Memoir Writing as Discovery

Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir by Lisa Dale Norton.
Focuses on the slice-of-life memoir: Find "memory pictures," your voice; and the heart of your story; identify one potent period of your life and �explore it through vivid imagery, honest voice, stunning compassion, and a deep awareness of the larger issues at play...�

Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives Through the Power and Practice of Story by Christina Baldwin.
Baldwin (whose workshops are inspirational) encourages storytelling to build community, webs of connection, bridges to understanding, using the �voice of story� to call us to remember our true selves.

White Gloves: How We Create Ourselves Through Memory by John Kotre.
What we believe we remember often has been reconstructed, so an event that initially evoked fear and anger may be �later recalled as a hilarious adventure.�

Writing from Life: Telling Your Soul�s Story by Susan Wittig Albert
Albert encourages women to discover their voices and grow spiritually by putting their stories into words. Susuan is the founder of a not-for-profit corporation, Story Circle Network, dedicated to helping women share the stories of their lives and to raising public awareness of the importance of women's personal histories.

Writing Life Stories: How To Make Memories Into Memoirs, Ideas Into Essays And Life Into Literature by Bill Roorbach.
Intelligent commentary and exercises to help access memories and emotions, shape scenes, develop plot lines, populate life story with "characters," and deepen your memoir or personal essay.

Writing Your Life: A Journey of Discovery by Patti Miller.
A helpful companion for structuring book-length life writing, with wise counsel on remembering (and selective memory), emotional healing, finding one's voice, choosing details, creating drama, and imposing structure. By the same author: The Memoir Book.

Your Life as Story: Discovering the "New Autobiography" and Writing Memoir as Literature by Tristine Rainer.
This highly recommended guide, full of exercises, asks you to think about your life and about how best to write a life story. Good on story structure (how best to organize the story of your life), how to handle the passage of time, and the ethical problems of writing about family and friends.