How to Write a Memoir: A Quickstart Guide for Food Writers
Photo by Elevae Visuals
“Memoir is the genre people quit the most.”
A memoirist in my food writing group blinked at me. I knew it wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but as a book coach, I couldn’t lie. Truthfully, I think people quit because it gets too real. It seems “easier” than writing fiction, but it also requires a level of detail about your own life that I don’t think most people are capable of.
Memoir is complicated because there are real people involved. And you’re often ripping open wounds you thought were healed. Now, everyone will see your scars and flaws without any cover-up.
Plus, with a memoir you need to write the full book and have a completed book proposal to send agents. So, it’s daunting for sure, but if you have a food memoir that you believe in, here’s your complete guide on how to do it.
Pitch your stories now
I believe every book idea is inside of a magazine pitch, so it’s the first thing I do with a client. It’s essential with food memoirs because an author’s platform is what will sell the book. You have to prove to agents and publishers you have a robust audience who wants the story you’re telling. It could also be the way you land a book deal.
Pitching allows you to test material, connect with editors, and create a constant process of creation. Ideas are everywhere, and you never know the one that’ll resonate with magazine editors. Agents and publishers are constantly scouting talent, so make it easier for them to find you. Make a list of publications you think would be a good fit for your work and pitch them. They’ll often have submission guidelines on their websites, but if they don’t, SAVUER’s is a good place to start.
Note for essayists: I’ve rarely met a memoirist who didn’t want to just submit a collection of essays instead of a full memoir. The reason 9 times out of 10? They don’t think they can write an entire book. Welcome to the freaking club.
But it’s tough to sell an essay collection if you don’t already have a booming audience. Start pitching your work and see where the process takes you. Most likely, you find there’s more connective tissue between your stories than you originally thought.
Treat your memoir like it’s a novel
One of my favorite memoirs is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert because you forget it’s not a novel. But it reads like one. You have a recently divorced woman who gets rid of almost everything she owns and spends one year traveling the world to rediscover what she really wants in life.
There’s a major life shift, a ticking clock, and a pursuit of deeper question—who am I and what do I really want?
Memoirists often get caught up in trying to be cool and aloof. They’ll coat their chapters with unnecessary details or clutter the pages with a bunch of other people. And you know what they leave out? The story.
One of my favorite tools to use with writers (and for myself) is Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. It’s based on Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat!: The Last Book You’ll Ever Need on Screenwriting, and uses his 15 beat sheet method for novels. In there, you’ll find 10 genres your book should fit into, 3 ingredients you’ll need for a compelling story within that genre, and examples broken up by the various beats.
“But that sounds like a formula, and stories aren’t formulas.”
Except they are. Humans have relied on stories for thousands of years to make sense of the world around them. It’s how our brains literally are able to process information. Research also shows people are 22x more likely to remember information when there’s a story attached than with just a statistic alone.
Plus, you’re not writing an academic paper. It’s a moment or theme of your life, so make it something you would want to read. And if you don’t like what you wrote, it’s why the revision process exists.
Agents will want to see a full manuscript when you submit your book proposal (don’t worry, I’ll walk you through that too!). They’re selling your story, so you need to know how to write a memoir that’ll grab a reader’s attention from beginning to end.
Write a book proposal
A book proposal is the business plan for your book and a necessary evil for all non-fiction books. And even if you do treat your memoir like it’s a novel, you still need to prove to agents and publishers that there’s an audience for your book. Often, writers have told bits of their life story to friends and family over drinks, and people tell them: You should write a book!
But just like Gordon Ramsey or John Tapper would tell a struggling business owner, just because other people say you should do something, doesn’t mean you should. You like baking? Fantastic! It doesn’t mean you should open a bakery. And just because you have a quirky or shocking life story doesn’t mean you should write a book.
The proposal will clear up any questions you have about what’s marketable and what’s not. Plus, you have to tap into who you are and why this story is important now. You can use this cookbook proposal template for your memoir and just skip the recipes.
If you do nothing else, please take your time with this part. I’ve had aspiring writers tell me they can write a book proposal overnight. With all the love in my heart, you can, but it doesn’t mean it’ll be good enough to get you an agent or book deal. Rushing the proposal is a giant mistake so many writers make because they just want to get it over with. You’ve put this much work into your memoir already, doesn’t it deserve a proposal that’s polished and ready for agents as is?
Where to go next
Now that you know to pitch media outlets, to treat your memoir like a novel, and what you’ll need for a book proposal, what next? You’ll probably need help putting it all together. And there’s a community of food writers inside of The Social Club who would love to help you do it. With monthly meetings, guest industry speakers, and special teachings, it’s the perfect place to figure out what your best next step is. Join the waitlist for The Social Club here, and let’s make your memoir writing process just a little easier.
