Your True Stories
May was Memoir Month at Wattpad, so we asked for your true stories, and you recorded them in droves. We heard tales of heartbreak, accounts of summer camp catastrophes, stories of overcoming adversity and ill health, travelogues from around the world, and even a possible UFO sighting. We have collected some of our favorites in this Memoir Month reading list on the Wattpad profile.
We’ll keep adding to the list through the month of June, so continue crafting your memoirs. Be sure to categorize them as Non-Fiction and tag them “memoirmonth.”
If you’re looking to share a memoir, but you’re not sure where to start, get acquainted with the memoir genre with these great tips:
Step 1: Lay Out Your Turning PointsMake a list of the 10-15 most significant moments that changed your life’s direction. Some will be moments of ecstatic joy or soaring happiness; others will be moments of profound sadness, confusion, or grief.
Step 2: Find The ThreadPick one life event that stands out, or the theme that ties all of these events together.
Step 3: Go DeepChoose three, five, or seven vivid memories from a short, intense period in your life—like the months when your mother battled cancer, or the time you were bullied in high school.
Step 4: Visualize Your LifeLook back on your memories, and picture yourself in them using the first person—"I"—to record what you saw and felt. Try to capture as many of your senses as you can, including sounds and smells to make the experience even more real to readers.
Step 5: Write it downTie all the elements that you identified in the previous steps into one story. Be creative in size and format: try writing your story as a series of letters or chat logs or texts, or compose micro-memoirs that are only a paragraph long. Feel free to experiment with names, places, and language (maybe you are in the mood to try writing in a Shakespearean voice or the third person). The only limit is your imagination, so have some fun with your memoir.
Step 6: Share it on WattpadOnce you’ve written your memoir, be sure to share it on Wattpad. Set the category to Non-Fiction, tag it “#memoirmonth,” and post away.