What Is the Difference Between a Memoir and an Autobiography?

What this post covers:

• The main difference between a memoir and an autobiography.

• The three key questions I ask authors.

• One author’s journey.

The Main Difference

Simply put, time span. Blog post complete.

Only joking! But really the main difference is time span. A memoir is focused on a specific sequence of events or a specific time period in the author’s life, whereas an autobiography is a story that covers the entirety of the author’s life without necessarily focusing on a particular theme.

So, which one have you written?

Three Key Questions

When an author comes to me with a book that they believe fits into the memoir or autobiography category, I spend time sitting with the author first to discuss a few key questions:

1. Who is your audience? In other words, who is going to be drawn to pick up this book and read it based on its content?

2. What is your central message? This can be hard for authors to pin down sometimes, especially when writing about your own life experiences, but the clue is in the name—a central message is at the center of everything to do with your book. I like to think of it like this: We run into each other, and you mention you are writing a book. I say, “Awesome! What’s it about?” How would you tell me about your book? What elements of your story would convey in the five-minute conversation that will effectively translate what your book is about?

3. How do you want the reader to feel when they are done reading? This is a question that’s not as often thought about in the writing community, but I believe it’s an important one. Readers pick up books in the memoir and autobiography genres to experience the character’s journey through the events being described. They want the emotional highs and lows and how you felt through them so they can feel the connection to your story. An additional, wonderful part about memoir and autobiographies are that they inspire the reader as they walk their own journey. Often, people will pick up books in these genres because they relate in some way to the central message of the book.

The author and I now have the “who,” “what,” and “how” of the manuscript, which means we can start working on the “which.” That is, which category does my book fall into?

One Author’s Journey

Almost every time the book is going to be a memoir. This is because memoirs deal with themes that convey a message. And even when an author doesn’t think their manuscript has an identifiable central message, by the end of my consultation with that author, we typically identify one main message, with at least one other smaller message that branches off the main one.

Recently, I sat with an author who was writing what he thought was an autobiography. He had invested a substantial amount of time researching his family’s history. It was a wonderful and fascinating tale of his forefathers’ emigration to Australia and how the family established its legacy and grew its generational wealth. Then, it took a turn into his own life, detailing the success he had found in business, and then another turn at a seismic shift his life took when he was diagnosed with a debilitating neurological condition. His initial thought was that it had to be an autobiography because how could those themes of ancestry, business success, and a neurological condition come together into a specific sequence of events tied together under one central message? It had to just be about his life rather than a central message.

Through our conversation, I was able to show him that not only was it possible, but his work actually held one very powerful message: our human resilience to survive in the face of incredibly tough personal and cultural circumstances. It’s a message that we can all identify with in our own lived experiences. The identification of his central message helped us to focus his writing, pulling on the material that showcased this central message and easily cutting down his word count from 170,000 to a more digestible 80,000. It also focused his marketing efforts. He now had a solid grasp on his central message, the type of reader that would be interested in that message, and how he could present his book so that readers knew what they were getting the moment they looked at his cover.

So, if you are struggling to know if your manuscript is a memoir or an autobiography, I suggest asking yourself those three key questions:

1. Who is my audience?

2. What is my central message?

3. How do I want the reader to feel when they’re done reading?

If you would like help defining those questions, please reach out on my website form and let me know you would like a consultation. I offer free 30-minute consultations, and I would love to talk with you about your project.

How to Outline a Nonfiction Book

A.K.A How Outlining a Nonfiction Book is like Potty Training a Child

What this post covers:

• A fresh look at outlining

• Six important outlining elements:

  • Audience

  • Central message

  • Setting

  • Characters

  • Tone

  • Length

• The value of outlining

A Fresh Look at Outlining

When I had my first child I thought potty training was a single-focus event: get the kid to use the toilet. Oh, the first-time parenting naïveté. It didn’t take long to realize that potty training is multi-faceted. They have to learn when to hold and when to let go. Then there’s balancing on the toilet, aiming, wiping, putting clothes back on, washing hands… I began to realize that there are many steps between diapers and underwear.

Just like a potty training child, your ideas cannot jump straight from diapers to underwear and be expected to stay dry… ahem, I mean, set the world alight. They have to go through their own training steps, and that is where the outline comes in. For the purposes of our illustration, imagine the amazing, world-altering idea that is forming in your thoughts as the diaper-reliant toddler, and the fully formed, published book as the underwear-wearing child. Just as we walk a child through the elements of potty training, so you are going to walk your book baby through the stages of planning. Grab a pen and paper, if you like to keep it old school, or an electronic device and get ready to plan.

Six Important Outlining Elements

1. Audience: Who are you writing this book for? Write down details such as their age, gender, level of knowledge on your chosen subject, and their reason for choosing to read your book.

