How do you write a memoir?
- A focused theme around a specific period, relationship, or experience.
- 60,000-90,000 words for trade memoir.
- First-person POV throughout.
- Permissions or pseudonyms for real people.
- 3-5 major revisions before submission.
You write a memoir by choosing a focused theme around a specific period, relationship, or experience — not your whole life — and building 60,000-90,000 words around that theme in first-person POV. Memoir requires permissions for real people named, fact-checking for verifiable claims, and emotional truth over strict factual chronology. Most published memoirs go through three to five major revisions.
Chapter i·Why it matters
Memoir is the most-attempted and most-failed genre for first-time authors. The failure mode is consistent: trying to tell a whole life instead of a focused story. Memoirs that sell — Tara Westover's Educated, Michelle Obama's Becoming, Cheryl Strayed's Wild — all have tight thematic focus. Knowing the genre conventions before drafting saves writers from the most common failure.
Chapter ii·What to include
- A focused theme: a specific period, relationship, or transformation.
- 60,000-90,000 words for trade memoir.
- First-person POV throughout.
- Permissions or pseudonyms for real people.
- Fact-checking for verifiable claims.
- 3-5 major revisions before submission.
Chapter iii·Example
A debut memoirist's first draft attempts to cover her whole life (110,000 words). Her developmental editor narrows the focus to a single year — her father's terminal illness and her own divorce in 2018-2019. Revised draft: 78,000 words, single arc, single year. The narrowed focus is what sells the manuscript to an agent.
In WriteLoom
Somewhere to actually put the words
WriteLoom's Plan studio holds memoir structure, character permissions, and fact-check notes in one project.
Not ready for a workspace yet? Get the free six-part series on winning the writing game: finishing drafts, editing in the right order, querying with real math, and launching on a runway.