You’re writing a memoir. But you’re not sure what questions or life lessons you want to focus on.
Even if only family members and friends will read the finished book, you want to make it worth their time.
This isn’t just a whimsical collection of anecdotes from your life.
A memoir is like a diamond necklace: before you can set the stone and craft the chain, you have to extract the ore and refine it. As Barrett suggests, you should treat yourself as an interview subject and ask yourself questions that can trigger stories that may have. 50 Short Memoirs - Examples of Narrative Personal Essays by Famous Authors The best examples of short memoir, narrative personal essays, reflective essays and creative nonfiction by famous writers. A Birth Story by Meaghan O'Connell I Was Pregnant.
Memoir Story Arc
You want to convey something to your readers that will stay with them.
And maybe you want your memoir’s impact to serve as your legacy — a testament to how you made a small (or large) difference.
The collection of memoir questions in this post can help you create a legacy worth sharing.
So, if you don’t already have enough ideas for a memoir, read on.
63 Memoir Writing Prompts
Use the following questions as memoir writing exercises. Choose those that immediately evoke memories that have stayed with you over the years.
Group them by theme — family, career, beliefs, etc. — and address at least one question a day.
For each question, write freely for around 300 to 400 words. You can always edit later to tighten it up or add more content.
1. What is your earliest memory?
2. What have your parents told you about your birth that was unusual?
3. How well did you get along with your siblings, if you have any?
4. Which parent were you closest to growing up and why?
5. What parent or parental figure had the biggest influence on you growing up?
6. What is your happiest childhood memory?
7. What is your saddest or most painful childhood memory?
8. Did you have good parents? How did they show their love for you?
9. What words of theirs from your childhood do you remember most, and why?
10. What do you remember most about your parents’ relationship?
11. Were your parents together, or did they live apart? Did they get along?
12. How has your relationship with your parents affected your own love relationships?
13. Who or what did you want to be when you grew up?
14. What shows or movies influenced you most during your childhood?
15. What were your favorite books to read, and how did they influence you?
16. If you grew up in a religious household, how did you see “God”?
17. How did you think “God” saw you? Who influenced those beliefs?
18. Describe your spiritual journey from adolescence to the present?
19. Who was your first best friend? How did you become friends?
Memoir Story Starters
20. Who was your favorite teacher in elementary school, and why?
21. Did you fit in with any social group or clique in school? Describe your social life?
22. What were your biggest learning challenges in school (academic or social)?
23. Who was your first crush, and what drew you to them? How long did it last?
24. What was your favorite subject in school, and what did you love about it?
25. What do you wish you would have learned more about growing up?
26. What did you learn about yourself in high school? What was your biggest mistake?
27. What seemed normal to you growing up that now strikes you as messed up?
28. How old were you when you first moved away from home?
29. Who gave you your first kiss? And what do you remember most about it?
30. Who was your first love? What do you remember most about them?
31. Was there ever a time in your life when you realized you weren’t straight?
32. Describe a memorable argument you had with one of your parents? How did it end?
33. Have you lost a parent? How did it happen, and how did their death affect you?
34. What was your first real job? What do you remember most about it?
35. How did you spend the money you earned with that job?
36. At what moment in your life did you feel most loved?
37. At what moment in your life did you feel most alone?
38. What do you remember most about your high school graduation? Did it matter?
39. What’s something you’ve done that you never thought you would do?
40. What has been the greatest challenge of your life up to this point?
41. What did you learn in college that has had a powerful influence on you?
42. How has your family’s financial situation growing up influenced you?
43. How has someone’s harsh criticism of you led you to an important realization?
44. Do you consider yourself a “good person”? Why or why not?
45. Who was the first person who considered you worth standing up for?
46. If you have children, whom did you trust with them when they were babies?
47. Did you have pets growing up? Did you feel close or attached to any of them?
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48. Describe someone from your past whom you’d love to see again.
49. Do you have a lost love? If yes, describe them, how you met, and how you lost them.
50. Describe a moment when you made a fool of yourself and what it cost you.
51. What is something you learned later in life that you wish you’d learned as a child?
52. How do you want others to see you? What words come to mind?
53. What do you still believe now that you believed even as a child or as a teenager?
54. What do you no longer believe that you did believe as a child or teenager?
55. When have you alienated people by being vocal about your beliefs?
56. Are you as vocal about your beliefs as you were when you were a young adult?
57. Are you haunted by the consequences of beliefs you’ve since abandoned?
58. How have your political beliefs changed since you were a teenager?
59. Have you ever joined a protest for a cause you believe in? Would you still?
60. How has technology shaped your life for the past 10 years?
61.Has your chosen career made you happy — or cost you and your family too much?
