We all have a story to tell - whether it is a story of a migrant childhood, a difficult past, adopting a child, riding a bike across India, or simply a contemplative year in a garden. With these stories we make sense of ourselves and the world around us. Memoir - writing about an aspect of a life rather than a whole life - expresses and shapes these stories within us so that the writing becomes more than a record, it becomes a creative journey. Drawing on Patti's extensive teaching and writing experience, and using examples and exercises, The Memoir Book provides invaluable insight on how to find your topic, develop narrative voice, find a balance between factual truth and vivid story-telling, explore creative ways of structuring memories, and helps identify the best form for your writing - whether it be literary memoir, narrative non-fiction, sojourn and travel writing, or even the personal essay. Written in Patti's warm, clear and conversational style, this book is an essential guide for anyone who wants to write memoir or extend the possibilities of autobiography and non-fiction. The Memoir Book, a companion volume to her highly successful guide Writing Your Life, provides inspiration and practical advice for both new and experienced writers exploring the popular genre of memoir.

Table of Contents

Prologue1 Exploring the Territory2 Follow the Heat - Beginning, Again3 The Importance of Madeleine Cake - remembering4 The Storyteller's Seat - narrating position5 Making Tapestry - texture and detail6 Finding Form - structural trouble-shooting7 Narrative - the magic spell8 True Confessions - truth-telling9 The Big I - self-indulgence and context10 Wish You Were Here - travel writing11 Random Provocations - the personal essay12 Borderlands - memoir and fictionReading ListAcknowledgements

About the Author

Patti Miller is the author of Writing Your Life, The Last One Who Remembers and Child (all Allen & Unwin), and Whatever the Gods Do (Random House). She has taught writing at universities and writers' centres for 20 years. In 1991, she founded Life Stories Workshops. Her website is www.lifestories.com.au.

Prizes

Concentrates on the art of writing a memoir - about an aspect of a life rather a whole life Explains how to find a topic and then how to balance factual truth with vivid storytelling Writing courses and life writing workshops are hugely popular at the moment She is also the author of Writing Your Life, which has sold over 16,000 copies since publication in Australia.