How to Write a Memoir That’s More Than a Memoir

When one story’s not enough to tell the whole story

No one sets out to write a memoir on a whim. This particular form of nonfiction is almost always written in response to a personal experience that burrows so deep, it won’t let go until its whole story is investigated. The memoir, then, becomes that investigation.

The event that triggered my memoir Gaining was my separation after 20 years of marriage. Mo…