The Role of Change in Writing Your Memoir

PHOTO courtesy of Pixxabay

There’s an old joke that two things in life are inevitable: death and taxes.

To that I’d add, change. Whether we like it or not, our lives are constantly in a state of change.

It’s always been a given in fiction writing that the main character must experience some form of change by the end of the book.

So what does this have to do with writing a memoir, you ask?

Personal experience — and the changes that result — leads to lessons learned.

I’m sure you’ll agree that you know a lot more now than you did when the journey you want to write about in your memoir began.

In some — maybe several — ways that knowledge has changed you.

Here are 21 life events that can cause dramatic change in one’s life:

· Moving to a new city

· Death of one or both parents

· Travel

· Abuse, physical and/or emotional

· Falling in love (and getting married)

· Catastrophic illness

· Divorce