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How to Re-energize Your Memoir
It’s the opposite of what you think it might be
My writing beginnings
When I first started writing my memoir, I was enthusiastic. I signed up for a three-month memoir writing workshop, made some friends who became my long-time writing group (for which I am eternally grateful), and regularly wrote each week, stacking up pages of prose.
After the class ended, I continued in this manner for a year, working on my own and writing in each spare moment. Part of my efforts included establishing a viable outline with a compelling character arc.
This took months for me to complete, and I was proud of my progress.
The struggle to continue
However, after a while, I began to feel bored with the project. My memoir no longer seemed exciting, and I couldn’t put my finger on the problem.
I became turned off by writing courses (even wrote a Medium article about why I don’t take writing classes) because the ones I had explored were expensive and of mediocre value. It was feeling bleak, and I contemplated giving up the project after my numerous attempts at finding answers had failed me.
Maybe I wasn’t meant to write a memoir after all.