Episode 19: Don't hesitate, get started writing your memoir!

Don't hesitate, get started writing your memoir. In this episode, Elizabeth shares about her Memoir Master Cohort Course that will set you up with an outline for your memoir along with determining your core message. Elizabeth is currently in the editing phase of her memoir, and so she knows the pitfalls and roadblocks that can get in your way when you're just getting started. Her course will help you save time and frustrations because you'll be working with an experienced writer and in a small group which helps tremendously with productivity and remembering to show up for yourself. 

Enrollment has closed for April, but be sure to get on the waitlist for the next session: https://inspired-writer-collective.ck.page/42427911ef

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Transcript

0:01

Welcome fellow writers to the Inspired Writer Collective podcast, your go to hub for all things writing. We're your hosts, Elizabeth and Stephanie. Whether you're a seasoned wordsmith or just dipping your quill into the ink well of creativity, we're absolutely thrilled to have you with us. Drawing from our experience in publishing diverse writing genres and the daily grind of showing up for yourself, we're here to be your writing companions. Expect insightful discussions, expert tips, and a dash of inspiration as we navigate the twists and turns of the writing journey together. So whether you're listening on your commute, during your writing session, or just relaxing at home, get ready for an immersive experience that celebrates the art and joy of writing. Hi,

Stephanie: 0:50

Hi Elizabeth.

Elizabeth: 0:51

Hey Stephanie!

Stephanie: 0:54

Hey listeners, we're here today to talk about a really exciting opportunity for you, especially if you're ready to work on your memoir, curious about writing a memoir, want to start getting the framework down elizabeth is launching a course for memoir writers. It's starting this week. So at this time, there are just at the time of this recording, there are just two seats left. So, If this really interests you click the links in the description and get on board for this amazing course. Elizabeth is working on her own memoir and is getting close to publishing it's really exciting and it's going to be a fabulous course. You don't want to miss this opportunity to be a part of it. So Elizabeth, why don't you give a little background first about what the overall vision of the course is.

Elizabeth: 1:55

Yeah, so the vision for this course really came out of the deficits that I experienced in trying to write my memoir from a 30 day email based course that was geared towards non fiction, which is what memoir is. However, there was zero support for the storytelling aspect of memoir. That, that structure was really more for like, Someone being able to write a quick how to book that supported their business, you know It wasn't really meant for for memoir and what i've seen over and over again with talking with other writers in who are interested in memoir is The main sticking points are figuring out what that core message is And then knowing what stories from your life to write in order to support the communication of that message to the readers so This course is really geared to the, towards people who are ready and interested in writing their memoir and have a vague idea of what they would like to write about. And what we're going to do is take four weeks to dig into what that core message really is, making sure it's not too broad, which was my issue in starting out. That was sort of a fundamental mistake I made. And then also creating a really detailed outline. In order to make sure that you know when you're going to the rough drafting phase, what stories you really need to write. And what's going to end up just on the cutting room floor by the time you get to the editing stage So this will save you so much time so much more time And I mean I wasted so much time writing things that had no business being in my book. I've re read my book several times it feels like and and to some extent that's a part of the process, but this is an effort to Help people see the things that I wish someone had shown me basically the, the overall, you know, six elements of plot and how to do an outline. We're going to be using frameworks like the Hero's Journey or Heroine's Journey, as well as very detailed outlining methods like Save the Cat, which pulls from screenplay writing. And just looking at those as models, because part of the value of using some of these structures is that it helps you inherently build in the proper pacing for your book. So, especially as I've been digging into the background for this coursework, I had recognized in my own memoir that, for whatever reason, the beginning chapters of my book are a little bit sluggish, like it's taking too long, I'm doing too much setup, in order to get to the catalyst or the motion of the story. And in looking into the Save the Cat beat sheet and that, that, the marks that you hit and when you hit them within the overall story timeline, I can see that my catalyst for the story I think I'm telling is way too far back. So either I need to tell a different story, which may mean, you know, being more succinct and clear with my core message, maybe honing that down even further. Or just moving stuff around and make sure like deleting some of this excessive setup so that the catalyst hits at the right point because essentially what you will have happen to the feedback of your book is that your story has no plot. When readers get to it, they'll stop reading. It just doesn't feel like it's moving anywhere substantial. And so this is one of the key things that helps with doing this sort of detailed outline from the jump is that you know when to hit those different points. I mean, some of these structures are down to, like, the number of scenes, which is essentially 1, 500 words. So, down to, like, the number of chapters and what you need to be writing in each chapter, you can have that outlined and know before you ever start rough drafting. I certainly wish I'd known that. Before I started all of my numerous versions of writing my memoir and so Essentially people will be able to walk away from this course Knowing that they have a core message that will resonate with readers that they're passionate about that They're excited to share that kind of thing that nags at you that you always want to speak up in conversation about when you hear someone who Expresses a similar challenge that they faced in their life or are currently facing and then a very clear Outline in which to start doing your rough draft And that's not to say that those things won't change throughout the writing process because as you know Stephanie and I have talked about endlessly right like we are constantly making shifts and changes But it's just starting from a really solid place And, and really jumping ahead all of those early iterations that really aren't going to go anywhere focusing on the character arc, making sure that you're showing those, the internal conflict and the external conflict and how those eventually end up merging later on. And, you know, act three and how then. The hero must rely on themselves because you need this sort of Hightower moment where their initial plan didn't work and now they have to regroup and do something different. And it's a lot of what the reader is expecting. I mean, it's, it's, it's You can look at any genre of, you know, movies or fiction and then of course memoir. And you can see these beats. You can see these moments. And so that's what we're going to be doing. Is we're going to be using those frameworks so that we're taking the guesswork out of What stories are relevant? What level of build up do I need? And then we're able to put our own stories onto it. Now this is very much like from a plotter's side versus a pantser, right? Like a pantser is not gonna love this level of outlining. But the thing with memoir is, You've already lived your life. You've already lived the stories. There's really not that much, you know, pancing you can do. There's not a whole lot of flexibility of like, let me let the character lead where they want to go. You already lived it. So you have a limited number of options. It's just whether you share or you don't share. It's what level of disclosure you give, whether you include that story or don't include that story. So that's why we're taking a much more plotter approach to the outline. And. That way people will finish the course and feel confident that they're ready to start their rough draft, and then they can just go full steam ahead.

