who was worried about the wrong things when it came to her memoir. She thought that her writing was the problem, when really the vision behind her manuscript was foggy. I want to take you behind the scenes of my high-level editing work and show you how to figure out what your actual problem is (because it’s not that you’re a bad writer). Take my free memoir quiz here...