An Introduction to Writing Memoir

Here comes the latest installment of my ongoing podcast about writing memoir, “Telling Your Story”. Going forward, you will find a new one every Wednesday morning for the next fifteen weeks.

I recorded this series during the first six months of the pandemic, when I was living at my house on the shores of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. At the time, I was also working hard on my novel, The Bird Hotel. But even when I’m writing fiction, I’m never far from considering the role of memoir in the life of a writer. Whether we like it or not, there’s one story a writer can never totally get away from: her own.

Because I recorded this series a few years back, you’ll hear some references that no longer apply. But when it comes to the writing part—my advice to writers, and tools I believe will help you become a stronger and more authentic writer of memoir—every word I offer here still applies.

I hope you enjoy this series. And if you do—or if you have questions about what I talk about in these segments—I hope you’ll post them. I always love to hear back.

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For twenty-five years, New York Times best-selling author Joyce Maynard has been leading workshops in the art and craft of memoir all over the U.S. and beyond.  Of all the places she’s taught, her favorite destination remains what has often been described as the most beautiful lake in the world: Lake Atitlan, Guatemala—where, for the last twenty years, she has been building a home and gardens that have been an oasis and inspiration to over three hundred writers who’ve travelled there every winter to work with her. This is where this series of podcasts is recorded and produced.  

It is a series of intimate conversations with Joyce and some of her writing students that explore many journeys and global questions in memoir. We start by addressing questions such as, do we need to tell our memoir? What goes in it? What are we really looking for? And how do we arrive at the sense of freedom to tell our whole, true, story?