2. Central message: What is your reason for writing this book? Hint–think about the end conclusion that you want to lead your readers to and the lessons you want them to learn along the way. This still applies to narrative nonfiction, such as memoirs, as your protagonist will overcome obstacles and impart wisdom from their journey to the reader, albeit in a less direct manner.

3. Setting: This will be more important in narrative nonfiction, but it is still important in prescriptive books, which are those written to teach a reader about a topic. Consider where your story is taking place and when. In prescriptive fiction, you will want to imagine that you are speaking directly to your audience, and then imagine where that conversation is taking place. In a boardroom? In a therapist’s office? Over coffee? Different settings affect the tone of our conversation. More on that to come.

4. Characters: Who are your book’s main characters, and who are the side characters? Some specific details to consider include their age, physical descriptions, character traits, occupation, relationships with others around them, and important events that happened in their lives before your story starts. Again, this sounds like it wouldn’t apply to books that are prescriptive, but it does. An example here will help to make this clear. In a parenting book I recently edited on co-parenting with a narcissistic ex, the author made an intentional choice in the way she talked about the narcissistic ex. In the language she used to refer to the ex in the reader’s life, she held the person accountable for the hurt and damage they were causing but didn’t make them into a monster that was to be hated and vilified. It was very refreshing to see such a fair portrayal of someone who can easily be portrayed as the two-dimensional bad guy.

5. Tone: Do you want to come across as a professional expert, a sympathetic peer, or a fellow learner on their own journey? Do you want the account of your story to be humorous or accessible or high brow? Tone can alienate your readers or draw them to you and your central message. A tone that is appropriate for the memoir of your grandmother’s life will not be appropriate for a business book detailing best practices.

6. Length: What is appropriate for the genre your book will be in? 30,000 words? 60,000? 100,000? Readers who like to read in your genre will go in with expectations of the length. Get to know your genre’s expectations on word count. It’s also worth considering the age of the reader. Readers who are younger will be more likely to need shorter books.

The Value of Outlining

Writing your vision down should bring you lots of excitement. It can help you find motivation to take the first step or to continue to push through when the initial burst of fun has waned because writing a book, like potty training, will go through the hills and valleys of emotions as often as the potty training child will go through an entire toilet paper roll. And that is totally ok and perfectly normal. (Just buy the bulk pack. You’ll thank me later.) You may long to head straight to competency but the training stage is important. It’s good to recognize the stage you’re in and to linger there, letting it fully do its work in you. Give yourself compassion for the journey into competency; learning, making mistakes, redoing, perseverance, overcoming obstacles and setbacks, and receiving correction are all part of the journey and will all grow you in ways you may not have anticipated when your mind first filled with those wonderful ideas.

If you would like some help getting your ideas in order, clarifying your vision, or long to bounce your outline off another person before diving into the writing stage, email me at rebecca@hershbergerediting.com or fill in the form on the Contact page for a free consultation. An editorial critique at this stage, or even in the first draft stage, can be just the right tool you need to elevate your manuscript to bestseller level. Let’s make your words shine!

AI: Will it Replace Human Editors?

What this post covers:

• Can AI do all it claims to do?

• Using AI editing tools wisely

• A take on editing as a Christian

Can AI Do All it Claims to Do?

AI (artificial intelligence) is everywhere–our homes, our cars, our cell phones, our internet searches. There is no getting away from it, and like most industries, the editorial world is feeling its impact. So, should editors throw in the proverbial towel and reassess their career choices? Should authors be reconsidering their editorial relationships? Before you reevaluate your life choices over a tear-soaked keyboard, read on to see if AI is all that it’s talked up to be. And maybe, in the process, we can save that keyboard from a watery demise! After all, you’re going to need it for all the incredible writing you’re going to do.

Grammarly, arguably the most famous of all AI-based editing solutions, promises to “instantly generate clear, compelling writing while maintaining your unique voice.” Sounds just like an editor, right? And in clear-cut editing issues, like placements of commas, typos, repetitive word use, and mixing tenses, it is very good. It can bring you back to the rules that all of us learned to varying degrees during our time at school, and we all know that we did not retain the information we needed to decide if that word ending in “ing” is a gerund that requires a comma! Or whether that introductory clause would be considered dependent or independent. Grammarly, and other AI programs, will help you in that regard, and, honestly, I encourage you to use them for that. You will become a better writer when that bot gives you its reasons why you should add that comma or remove that semi-colon.

