• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • 20 Top Tips
  • About Marion
  • Online Classes
  • My System
  • Coaching & Editing
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Contact
  • Home

Memoir coach and author Marion Roach

Welcome to The Memoir Project, the portal to your writing life.

The Memoir Project Blog

How To Characterize Someone in a Personal Essay

MY FATHER DIED forty-one years ago this week and, as it does each year, it got me thinking about what I miss. But what to write? How to characterize someone in a personal essay? How to show who he was … [Read more...] about How To Characterize Someone in a Personal Essay

What is a Memoir? Let’s Define It and Get You Working.

I HAVE A NEW response I give when asked how to define memoir and I’ve been testing it on people, hoping it resonates. Now, I think I’ll share it with you. When defining what is a memoir, one can scour … [Read more...] about What is a Memoir? Let’s Define It and Get You Working.

How To Write a Personal Essay? Go Small to Reveal Life’s Large Themes

THE PERSONAL ESSAY will always be among my favorite forms of discovery. In it, one can have a little look, bounce something in the hand and gather one’s wits on the larger issues of life by reflecting … [Read more...] about How To Write a Personal Essay? Go Small to Reveal Life’s Large Themes

One Big Tip on Planning A Memoir

WHEN IT COMES TO the work of planning a memoir, the advice you will receive online, in books and in person should always include the words “structure” and “argument,” as well as the question, “What is … [Read more...] about One Big Tip on Planning A Memoir

How To Start an Excellent Memoir? Try This Free Online Class

LATER THIS WEEK, I’ll be teaching a free class called “How to Start an Excellent Memoir.” I last offered this class in August, and it was very well received. So, we’re doing it again. … [Read more...] about How To Start an Excellent Memoir? Try This Free Online Class

How To Write That First, Messy Draft: The Perfect Recipe

SINCE PUBLICATION OF THE MEMOIR PROJECT, my irreverent little book on how to write memoir, there has not been one day that I have not wanted to tweak it, adding a small thought or a phrase to what I … [Read more...] about How To Write That First, Messy Draft: The Perfect Recipe

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 34
  • Page 35
  • Page 36
  • Page 37
  • Page 38
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 102
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

GET THE QWERTY PODCAST

Qwerty Podcast logo

Subscribe free to the podcast

DON’T MISS an episode of Qwerty, the podcast for memoir writers. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or Stitcher, or anywhere podcasts are distributed.

Join the newsletter

Subscribe to get my latest content by email.

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by Kit

SITEWIDE SEARCH

Books I recommend to learn to write memoir

Learning to write begins with reading. Click on any photo above and go to my Suggested Reading List. Then what? Put away the prompts and exercises. Stop practicing and learn to write with intent. How? Come join my Live Online Classes.

SEE MY WRITING SYSTEM

BUY MY HOW-TO MEMOIR WRITING BOOK

  • Amazon

TOPICS

POPULAR STORIES

  • The Role of Art in Troubling Times, with Author & Activist Shannon Downey
  • How to Start a Writing Project? Write From a Point of Conflict, with Author Callan Wink
  • How to Write Memoir When You Don’t Have it All Figured Out, with Jess Gutierrez
  • Differing Versions of a Family Tale? No Problem.
  • What Tone Should Memoir Take? In Praise of Humility in Memoir

Footer

SITEWIDE SEARCH

JOIN ME ON INSTAGRAM

mroachsmith

I teach & coach memoir to inspire the writing life you want.
Author of 4 books. Work w/ me to write yours.
Tap link to connect.

Sometimes the toughest part of writing is getting Sometimes the toughest part of writing is getting started. Join @callan.wink and I as we discuss his latest novel Beartooth on the QWERTY podcast. 

#writingcommunity #memoirauthor #memoircoach #memoirwriting
No writer ever has it all “figured out”. Join No writer ever has it all “figured out”. Join @arkansaswrites and I as we discuss how to keep writing on the QWERTY podcast. Available on all major podcast platforms. 

#writingcommunity #memoirwriting #memoirauthor #memoircoach #booktok
Join Joan Wickersham and I as we discuss how to fi Join Joan Wickersham and I as we discuss how to figure things out as a writer on the QWERTY podcast. Available to listen on all major podcast platforms. 

#writingcommunity #memoirauthor #memoirwriting #writingmemoir #memoir
Happy Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day.
Join @lailaswrites and I as we discuss how to beco Join @lailaswrites and I as we discuss how to become a freelance writer on the QWERTY podcast. Link in my bio to listen in. 

#writingcommunity #memoirauthor #memoirwriting #memoircoach #booktok #memoir
You’ve heard about the importance of the first l You’ve heard about the importance of the first line in a novel, but how about the first scene for memoir? Join @brookerandel and I on the QWERTY podcast as we discuss. 

#writingcommunity #memoirauthor #memoirwriting #writingmemoir #booktok

Copyright © 2025 Marion Roach · contact