62. What comes to mind if someone asks you what you’re good at? Why does it matter?
63. How is your family unique? What makes you proudest when you think about them?
How will you use these memoir writing prompts?
These memoir topics should get ideas flooding into your mind. All you have to do, then, is let them out onto the page. The more you write, the easier it will be to choose the primary focus for your memoir. And the more fun you’ll have writing it.
That’s not to say it’ll be easy to create a powerful memoir. It won’t be. But the more clarity you have about its overall mission, the more easily the words will flow.
Enjoy these memoir writing exercises. And apply the same clarity of focus during the editing process. Your readers will thank you.
Writing a memoir is a daunting endeavor for any author: how do you condense your entire life story into a mere couple hundred pages? Of course, you'll find plenty of online guides that will help you write a memoir by leading you through the steps. But other times that old adage “show, don’t tell” holds true, and it’s most helpful to look at other memoir examples to get started.
If that’s the case for you, we’ve got you covered with 21 memoir examples to give you an idea of the types of memoirs that have sold well. Ready to roll up your sleeves and dive in?
The autobiographical memoir
The autobiographical memoir — a retelling of one’s life, from beginning to present times — is probably the standard format that jumps to most people’s minds when they think of this genre.
At first glance, it might seem like a straightforward recount of your past. However, don’t be deceived! As you’ll be able to tell from the examples below, this type of memoir shines based on three things: the strength of the author’s story, the strength of the story’s structure, and the strength of the author’s voice.
Examples
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. The woman who Toni Morrison said “launched African American writing in the United States,” Angelou penned this searing memoir in 1969, which remains a timeless classic today.
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. Less of a singular memoir than a collection of humorous anecdotes framed around his life as a transplant to Paris, the star of this book is Sedaris’ dry voice and cutting humor.
A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby. Chacaby’s remarkable life — from growing up abused in a remote Ojibwa community to overcoming alcoholism and coming out as a lesbian as an adult — is captured in this must-read autobiography.
The “experience” memoir
One of the most popular memoirs that you’ll find on bookshelves, this type focuses on a specific experience that the author has undergone. Typically, this experience involves a sort of struggle, such as a bitter divorce, illness, or perhaps a clash with addiction. Regardless of the situation, the writer overcomes it to share lessons learned from the ordeal.
In an 'experience' memoir, you can generally expect to learn about:
- How the author found themselves facing said experience;
- The obstacles they needed to overcome; and
- What they discovered during (and after) the experience.
Examples
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Faced with the prognosis of terminal cancer at the age of thirty-six, Paul Kalanithi wrote an unforgettable memoir that tackles an impossible question: what makes life worth living?
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. An account of drug and alcohol abuse that one reviewer called “the War and Peace of addiction,” this book became the focus of an uproar when it was revealed that many of its incidents were fabricated. (In case you’re wondering, we do not recommend deceiving your readers.)
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. Adapted in 1999 into a critically acclaimed film starring Angelina Jolie, Girl, Interrupted enduringly recounts the author’s battle with mental illness and her ensuing 18-month stay in an American psychiatric hospital.
The “event” memoir
Similar to the “experience” memoir, the “event” memoir centers on a single significant event in the author’s life. However, while the former might cover a period of years or even decades, the “event” memoir zeroes in on a clearly defined period of time — for instance, a two-month walk in the woods, or a three-week mountain climb, as you’ll see below.
Examples
Walden by Henry David Thoreau. In July of 1845, Henry David Thoreau walked into the woods and didn’t come out for two years, two months, and two days. This is the seminal memoir that resulted.
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. The controversial account of the 1996 Everest disaster, as written by author-journalist Krakaeur, who was climbing the mountain on the same day that eight climbers were killed.
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. Immortalized as one of the classic books about mourning, The Year of Magical Thinking recounts the grief Didion endured the year following the death of her husband.
The “themed” memoir
Memoir Story Map Ten Oaks Middle School
When you look back on your own timeline, is there a strong theme that defines your life or ties it all together? That’s the premise on which a “themed” memoir is based. In such a memoir, the author provides a retrospective of their past through the lens of one topic.
