Back to basics: Your memoir’s Grand Finale, Part 1

While you’re writing your memoir, keep in mind where you’re heading: Build toward your ending.

Your ending is the most important part of your book 

for both you and your readers.

For that reason, never, never, never settle for this trite, anemic conclusion: “And they lived happily ever after.”

For the benefit of (a) yourself and (b) your readers, pin down the heart and soul of your story.

But consider this: Most of us don’t know precisely how our memoirs will end because, within the process of writing, our stories often take us directions we didn’t anticipate.

That process of writing can open our eyes to things we overlooked before and that, in turn, can change the end of our story.

You might not know the heart and soul and best ending until you’ve finished your first draft and have made time to mull it over—and that could take weeks, or months, or even years.

But that’s okay. As you keep writing, these will become more evident.

The beauty of memoir is that you write much more than just events and details. You uncover a story larger than the one on the surface.

You excavate a story deeper and higher and wider than the immediate one.

Dig it out in pieces if you must—but dig it out.

Here’s the key: You must make time, must be deliberate in reflecting, pondering, digging. Discover new insights and patterns and connections that significantly impacted your experience and your life.

Use your Grand Finale to highlight your story’s most important points, those messages you want your readers to treasure and incorporate into their own lives.

Keep this in mind:

The beauty of your memoir

will shine brightest in its conclusion.

Come back next week

for additional inspiration

in crafting your memoir’s ending.