Worried about writing about family in a memoir? When a writer first tells me what her memoir is about, there’s often a pause, and then the question comes: “But what about my mother?” Sometimes it’s an ex-husband or a sister instead. Learn what’s legal, when to change names, whether to share your draft, and how to tell the truth with compassion.

The first chapter of your memoir has one main job. Once you know what that job is, the rest of your decisions get so much easier. The strongest memoir openings I’ve read, including the ones my writers have created, place the reader inside a specific moment. They also hint at the question the whole book will answer. Will she leave the marriage? Can he forgive his father? What does a woman do when the business she built is gone at 45?

Book Coach or Ghostwriter

She’s been wanting to write a book for a while and knows she has experiences worth sharing. The problem is, she’s just not sure how to begin. Or maybe she has a simple outline, but she’s been mulling over which stories to tell for years, sometimes decades. And the woman inquiring is looking for help, but has no idea who she's supposed to hire to help her figure it all out: book coach, developmental editor, or ghostwriter.