The Perfect Christmas Gift—a Memoir

The Perfect Christmas Gift—a Memoir

As Christmas approaches are you struggling to find the perfect gift for your parents or grandparents? Do your Dad and Grandfather have enough socks and undies to last a lifetime and is your Mum’s bookcase and that of your Grannie bursting at the seams with recipe books they never read?  Have you thought of giving […]

7 Reasons Why Telling Our Life Stories is Good for Us

7 Reasons Why Telling Our Life Stories is Good for Us

Biographers who help people to record their memoirs see firsthand the benefits people get from the process of reminiscing and sharing their life stories. Here are just some of the reasons why …  1) It can help us to understand ourselves better. ‘Know thyself’, Socrates urged. He also said: ‘The unexamined life is not worth […]

Tips for Crafting a Powerful Beginning for Your Memoir or Life Story

Tips for Crafting a Powerful Beginning for Your Memoir or Life Story

A question participants in my memoir writing workshops often ask me is: ‘Where should I start my story? At my birth? An important milestone? A momentous occasion? If you are writing a life story you may think you have to start with yourbirth and progress chronologically to the present. But you don’t have to adhere […]

Psychological Benefits of Sharing Your Life Story

Psychological Benefits of Sharing Your Life Story

October 7-13 is Mental Health Week, an annual, national event that aims to improve community awareness and interest in mental health and wellbeing. Events honouring the week culminate on World Mental Health Day (10 October). Mental Health Week puts the spotlight on the mental health of older Australians and ways we can enhance their psychological […]

The Best Christmas Present Suggestion – Before It’s Too Late!

The Best Christmas Present Suggestion – Before It’s Too Late!

“My mother worked on a highly secret military project during the Second World War, as my father flew Spitfires overhead and headed into battle.”  “I’m a descendant of the Duke of Northumberland (‘on the wrong side of the sheets’, as they say), or so I’ve been led to believe.” “My grandmother had a shipbuilding empire […]

Writing Vivid Scenes in a Memoir

Writing Vivid Scenes in a Memoir

In my memoir writing workshops participants often say they struggle with writing in a way that evokes emotion. They worry their writing is flat and uninteresting.  One way you can make your writing more compelling is to create vivid scenes full of sensory details. These scenes fuel a reader’s imagination and draw them into the […]

Top 3 Memory Joggers for Memoir Writers

Top 3 Memory Joggers for Memoir Writers

When writing memoirs for my clients I’m sometimes amazed at the clarity of their memories. Last week, I interviewed an 85-year-old grandfather who recalled precise details of the furniture, colour scheme, sounds and smells of his childhood home in Broken Hill. He even remembered the titles of the ‘78’ records his father played on the […]

Writing a Memoir

Writing a Memoir

PSST! I MIGHT HAVE CRACKED THE CODE FOR WRITING A MEMOIR. WHAT DO YOU THINK? It’s 5Ws+1H. And I’ll even share the interpretation of the code ;-). My theory is that if you ponder these questions with curiosity and patience, you’ll come up with a strong framework for writing your story. You don’t need to […]

Definition of Memoir

Definition of Memoir

The other night, my partner said, ‘The thing I like about Malcolm Gladwell is that he notices elements of his life and sees connections that pull them together in a way that makes sense of the world.’ ‘Say that again!’ I cried. I wrote while he repeated, trying not to put too much pressure on […]

The Power of Story

The Power of Story

Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette is the work of a unique talent who understands the power of story and now understands herstory. If you haven’t seen it, do. I had the privilege of front-row seats at the 2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival live show, where it won the Barry Award for Best Comedy. I write about this now, in […]