Genres That Authors Struggle With Most Often - video

Many authors are drawn to memoir writing because it allows them to share the powerful moments of their life with others. But finding marketing or publishing success as a memoir writer can be difficult. Lucy Silag, community and engagement manager at Book Country, discusses how to write a memoir that sells. She addresses the challenges of writing memoir and how you can overcome these struggles. Silag says that many authors write memoir like a collection of family anecdotes, which is fine if you are writing for just your family. But if you want to publish a memoir for commercial success, you need to find a way to speak to a larger audience. Memoirs should read like a novel, including a plot, story arc, characters, and conclusion. This is can be challenging since you're writing nonfiction. Journaling and recording sensory detail can help you pick and choose scenes that fit into your story when writing your memoir. Reading many memoirs also helps you understand how a bestselling memoir is constructed.