AMANDA QUICK

The chapter you keep skipping isn't writer's block. It's where your story is.

A book written to heal is a different book than one written for the one still in the fight. The first draft is often where you say it all, just so you can finally believe what you lived through was real. The book that reaches readers comes after, when you know who it's for.

I'm not saying anyone owns fault for what was done to them. I'm saying that if you're called to write this book, you're not writing it to accuse. You're writing it for the person who feels they have no choice and is alone.

Go to the prompts

Writing Prompts for Memoir Writers

Thirteen prompts for telling the whole truth.

Before you begin, notice your body as you write. If your shoulders tighten, your jaw sets, or you suddenly need to check your phone, stop and mark that spot on the page. That isn't writer's block. It's where your story is.

The surface

  1. 1Write the version of your story you could tell a friend over coffee. Then underline the sentence you'd skip if they asked a follow-up question.
  2. 2What part of your story do you tell the same way every time? Write it differently.

What you inherited

  1. 3Whose voice tells you not to write this? Where did you first learn that this part of your story shouldn't be told?

Going deeper

  1. 4Reread something you've already written. What memory came up that isn't on the page yet? Write it.
  2. 5Finish this sentence and keep going for ten minutes: “The part I keep skipping is…”
  3. 6Write the scene you've been saving for later. Just the first paragraph.

The gap

  1. 7If someone who lived through it with you read your draft, what would they say you left out?
  2. 8Is there a whole season of your story that's missing? Name it, even if you aren't ready to write it.

Who it's for

  1. 9Who are you writing this for? Describe one specific person: where they are, what they believe about themselves, and what they need to hear.
  2. 10Write one hard moment three ways: once so the reader believes you, once so they see you won, once so the one still in it knows they're not alone. Which one is the book?
  3. 11Find the moment in your story where you chose, or chose not to choose. Write it without explaining or defending it. This is often what shows your reader they have choices too.

The scar or the wound

  1. 12Write about the hardest moment. Then notice: is your body bracing or steady? If it's bracing, you're still in the healing draft, and that's okay. Keep writing for you.

The last one

  1. 13Write the one sentence you've never said out loud. You don't have to put it in the book. You just have to write it.

Amanda Quick · amandaquickhealing.com/writers

Working with me one-on-one

I wrote the story I was told not to tell. The hardest part wasn't the writing. It was being willing to tell the whole truth. That's what we work on together: finding the story under the story, and staying with it until it's on the page.

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What it isn'tEditing, ghostwriting, or therapy
WhereOn Zoom
RhythmSet together after we talk
InvestmentShared after you apply