You don’t have to be rich and famous to write a memoir

You don’t have to be rich or famous to write a memoir. Ordinary people write memoirs, too, and that’s good because the world needs more memoirs written by regular people. Families need more memoirs written by their relatives.

If you, an ordinary guy, publish a memoir, people won’t likely stop you on the street and ask if they can take a selfie with you. And you’ll probably need to keep your day job—and that’s because you probably won’t land a deal with a traditional, big-name publisher. Here’s why: Ordinary people’s stories seldom bring in a lot of money—and money is the bottom line for big publishers.

Don’t let that discourage you. Nowadays, everyday memoirists have several publishing options, thanks to the self-publishing industry. Another option is to print your book at a local printshop. Or you can write your stories for kids and grandkids and put them in three-ring binders along with photos.

Henri Nouwen observes: “There is much emphasis on notoriety and fame in our society. Our newspapers and television keep giving us the message: What counts is to be known, praised, and admired, whether you are a writer, an actor, a musician, or a politician.

“Still, real greatness is often hidden, humble, simple, and unobtrusive. It is not easy to trust ourselves and our actions without public affirmation. We must have strong self-confidence combined with deep humility.

“Some of the greatest works of art and the most important works of peace were created by people who had no need for the limelight. They knew that what they were doing was their call[ing], and they did it with great patience, perseverance, and love.”  (Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey)

Don’t let fame and fortune be your primary goal because—believe this:

Your story is important.

Studies have shown that kids are more stable

and successful if they know their family’s stories.

(I suspect that’s also true for those who are no longer kids.)

Stories are among God’s most powerful and effective tools. Your story can be among God’s most powerful and effective tools.

There’s a reason you don’t see spreadsheets and charts and bullet points and graphs in the Bible. Research shows that stories impact humans in ways other types of information don’t.

The Bible is full of stories because of the ways our hearts and minds respond to stories. We engage with a story’s message more than we do with databases and tables and lists.

Peter Guber explains:

“Stories . . . are far more than entertainment. They are the most effective form of human communication, more powerful than any other way of packaging information. . . .

“Without stories,” Guber continues, “we wouldn’t understand ourselves. [Stories] . . . give us much of the framework for much of our understanding. . . . While we think of stories as . . . something extraneous to real work, they turn out to be the cornerstone of consciousness.” (Read more at Writing your memoir: A sacred calling.)

You’ll like what Morgan Harper Nichols says:

“Tell the story of the mountain you climbed.

Your words could become a page

in someone else’s survival guide.”

Some of you might not have children, but you have friends, colleagues, neighbors, cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, friends from high school and college, former sweethearts—on and on.

Your memoir can benefit those people, and more.

The big question is this:

Will you write your story?

Or, if you’ve started writing your memoir,

will you finish writing it?

And place it into the hands of others?