Over 400,000 Monthly Readers
IN FOCUS FOR PEOPLE Over 50
  • Home
  • Health
  • Money
  • Travel
  • Arts
  • Tech
  • Cover Stories
  • Housing
  • From the Publisher
  • Silver Pages Directory
  1. Home
  2. Arts

Arts

SEARCH Arts

Writing a memoir can be a self-education

Image by Pexels from Pixabay
  • Share
PRINT
By Peter G. Pollak
Posted on October 09, 2020

Like many older adults, my motivation for writing a memoir was to clear up questions my children have about my past.

In the 1960s I was a leftist radical. Today I’m a conservative. How did that happen, they want to know?

I was surprised what I learned about myself in writing the memoir, and you might be, also.

Don’t let anyone fool you: Writing a memoir is not easy. I’ve talked to people who start writing –– stream of consciousness — with no plan. They end up with hundreds of pages that are unreadable because there’s no order or logic to what they’ve dredged up.

As someone who considers himself a writer, with seven self-published novels to his credit, I knew planning what I was going to write was essential. My key decision was to narrow the scope of the memoir.

In order to answer my children’s questions, I didn’t want to write whole chapters on family history, my public-school years, college years, etc.

Of course, I had to provide at least some background for readers who pick up the book and have no idea who I am. As a result, I decided to include one introductory chapter and then jump into the issue at hand: What was my role in the major political events that took place in the 1960s?

That took several chapters to explain, but knowing my focus was my transition away from my youthful worldview, I could stick to the highlights and describe what caused my thinking to change.

In the end, I had eight chapters, with the last one summarizing my political philosophy and how I look at our world today. I added 10 book reviews and opinion pieces I’ve published in recent years on current topics, including racism, affirmative action, socialism and Israel.

It was when it came time to writing the last chapter that I learned the most about myself. Having to put down on paper my current beliefs made me aware of what has been consistent over my entire life and which ideas changed.

Keep in mind that, in writing a memoir, you will have to deal with difficult topics, such as major turning points in your life. That can be emotionally challenging.

One suggestion is not to let people who knew you back then read your drafts. You don’t want someone else’s view of events to influence your memories.

You might not think your life deserves a memoir, but your family and friends may think otherwise. They’ll thank you no matter what you come up with, and you might learn more about yourself in the process.

Pollak self-published his memoir Left to Right in August. Read more about the author and his books at petergpollak.com.

 

Arts 2021

  • January
  • February
  • March
  • April

#Gardening #spring #art gallery #richmond #Bibliophile #Coronavirus #family #Travel #DC #jazz #music #radio #activism #lobbying #Baltimore #howard county #Maryland #nature #Books #pandemic #writing #Film & TV #Capitol Hill #African American History #history #chorus #singing #technology #storytelling #African American culture #exercise #health #laughter #yoga #volunteering #fall #landscaping #trees #winter #author #cover #audiobooks #Bob Levey #How I see it #calendar #funny #profile #spy

2020
Arts Archive

Silver PagesDirectory

FIND WHAT YOU NEED, FAST.

This comprehensive, searchable directory covers
housing, homecare, elder law and financial planning

CommunityEvents

A CALENDAR JUST FOR YOU

Find fun, interesting, informative things to do Or post your upcoming event on our website!

Celebrationof the Arts

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS

The 2020 Winners & Honorable Mentions have been announced. Thank you to all that entered.

Silver PagesDirectory

FIND WHAT YOU NEED, FAST.

This comprehensive, searchable directory covers housing, homecare, elder law and financial planning

Submit PrintClassifieds

ALL PRINT CLASSIFIEDS ARE SUBMITTED ONLINE

Click here to submit your classifieds for one of our upcoming print editions.

CommunityEvents

A CALENDAR JUST FOR YOU

Find fun, interesting, informative things to do Or post your upcoming event on our website!

About the Beacon

Over 50 or love someone who is? Then consider the Beacon your resource for trustworthy information on health, money, technology and travel topics, as well as entertaining features, arts and events.

The Beacon’s award-winning content covers health, financial, technology, housing, travel and arts topics, as well as local events and feature stories. Readers of our four print editions pick up more than 200,000 copies each month at more than 2,400 distribution sites. We also mail copies to subscribers throughout the United States.

Contact Us

THE BEACON NEWSPAPERS

PO Box 2227  •  Silver Spring, MD 20915

WASHINGTON, DC

TEL: 301-949-9766  •  FAX: 301-949-8966

HOWARD COUNTY

TEL: 410-248-9101  •  FAX: 410-248-9102

BALTIMORE, MD

TEL: 410-248-9101  •  FAX: 410-248-9102

RICHMOND, VA

TEL: 804-673-5203  •  FAX: 804-673-5308

More on our Website

  • About
  • Resource Guide
  • Celebration of the Arts
  • Awards
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Virtual 50+Expo
  • Recipes
  • Puzzles
  • Cover Stories
  • Community Events
Contact us Classified Form Subscription Form