Using AI Editing Tools Wisely

Use AI tools with the understanding of their limitations because, despite Grammarly’s claims, this AI editor, just like all other AI-based programs, does not understand unique voice. It can’t because of the simple fact that it isn’t human. AI programs are fed information by humans so they can then feed information back to other humans. The creators of these software solutions are literally mining us in order to mimic us, and that is precisely where the limitations occur. AI can only give us what has already happened; it can’t work with anything new that it hasn’t seen before. And AI can only work within a prescribed list of rules because it doesn’t think for itself, no matter how human the voice may seem. It will miss passive voice because it doesn’t understand how to think in terms of active and passive. It will take your turn of phrase and try to make it fit rules that don’t apply. It will turn your unique voice into a set of rules that it has determined need to be followed by all authors to be successful. It’s the written equivalent of keeping up with the Joneses.

If you have used an editor before, then you know the joy of finding someone who “gets” you. They like your project and understand where you’re heading with it. An editor who is worth the investment is going to respect your voice and make gentle suggestions that fit the potential they can see in your work. As an editor, I want to make your words shine, and your unique voice is an integral part of that. There may be other works out there that are similar to yours, but none of them are yours because you have written it. Don’t let AI convince you to vanilla your manuscript. 

A Take on Editing as a Christian

As a Christian editor working with Christian authors, I have another layer to add to this–the Holy Spirit. He is an excellent guide when I am looking at a manuscript. He knows the intentions that the Father has for the project and the people that He wants to reach with your words. He aids in the editing process as I prayerfully approach the manuscript. He created you to uniquely deliver the message that He wants to bring life to when a reader picks up your book, article, devotional, or memoir. He isn’t interested in producing cookie-cutter writing, but He is interested in what you have to say and how you say it. AI is a fascinating tool to keep in our tool bags, and I am intrigued to see where it heads, but it is just that. A tool. Knowing that a screwdriver is not going to cut it when you want to paint your walls is smart. Knowing that AI has its place but also its limitations is wisdom. If you have questions regarding your manuscript, including which stage of editing it needs, please reach out on the Contact page. Let’s make your work the best it can be!

The Power of Word Choice in Non-Fiction Writing

What this post covers:

• How news headlines convey an article’s meaning

• The impact your word choice has on your book’s central message

• How word choice will hit your reader

“Neighbor’s Windows Warp Owner’s Siding”

The headline declared. Its writer had left us readers in no doubt of the absolute certainty of his claim. Those windows were the perpetrators in the veritable warped windows crime scene. All the evidence pointed that way, and there could be no reasonable doubt. Guilty verdicts rang out in neatly typed out columns of evidence. And for the windows’ crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time (of day), they would now be sentenced to a lifetime behind anti-glare window film. Sighs of satisfaction abound as we readers see the horror rectified. Nods of approval follow at the justice that has been dispensed. Case neatly closed, and what a feel-good feeling it is.

But wait, are the windows really the criminals here? Have we stopped to think about what we’re being told by the combination of words the journalist has chosen to use?

The Impact of Word Choice on Your Central Message

Word choice is not merely about selecting the right word from a thesaurus but about understanding the nuances of language, the subtle shades of meaning, and the emotional weight that words carry. A skillful non-fiction writer wields words like a master painter wields a brush, carefully selecting each stroke to create a vivid and compelling picture. In the case of the headline above, the journalist’s word choices convey drama, tension, and, ultimately, conflict between the window and the siding. And just as he knows we will, us readers translate that to mean drama between the neighbors–conflict that is intriguing to us humans. The writer’s deliberate choice of words leads us down this path. He could have written the article headline like this:

“Sun that reflected off my neighbor’s windows caused my siding to bubble.”

It gives factual information and doesn’t blame the neighbor’s windows for having caused the issues to the siding. However, it also does not create drama and tension. It is much less enticing, and it does not achieve the journalist’s central message that he hints at in his headline–potential neighbor drama over bubbled siding.

Word Choice and The Reader

The central message of your book will be conveyed or hindered by the word choices that you make, and your word choices are one of the important elements I look at when I line edit your manuscript. I recently edited a wonderfully written manuscript that conveyed the loving, tender heart of the Father as she worked through an illness her daughter was experiencing. The author spoke of these “nagging thoughts” that would be present in describing the way the Father communicated His desire to speak a perspective shift. I knew that she intended “nagging” to be neutral, but, unfortunately, this term is firmly in the negative column when it comes to our perception of the person it’s being applied to. Her intended audience are people who have a professed faith in God but haven’t come across Him as a loving, compassionate Father who is there for them in their needs. The central message of her testimony was to gently explain that He is all of this and more. Considering both her central message and the tendencies of her audience to feel pressured by a demanding God, I knew that “nagging” had to go. It was only going to reinforce beliefs that she was actively writing to demolish. I suggested “persistent,” “continual,” and “enduring” as alternatives. She was thrilled with the suggestions that kept her meaning but didn’t lock the Father firmly into the demanding dictator box.

These are the types of details that thrill my editorial brain. Let’s make sure your words shine and your central message comes through in clear, unhindered, powerful word choices. Send a message through the Contact page or email me at rebecca@hershbergerediting.com for a free consultation.