Stephanie: 8:38

Well, and it sounds really great because like you said, you've already lived your life and by going through this course and having a plotting structure, it allows you as the storyteller of your life to really focus in and, Stay focused, narrow down the scenes and stories from your life that you really to tell. And like you said, I mean, there are going to be iterations. It's not going tothe first time it comes out of you onto the paper is definitely going to be messy. I mean, that's true with any writing process. I feel like if anybody tells you any differently, that, that, that just is impossible. Like every writer talks about the mess that happens the first time around. But I think that it sounds really great because you'll come away with a plan. And it's a lot easier when you have a plan to stay with that plan and with that structure. One of the things that it would be great. If you could elaborate on a little bit is the idea of the core message. What exactly does that mean? I mean, I understand what you're talking about and others, other listeners might understand as well, but there might be some who are listening and wondering, like, do I even have a core message? What possibly could my core message be? talk about that a little bit for the listener.

Elizabeth: 10:02

Yeah, so it can be one of the most intimidating parts about deciding to write a memoir, and it's, It's really what makes memoirs stand out from autobiographies. So an autobiography is written by the author and it's generally the entirety of their life story. Usually there's some early chapters that may even go into before they were born, like their family history and genealogy. And it goes all the way through whatever portion of life they've lived up to at the time of writing. And memoir is not that. Memoir is. Snippets and moments of your life packaged and presented in a way such that the reader takes away something from your experience and your stories and is able to apply that to their own experience, their own perceptions, their own understanding of their life or what they choose to do and how they choose to act. So it's guidance in that way. And so that's what you need. a message to root those stories in. Otherwise, it's just a random selection of your favorite stories and it doesn't it doesn't convey anything strongly meaningful to the reader. So sometimes when I look at some of the like travel memoirs I read, a lot of those are about Truly about independence and self reliance and self confidence, right? Those are the core messages. And so sure, it's told over this particular story of maybe the ones I've read are usually like long distance hiking, like wild, or I read one written by an indie author called Alone that was hiking the Arizona Trail. So, it, the message is what dictates who you are. The how, what timelines you're going to be writing about, what stories you're going to include, because you're not writing about your whole life. Even if there are moments, because of the core message that's chosen, that root back to childhood, and what comes to mind is when I think of untamed, Glennon Doyle, Does reference moments in her childhood when she was very young, where she found these cages or put herself in these cages, right? Because that is linked to the core message of these cages that you're surrounded with and that society puts you in and the keys that you find to unlock those cages. And how you rewild yourself or untame yourself. I mean, it's the whole theme of the book. So sure, she's got moments and snippets of stories that go all the way back to her childhood. And then all the way through her, you know, experience with young children, her first marriage, her divorce, her second marriage, her moments of sobriety. So she, she covers a lot of ground. But all through that singular lens, so that is what your core message is for is to provide a beautiful package to hold those stories in and to unify those stories, and it can be really intimidating because this is your own life. So it's, it's essentially. An effort to to draw some significance or meaning out of your life And that's why people tend to go too broad because they feel like in trying to come up with this core message and writing this Memoir, they have to condense it down to the like their life's purpose like who the hell knows what that is But it's not it's not that That big right? We're looking for like a smaller lesson struggle that you can learn speak to because of your experience. Currently I'm reading you can make this place beautiful by Maggie Smith. And the entirety of her memoir is simply about her divorce and post divorce life. You know, so she's not going back to childhood. She does some flashbacks to her ex husband and hers early dating life or early married life, but it essentially is all around her divorce. And so it can sometimes be like as the word that's coming to mind is small, but that's not the word I want, but it can be as refined as that. It can be as specific as that, or it can be broader like Glennon Doyle's Untamed, right? And that's why it's hard because there is some variety, but it can't be so big that you can't do it justice within, you know, 60 to 80, 000 words.

