Renowned screenwriting expert Robert McKee teaches aspiring writers “characters are what they do. Story events impact the characters, and the characters impact events. Actions and reactions create revelation and insight, opening the door to a meaningful emotional experience for the audience.”

As memoir writers, we can benefit from his insights. We already know that to create a readable memoir, we need to think about the people in our lives as characters in a story. So, over the next few postings, I’ll break down McKee’s lessons and see how we can use them to build rich portraits of the people in our personal histories.

Here’s this week’s memoir writing challenge:

“Characters are what they do.” Think of a person who you want to include in your personal memoir or family history. What do his or her actions (work, habits, sayings, hobbies, acts of charity, love, anger or hope) reveal about character? How can you capture those revelations in words?

Choose someone to write about and, without stopping to think about it too much, spend ten minutes writing down everything about the person that comes into your mind.

(This is a photo of my grandfather Joe, a skinny man trying to bulk up by stuffing an inner-tube into his overalls...an action that said a lot about his sly sense of humour.)

Vancouver ghostwriter Tracy Urban loves chance encounters with eccentrics,tricksters, adventurers and other characters.

The Vancouver Public Library is offering a second workshop on personal anbd family history:

Generate: An Intergenerational Writing Workshop

Sunday November 1 & 8
1 :00 p.m.
Level 3 Meeting Room, Central Library (350 W. Georgia Street)

This two-part workshop is designed for teams of grandparents or parents and their children or grandchildren. Each team will bring in an object or photograph or event of historical importance to their family; an heirloom, a recipe, a family photo, a wedding dress or a war medal. They will generate two or more inter-generational pieces of writing based on this object. This workshop is designed to get the whole family to work together to create a collective piece of personal history.  Admission is free. Registration required.  For more information or to register, email programs@vpl.ca or call 604-331-4041.

Ghostwriter Tracy Urban helps aspiring authors get their stories into print.

The Vancouver Public Library recently announced this class taught by the amazing storyteller and writer Ivan Coyote:

Lifestory: Memoir Writing for Seniors

Tuesdays, September 22, 29, October 6 & 13
2 :00 p.m.
Level 3 Meeting Room, Central Library (350 W. Georgia Street)

Writer-in-Residence Ivan E. Coyote believes that history does not solely belong to historians but to anyone who remembers or writes their history down. Join her for a four-part writing workshop for seniors. Admission is free. Registration required.  For more information or to register, email programs@vpl.ca or call 604-331-4041.

Ghostwriter Tracy Urban helps aspiring authors get their books into print.

Recently, while reading fellow BC writer Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen's wonderful blog Quips and Tips for Healthy Women, I came across this quotation from Maria Shriver:

""As long as I was trying to anticipate what people wanted from me, as long as I was trying to fulfill other people's expectations, I was in a losing game," said Shriver. "That's what I want to focus on...letting go of other people's expectations of you so you can own your own life, write your own story and live your own legacy."

One of the most important lessons the aspiring memoir writer can learn is that she is writing for herself first and foremost. The only way to live your own legacy and to tell your real story is to first let go of other people's expectations. We never really know what others expect of us anyway, so trying to tell our stories in a way that makes them happy is a fool's game.

When you sit down to write or record your story, keep in mind that your stories are your legacy. Make sure what you leave behind is the truth as you lived it.

Aspiring authors have a wide variety of ways to get their work into print. Here’s a quick overview.

1) If you think you’ve got a unique story with a saleable hook, you could try to find a traditional publisher such as Simon & Shuster or Knopf. Be warned... this is a difficult and time-consuming process, not for the faint of heart. Each year publishers receive thousands of polished, professional manuscripts and book proposals from highly-credentialed authors. Only a small fraction are accepted.

To get a sense of what's involved, read author Tara K. Harper’s "The 39 Steps to Getting Published.” Better yet, read some books on the process. Two good ones are Putting Your Passion into Print by Arielle Eksut and How to Get Happily Published by Judith Applebaum

2) Consider a print on demand service such as iUniverse or Cafepress. The fee involved is modest and, if you like, your book will be available for sale online through Amazon and Chapters. Unlike old-style vanity publishing, the books are only printed when someone orders a copy, so you don't end up with boxes of them in your basement. Very eco-friendly! For a comparison of the various POD services available, click here

3) If you just need a few copies of your story for family and friends, consider using a local desktop publisher or a publisher that specializes in family histories. Costs for this vary widely, depending how elaborate you want your book to be. Heirloom style books with gorgeous covers and archival paper can cost hundreds of dollars per copy, while simpler books cost as little as fifty dollars a copy.

4) If the format of your story matters less than just sharing it with friends and family, consider creating a blog using a free provider such as Moveable Type. This allows everyone to read your story for free; it also lets people to comment on the stories, perhaps adding other memories. Blogs also allow you to add photos and even audio and video clips.

For more information on how to get your stories into print, contact book developer and ghostwriter Tracy Urban at StoryHeart for a free consultation.