What Memoirs and Mountains Have in Common

A former client of mine is an amazing photographer. Years before Scott asked me to edit his book, he had moved from my home state out west to be closer to his newest love: the mountains. The photos he’s taken during his time in the mountains are nothing short of spectacular. 

But why am I telling you this? Well, let me get to explaining that. 

You see, I was recently lost in thought about how Scott has been able to get such amazing shots. Mountain climbing (especially with photography equipment) isn’t exactly a walk in the park. I mean, you can’t just start climbing, right? You can’t just decide one day to get up off the couch and drive to the nearest mountain, get out of your car, and then walk until you’ve hit the peak. That’s just not how it’s done.

This is the type of thing you plan ahead for. That is, at least if you’d like to make it easier on yourself by ensuring you have all the supplies and tools you’ll need, you know how to get where you’re going, and you’ve prepared to keep yourself safe and energized for the journey. 

And then my thoughts brought me to my work, as they frequently do. Memoirs, too, are the type of thing you should plan for. Writing a memoir isn’t something you’d just decide one day to get up off the couch and drive to the nearest office supply store, buy all the pens and notebooks in sight, and then write until you get to “The End.” Right?

I see your point, Danielle, but memoir writing is not the same thing as climbing a mountain. You can certainly sit down and start writing without planning ahead. After all, you’re writing about something you know the most about: your own life.

Yes, that’s a great point. You’re right about that. Writing a memoir puts you squarely in the zone of genius on the subject matter. But I’d argue that makes it even easier to get yourself off track if you start writing without a map, just like if you were sans map climbing the nearest mountain. 

Let me explain.

Let’s assume you decide you want to take the “just write” approach, so you start writing. Based on my experience, I wouldn’t be surprised if you soon feel what I’ve seen my clients grapple with along the way. In fact, I’ve heard it twice from clients in as many weeks: “Ugh… there’s so much more to write. It feels like it will never end!” 

And if you’ve written past the first line in your draft, you may already have a taste of the level of work required by all aspiring published memoirists. There truly is SO much to write.

Even a “small” memoir at 30-40,000 words can feel like summiting a tall peek. Imagine doubling that—or, Lord help us, tripling that! When you sit down and really think about it, writing a memoir is no small feat. Each finished manuscript is a monumental achievement. We’re talking Everest level! 

But, I’m here to tell you, friends, that the icky, stressy feelings about the amount of work left on your manuscript is a sign that you need a map. You need something that helps you feel confident about where you’re going and about your ability to get there without running out of steam on the way.

Because, the truth is, when you write without a map, you end up writing A LOT. Typically, way more than you need to. Your initial instincts may tell you that you *must* include literally everything that happened from beginning to end. After all, it’s a story about your life (your LIFE!) and those things did happen. Right? 

They did, but that doesn’t mean they belong in your book. And if you haven’t mapped out what actually DOES belong (aka, your path to the top of the mountain) before you sit down with a box of Bics and a stack of spiral bounds (or your laptop—potato, potato), then you’re in for a much longer climb. 

And who wants to take the long way to the top of the mountain? Not me!

So, when I hear a writer tell me that it feels like too much to write, I know they need to take a step back and start mapping. This game-changing work is what I do with pretty much every client, whether they come to me with an idea or a work in progress. In either case, it’s the only way to truly reach the summit of your mountain. 

To get started on your memoir map, let’s look at the three main factors I help my clients define during their mapping session. Think of this as your book GPS.

Theme 

The theme of your book is the universal thread that will tie it all together. It answers, “What is your book about?” It also answers, “What is the universal message that your story shares that will connect with your readers? What human-level lesson does your book help us learn?” 

It’s vital that you are very clear on your theme. This is the lens through which you will write; it helps your experiences, memories, and lessons feel cohesively tied together. If you’re not looking through only one lens at your story, it will feel like it’s all over the place. The theme helps you judge whether each scene on your timeline is relevant to the story, whether it needs to be treated as a major or minor scene, and how best to package the scene. Writing without a theme is essentially like climbing a mountain in the dark: you’ll almost never end up where you want to go and you’re more likely to give up along the way. 

Another way to look at the concept of theme is imagining there are multiple paths up the mountain, but you can only choose one. The path you choose must be aligned with the reason you want to write this book in the first place.

Readers

Before you can find your way to the finish line, you must deeply understand who you are writing for and why them. Remember, your readers will bring their own desires to your book; they will read your book because they have a need and they think your book can fill. And if you’ve put in the work to get very clear on what value your book will deliver, then you’ll have no problem fulfilling that need. 

Without considering your readers, though, your book may come across as just another interesting story with no valuable takeaways. In other words, you may enjoy your stroll around the mountain, but it won’t feel like you’ve accomplished much. Because, at the end of the day, we both know you’re writing this book for more than just yourself. You want to reach out and touch your readers. So, take the time to get to know them. They’ll thank you for it later.  

Scene Outline

Making a scene outline before you write is like walking up to that mountain base knowing every step you’re going to take. And you might be thinking, Duh Danielle, of course I have an outline. If so, great!! Pull it out and make sure it’s doing what you need it to do.

Notice that I call this a “scene” outline, not just an outline. In my work a scene is two things: the external events and the internal reaction to the events. A scene portrays both the cause and effect, the action and the reaction. When you craft an outline of the major scenes, what you’re doing is taking your theme (the lens) and the value you’ve promised your readers and using them as a measuring stick to help you determine which scenes are relevant and which scenes need to shift to fit the theme.   

Putting the effort into making an outline of the relevant scenes based upon your theme and readers’ desires is like having a guide walk you up the mountain. You’ll save days, weeks, and maybe even months of writing a story that may need to be shifted later. I’ve seen this happen with many manuscripts, and every single time, I take these writers back to the scene outline. 

So, journey onward up the mountain, my friend, but take a map with you. With these three elements firmly in place before you write, your journey to the end will be much less rocky. And if you perked up at the thought of having a trained guide traversing the memoir mountain with you, schedule a free call with me to see if I can help. I’ll be hanging out at my desk with my hiking boots on and my granola packed, just in case.

Creatively yours,