Stephanie: 14:49

Yeah, no, I think that that, and I, I think that that's great. And I, I really like how you make the distinction between autobiography and memoir, because I think you're absolutely right that there's often confusion around that. And I think that that holds some writers back because they feel like. They need to somehow tell their whole story. And this idea of having a core message that you to, again, much in the same way that you're creating a plotting structure, you're creating a narrowed focus, know, one lens to look at it through. And I think too, it's another great way to connect with readers and thinking about getting, when you get your book into the hands of readers, What is it that you're wanting to tell them as if you were, you know, giving your TED talk or something of that nature, I guess, you know, that that allows you to connect with them because, of course, that's how, you You're going to bring your book out into the world as if it create has that core message that connects readers. So I think that those who have the opportunity to take this course are going to have so much within the 4 weeks of it to build an incredible foundation for a memoir. And of course, beyond the course, there are. Will be continued opportunities if I'm correct to, you know, keep working with Elizabeth, keep working within our inspired writer collective community. If you're seeking that support, so, you know, get in, get in now at the. At the ground level and, you know, be a, be a part of this because I just know there's going to be so much buzz around this memoir class because Elizabeth is creating an amazing opportunity for you. And like she said at the beginning, all, you know, learning from the stumbling blocks of her own that. Allow for this, you know, gift to you, who's out there who maybe you're feeling intimidated by the blank page or you're unsure this is definitely going to be a great opportunity for you. Let's see, what are, what are going to be some of the aspects of, is there going to be a lot of work for the course? You know, what is the time commitment? Cause I know sometimes, you know, listeners might be thinking like, Oh, it's going to be too big of a time commitment. I'm not sure. And, may hesitate and I don't want you to hesitate listener, but what are, what do you see is kind of the amount of, of work that someone would put into doing this course?

Elizabeth: 17:39

So the course runs for four weeks, and we will have a weekly live meeting that'll be recorded so you can play it back. I'll, in conjunction with the weekly live meeting, I have basically coursework, so, I mean, it's probably depending on the week, maybe 15 minutes of reading. On, you know, whatever the topic is, whether we're talking about the message, or we're talking about a very basic concept of plotting, or we're going into breaking down all the beats of the save the cat method, or we're talking about character arcs and character development. Those are sort of our four big things that we'll be hitting on. So because we have an hour meeting each week, I want to make sure we get the most out of that, and that everyone can speak to their particular stories, and we can give feedback to each other. That's the benefit of doing this as a group and not like an independent study. So there is some reading to do, and then there are assignments in between each week. Now those assignments do not have to be turned in, you can do them at your own pace. That just helps you stay on track to be ready to consume the next week's material. So it isn't intensive, for sure, in the sense that you're going to have to create a detailed outline. I mean that's the purpose of taking the course, is to identify the core message and create a detailed outline. So it really will depend on what level of thought someone has already put into what topic they want to write on. But I do believe that with the frameworks being presented there's at least a little bit of a plug and chug aspect to it and people will have access to and understand this outlining structure through taking the course and We'll have emailed stuff to them as well and so even if you Reach one of those moments in your editing process where you need to go back to the outline You will have learned how to outline. You will have these resources available to you, so you can always repeat these steps at any point in the process that you need to revisit outlining. That's one of the things I wanted to bring up, too, because I've experienced this already twice since starting to write my memoir, is that it can be really tricky to write. A story about your life while your life continues to happen because as life does it continues and sometimes we come across moments in our life where we have an experience that shifts our perspectives on how we understand our past and depending on what timeline you're writing about, like, for example, my memoir Pretty much goes up to present day. So I'm having a lot more interference with my present day activities than someone who's writing a reflection on things that they lived and experienced. You know that maybe ended five years ago, right? But that's that's part of the process of writing memoirs sometimes is that it'll it may continue to change but students will always have access to this kind of course material and the templates that we're using within the course And of course, Stephanie and I are always available within the community. The other aspect of this course is access to the community wide time to write sessions. So that is what I envision as already carved out time to do the weekly assignments. So there is a definitely a good portion of time that could be spent in the time to write sessions to get those assignments done without bleeding into other times of your week. But I do ask for a commitment going into this. That you have some time to really devote to this project. This is a four week course and this will not be the only time that I run it. So if you're not ready, that's fine. You're not ready. That's okay. If this schedule is not right for you, if this month is not right for you, cause I'm going to run the, this at other on other months. And so I really want people to be realistic and honest about what kind of time they have about how committed they are to starting this process. And once you finish the four week course, by all means, you can take a break or spend more time going back and finishing and tweaking the outlines. There's an opportunity to submit your outline to me in your core message and to get feedback, although you do not have to, and that does not have to be immediately following the course. It can be after you take a little bit more time to look at it. I, I want to allow people the flexibility for real life to happen. and not feel like they're missing out, but also to know up front that this is a commitment of your time. And I want to make sure people are doing this when they're really ready to take on these, you know, these messages and these courses and being present to give the feedback to other people, because that's the beauty of writing in community.