If you’re looking to write this type of memoir, it goes without saying that you’ll want to find a rock-solid theme to build your entire life story around. Consider asking yourself:
- What’s shaped your life thus far?
- What’s been a constant at every turning point?
- Has a single thing driven all of the decisions that you’ve made?
Examples
Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. Throughout an up-and-down upbringing complete with a debilitating battle with depression, the single consistent thread in this author’s life remained football and Arsenal F.C.
Educated by Tara Westover. If there’s one lesson that we can learn from this remarkable memoir, it’s the importance of education. About a family of religious survivalists in rural Idaho, this memoir relates how the author overcame her upbringing and moved mountains in pursuit of learning.
Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth. Now best known for its BBC adaptation, Worth’s account of her life as a midwife caught people’s imagination with its depiction of life in London’s East End in the 1950s.
The family memoir
In a family memoir, the author is a mirror that re-focuses the light on their family members — ranging from glimpses into the dysfunctional dynamics of a broken family to heartfelt family tributes.
Examples of this type of memoir
Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat. A love letter to her family that crosses generations, continents, and cultures, Brother, I’m Dying primarily tells the intertwined stories of two men: Danticat’s father and her uncle.
Native Country of the Heart by Cherrie Moraga. The mother is a self-made woman who grew up picking cotton in California. The daughter, a passionate queer Latina feminist. Weaving the past with the present, this groundbreaking Latinx memoir about a mother-daughter relationship confronts the debilitating consequences of Alzheimer's disease.
The childhood memoir
A subset of the autobiographical memoir, the childhood memoir primarily focuses (spoiler alert!) on the author’s childhood years. Most childhood memoirs cover a range of 5 - 18 years of age, though this can differ depending on the story.
Examples of this type of memoir
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. The groundbreaking winner of the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, McCourt’s memoir covers the finer details of his childhood in impoverished Dublin.
Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl. Evoking his schoolboy days in the 1920s and 30s, the stories in this book shed light on themes and motifs that would play heavily in Dahl’s most beloved works: a love for sweets, a mischievous streak, and a distrust of authority figures.
The travel memoir
What happens when you put an author on a plane? Words fly!
Just kidding. While that’s perhaps not literally how the travel memoir subgenre was founded, being on the move certainly has something to do with it. Travel memoirs have been written for as long as people could traverse land — which is to say, a long time — but the modern travel narrative didn’t crystallize until the 1970s with the publication of Paul Theroux’s Great Railway Bazaar and Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia.
In a travel memoir, the author isn’t the star of the show: the place is. You can expect to find these elements in a travel memoir:
- A description of the place
- A discussion of the culture and people
- How the author experienced the place and dealt with setbacks during the journey
Examples of this type of memoir
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Proof that memoirs don’t have to tell catastrophic stories to succeed, this book chronicles Gilbert’s post-divorce travels, inspiring a generation of self-care enthusiasts, and was adapted into a film starring Julia Roberts.
The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux. A four-month journey from London to East Asia (and back again) by train, this is the book that helped found the modern travel narrative.
The celebrity memoir
Memoir Story Ideas
The celebrity memoir is just that: a memoir published by a celebrity. Though many celebrity memoirs are admittedly ghostwritten, the best ones give us an honest and authentic look at the “real person” behind the public figure.
Note that we define “celebrity” broadly here as anyone who is (or has been) in the public spotlight. This includes:
- Political figures
- Sports stars
- Comedians
- Actors and actresses
- Musicians
Short Memoir Story
Examples of this type of memoir
Paper Lion by George Plimpton. In 1960, the author George Plimpton joined up with the Detroit Lions to see if an ordinary man could play pro football. The answer was no, but his experience in training camp allowed him to tell the first-hand story of a team from inside the locker room.
Troublemaker by Leah Remini. The former star of TV’s The King of Queens tackles the Church of Scientology head-on, detailing her life in (and her decision to leave) the controversial religion.
It’s Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong. This is a great lesson on the way authors often write books to create their own legacy in the way they see fit. As history confirmed, Armstrong’s comeback success wasn’t entirely about the bike at all.
Now that you know what a memoir looks like, it’s time to get out your pen and paper, and write your own memoir! And if you want even more memoir examples to keep being inspired? We’ve got you covered: here are the 30 best memoirs of the last century.