MEMOIRS & CHARACTER ARCS

A memoir is a book written from the author’s perspective, sharing personal stories and reflections on meaningful experiences from their life. Writing a memoir is actually a lot more like writing fiction than traditional nonfiction. It’s about storytelling, emotion, and transformation rather than just facts.

Map Out Your Character Arc

A character arc is really just the story of how you became who you are. It’s the inner journey or transformation that shaped you and it’s the heartbeat of any powerful memoir or message-driven book. Since you are the main character of this story, your reader wants to walk alongside you. They want to feel the shifts, root for your growth, and see the world through your eyes.

Getting clear on your personal journey, how you’ve evolved, what’s changed, and why, is essential if you want your book to truly resonate, inspire, and create impact.

• Reflection: Take a moment to gently reflect and journal on your personal development up to this point, starting all the way back at childhood, that very first moment of awareness.

  • What role did you play in your family? What values guided you?

  • What major events or challenges shaped your path?

  • How did you respond to each one? What choices did you make?

  • What changes did you begin to notice in yourself along the way?

  • Looking back, what’s the throughline — the common thread that weaves all these experiences together?

• Task: Map out the major pivotal moments in your life in chronological order, and write down the lesson or gift each one brought you. This will help you see the transformation arc that will become the backbone of your story and the bridge that carries your reader from where you were to who you are now.

  • Utilize the Life Story Blueprint to help you remember

  • Select “File” > “Make a copy” to save your own copy.