WriteMyMemoirsSupport

The Rosanne Ullman
Better Writing Group

Experiencing writer's block? We're here to help!

The Better Writing Group is partnering with writemymemoirs.com to offer you as much or as limited writing, editing or proofreading assistance as you require. A lot of creative people have great stories to tell, but putting it all into words can be challenging. Scroll down to see pricing and options for writing help.

If you're stuck right at the beginning, we're happy to help jump-start your brain and give you a few things to think about.

Voice

First, determine how you want to present your memoirs. If you want your story to read like an autobiography, you should write it in the first-person voice. This means that you're using the first-person pronouns "I" and "me" to tell your story from your own point of view. This is the way most people would instinctively write their memoirs.

If you would like your story to read like a novel, you can use the third-person voice. Then you would tell your story from an unidentified narrator's point of view and refer to yourself as "he" or "she" and "him" or "her." Another idea is to use the voice of a specific person, perhaps your child, parent, spouse or best friend, who would relate your story from his or her unique vantage point. Since you're doing the writing, however, it would actually be your impression of that person's perspective.

Structure

You have an endless choice when it comes to structuring the material. Here are just a few ideas:

Chronological. Start from birth and proceed forward. This is easy! This also has the advantage of becoming an ongoing work as your life continues.

Modified chronological. Start from the present and describe what your life is like today, and then go back and trace how you got to this point. Similarly, you can start from a midpoint or important time in your life, describe what's going on at that moment, tell everything that led up to that point and then move forward to explain what's happened since the selected midpoint.

Setting. Identify all of the places that have provided the backdrop for the action in your life, and tackle them location by location. For example, you could go through each room of your house and remember a story that either took place there or comes to mind because of an artifact, document, photo or other item in the room. Together, the stories would unfold to reveal the players and events that have shaped and defined your life.

Theme. Divide your life into major themes, such as romance, work, travel, family, hobbies, school or whatever categories lend themselves to multiple anecdotes. Within each category, relate what happened.

Photos. They say every picture tells a story, and you could wrap each of your life tales around one or more photos. This would create a photo journalism piece, with your story told more or less in captions.

I'll Help!

I'm Rosanne Ullman, and I would be honored to have you share your story with me. How will this work? That depends upon how much help you need.

Package 1: Polishing. This is for you if you want to do the writing yourself and have a good command of the English language, but you'd like your work to carry a professional tone. You will let me know when a chapter is finished, and upon your permission I will retrieve it from your Write My Memoirs account. Or, you can wait until you finish your entire story. I will correct typos and grammatical errors and email you back the edited in a timely manner. Price: 25 cents per word that you submit. Reasonable email/phone contact is included as necessary.

Package 2: Editing. This is for you if you want to write out your ideas but you have trouble with the language and/or organizing the information. You will let me know when a chapter is finished, and upon your permission I will retrieve it from your Write My Memoirs account. Or, you can wait until you finish your entire story. I will correct typos and grammatical errors, fix organizational problems, eliminate redundancy and guide you when there are holes in the story or parts that are difficult to follow because information is missing. I will email you back the edited version in a timely manner. Price: 50 cents per word that you submit. Reasonable email/phone contact is included as necessary.

Package 3: Writing. This is for you if you would prefer to tell your story over the telephone or over a video phone service like Skype and have me write it up for you according to your specifications. We will set up a schedule that suits both of us for 2 hours by phone once a week for as long as it takes. Within one week, I will email you a first draft of the stories you told me during that week's phone interview, and you can take as much time as you like to comment, make changes and email it back to me. I will accommodate your changes and email you a second draft in a timely fashion. Price: 75 cents per word in the second draft.

To get the ball rolling, please call me at 847-251-3907 or email me at rosanne@betterwritinggroup.com.

All work must be secured with a $50 deposit. After that, monthly invoices must be paid for work to continue. Coming later in 2009: Pay through PayPal.

About Me

I'm a full-time freelance writer based outside of Chicago. Working with professionals in a variety of industries, I create web content, write copy for marketing materials, craft entire magazine articles and edit books. In addition, I teach a course in business writing and grammar for a local continuing adult education program. I hold a Master's Degree (MSJ) from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Return to writemymemoirs.com

	Chronological. Start from birth and proceed forward. This is easy! This also has the advantage of becoming an ongoing work as your life continues.
	Modified chronological. Start from the present and describe what your life is like today, and then go back and trace how you got to this point. Similarly, you can start from a midpoint or important time in your life, describe what's going on at that moment, tell everything that led up to that point and then move forward to explain what's happened since the selected midpoint.
	Setting. Identify all of the places that have provided the backdrop for the action in your life, and tackle them location by location. For example, you could go through each room of your house and remember a story that either took place there or comes to mind because of an artifact, document, photo or other item in the room. Together, the stories would unfold to reveal the players and events that have shaped and defined your life.
	Theme. Divide your life into major themes, such as romance, work, travel, family, hobbies, school or whatever categories lend themselves to multiple anecdotes. Within each category, relate what happened.
	Photos. They say every picture tells a story, and you could wrap each of your life tales around one or more photos. This would create a photo journalism piece, with your story told more or less in captions.

	Package 1: Polishing. This is for you if you want to do the writing yourself and have a good command of the English language, but you'd like your work to carry a professional tone. You will let me know when a chapter is finished, and upon your permission I will retrieve it from your Write My Memoirs account. Or, you can wait until you finish your entire story. I will correct typos and grammatical errors and email you back the edited in a timely manner. Price: 25 cents per word that you submit. Reasonable email/phone contact is included as necessary.
	Package 2: Editing. This is for you if you want to write out your ideas but you have trouble with the language and/or organizing the information. You will let me know when a chapter is finished, and upon your permission I will retrieve it from your Write My Memoirs account. Or, you can wait until you finish your entire story. I will correct typos and grammatical errors, fix organizational problems, eliminate redundancy and guide you when there are holes in the story or parts that are difficult to follow because information is missing. I will email you back the edited version in a timely manner. Price: 50 cents per word that you submit. Reasonable email/phone contact is included as necessary.
	Package 3: Writing. This is for you if you would prefer to tell your story over the telephone or over a video phone service like Skype and have me write it up for you according to your specifications. We will set up a schedule that suits both of us for 2 hours by phone once a week for as long as it takes. Within one week, I will email you a first draft of the stories you told me during that week's phone interview, and you can take as much time as you like to comment, make changes and email it back to me. I will accommodate your changes and email you a second draft in a timely fashion. Price: 75 cents per word in the second draft.