How Mentor Texts Can Help You Write Your Memoir

Do you want to write a memoir but aren’t sure where to start?

Is your story’s structure difficult to pin down? Are you having trouble nailing your book’s point of view and voice?

Reading and analyzing mentor texts (other people’s memoirs) can help!

Compelling memoirs have key elements in common.

• Narrative drive
• Authenticity
• Focused and relatable themes that resonate with readers
• Descriptive, compelling prose

Keep these elements in mind as you read. Seeing literary elements and techniques at work in the books we read is illuminating!

Read a Variety of Mentor Texts

It’s okay to read stories with themes entirely different than those your memoir will address.

Your task is to analyze how the story is told—the story’s particular themes don’t matter for these purposes. Go ahead and choose the books you want to read! If you’re writing a memoir about your experience as a tennis coach but you’ve been meaning to read Cheryl Strayed’s memoir, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, by all means, go for it!

Once you’ve assembled an appealing stack of memoirs, head to a favorite reading nook with your book darts, highlighters, and favorite pens. Use these tools to mark the tricks and techniques you encounter while perusing mentor texts.

Points to consider while reading mentor texts:

The Story’s Purpose

• Who is the author’s intended audience?
• What does the author want their readers to discover?
• Why does this memoir matter?

Identity Voice and Relationship

• What attributes best describe the story’s narrator? Courageous? Naive? Ambitious?
• What impact do gender, race, and class have on the narrator’s point of view?
• How does the narrator view themselves today? How does the narrator view their younger self?
• Does the narrator include other people’s perspectives of the events described?

Truth

• Is this story’s narrator reliable?
• Do you believe their interpretation of the events they’ve described?
• Why or why not?  

Structure

• Is this story a chronological, framed, or braided narrative? Does it unfold in a noteworthy historical, social, or political context?
• Where does the story begin and end?
• What is its inciting incident?
• What effect do the choices the narrator makes have on the overarching story?

As you jot down observations, consider the ways these details apply to your memoir. Identify elements you like and dislike in each mentor text, and think of ways incorporating or avoiding these might shape your book.

Other blog posts and resources you might enjoy:

• Are you ready to write your book?  Let’s talk about it! Schedule a free Discovery Call to learn more about book coaching.
  
• Writing a novel? Get your free copy of my Write a Fabulous First Page workbook and video series.

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Do you use mentor texts? What are your favorites? Share them in the comments below.

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