BARRY FOX & NADINE TAYLOR
How To Find...
Your Memoir Writer's Voice
Authors & Ghostwriters of memoirs & more
www.BarryFox.us
Memoir Writer's Voice
www.BarryFox.us
Your memoir writer’s voice is the personality of your prose. It's what makes your book different than everyone else’s. It's what separates you from the rest, even if you’re telling the same kind of story as other writers.
Memoir Writer's Voice
www.BarryFox.us
Your writer's voice is not necessarily a carbon copy of the way you typically speak. Nor is it that funny, serious, profound, or other kind of voice you wish you had. It's the voice that best reflects what's going on in your heart and mind.
Memoir Writer's Voice
www.BarryFox.us
A strong memoir writer's voice makes your written words evocative. It allows your readers to feel, hear, and visualize what you're talking about. And it speaks with unyielding honesty.
Memoir Writer's Voice
www.BarryFox.us
Your memoir writer’s voice may not be pretty and polished. It may not make you sound magnificent. But it is the unvarnished you. And that's the point of a memoir - painting a portrait of the real you, while inviting the readers to see the world as you do.
Memoir Writer's Voice
www.BarryFox.us
How do you find your memoir writer's voice? How do you strip away all the pretense and puffery? By writing. Then writing more, and more. Don't edit yourself Just write and write and write.
Memoir Writer's Voice
www.BarryFox.us
Write those stories that you tell your friends. Write about your childhood, your hopes and fears. Write about your grandparents, your favorite summer vacation, your most embarrassing moment, and anything else you can think of. Write without editing yourself.
Memoir Writer's Voice
www.BarryFox.us
Keep writing, in every way, from every angle. Adopt different emotions and attitudes; aim at different target audiences as you write. Write something you’re angry about. Write about something that brings you joy.
Memoir Writer's Voice
www.BarryFox.us
Write something serious and something frivolous. Write for your next-door neighbor, your significant other, and the judge at traffic court. Write about the big fears and dark secrets you don’t want to confront. Write about the silly things, too.
Memoir Writer's Voice
www.BarryFox.us
Write until you cannot write anymore. Then read what you’ve written. Which passages work, and which do not? Which sound geniune, and which make you cringe? Which words and phrases are you proud of?
Memoir Writer's Voice
www.BarryFox.us
Which embarrass you so much you want to rip them up? Which passages would you write if you had nothing to protect? If you feared nothing, not even criticism from others? If your only goal was to speak the truth about yourself?
Memoir Writer's Voice
www.BarryFox.us
These are your most honest words - the words that lead you to your memoir writer's voice. Don't worry if they're not funny enough, dignified enough, or exciting enough. If they're honest, they're more than enough. If they're honest, they're golden.
Memoir Writer's Voice
www.BarryFox.us
Congratulations - you have found your memoir writer's voice! Build your memoir around this honest voice. Honesty is everything in memoir. If you're not going to tell the truth, why bother writing a memoir?
Contact Barry & Nadine: Barry@BarryFox.us
NADINE TAYLOR & BARRY FOX
Bestselling Authors & Ghostwriters of memoirs and more
We can help you write a great book!