Stephanie: 22:27

Well, and I think that also speaks to the benefit of this course being very small. There are only four seats available already. Two of those seats are taken. So definitely listener, if you're interested, Get on board for this because being part of a small cohort is so beneficial. I know Elizabeth and I have talked about this in previous episodes of the podcast, and we often come back to it time and again, is about that value of writing in community and having other writers who are, you know, trudging through the process in the same that you are because certainly there's so much benefit from not sitting in a room by yourself, staring at craft books that are giving you information, but to have the interaction with someone, especially like Elizabeth, who has really, you know, done extensive reading about memoir. Has really studied her own process and the process of writing a memoir and has learned from so many people I mean, it's just incredible the wealth of knowledge that elizabeth has about memoir and be so beneficial, to learn From this course. I know that if I were writing a memoir, I would jump in. I'm working on contemporary romance, so I'm not quite, I'm not quite ready for my memoir yet. Maybe that'll come in a few years. I'll be ready to finally sit down. I've certainly thought about it, but backpedaled a little bit. But definitely I, I mean, I highly encourage you listener to, to jump into this opportunity. And so, Elizabeth, what is, you know, what are you most excited about as you Look forward to, you know, welcoming those who have already joined and hopefully those who will join. What are you most excited about with this memoir course?

Elizabeth: 24:20

Oh, well, I'm excited to hear people's stories. I'm excited. I mean, I just feel so much gratitude when someone trusts me with, Their story and then being able to take what you know At the starting point is just kind of an idea floating around in someone's head and then seeing it all the way through To you know a clear and cohesive outline where you know, then it's like, okay little birdies now fly like I I feel this sort of like I don't know mama bird like Feel to it and knowing that by the time someone gets the end of this course they'll be ready to start rough drafting and really putting words to paper and You And seeing their story come alive. There's just so much that happens like Internally healing wise as you start to write your stories down And just knowing that like that's what's on the other side of this for people like just it I don't even know that I have the words for all the like emotions that it brings up for me so if you think that you're ready I am doing coffee chats with people before allowing them to enroll and that may sound kind of weird But like I said, like we're taking this very seriously. We want to make sure You That you are ready for this course, that you're committed to the process, and that way I can have some time to just chat about what it is that you're looking for, making sure this is the right fit and then I have a little bit of knowledge going into it, where you're at, what your story may, you know, center around, and then I can sort of cater and craft the course to those particular stories and those particular people that are taking the course.

26:05

Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Inspired Writer Collective podcast. We hope you found inspiration, insights, and connection to yourself as a writer. If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe, and leave us a five star review. Remember, the power of storytelling lies within each of us, and by supporting one another, we can make a difference. We invite you to schedule a coffee chat with us on our website, www. inspiredwritercollective. com. Just like our style here on the podcast, our coffee chats are casual and a way to connect about your writing and discover if book coaching or joining our upcoming writing cohorts for memoir and contemporary romance writing are for you. You can also become a part of our community by connecting with us on social media. You can find us on Instagram and YouTube at Inspired Writer Collective, on TikTok at Inspired Writer LLC. Let's continue this writing journey together. You can find links in the show notes. Until next time, fellow writers, may your pens be mighty and your stories captivating. Happy writing!