Learning how to write a memoir can be great fun!

Have you ever wanted to learn how to write a memoir? It's really quite simple.

As writers, we are always looking to hear, read, or see other people's stories. This may be in person, in books, or in television and movies.

We watch how people talk to each other, act around each other, and deal with problems.

All of these concepts make up the story of one's life. A memoir if you will, or an autobiography of sorts.

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The Wonder Years was a popular TV show that mixed common family problems, school issues, and relationship troubles with social issues and historic events of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The writers of this show knew just how to write memories that would resonate with the show's viewers.

Each season of the show took place twenty years before the year each season was actually aired.

This provided for the memoir-esque feel of the show.

Kevin Arnold told the story of his life as a grown-up. The writers of this show really are the best in teaching you how to write a memoir.

You never saw the grown-up version of Kevin (the young one was played by Fred Savage, and the narrator version of Kevin was played by Daniel Stern), but you heard the grown-up voice recounting the many things that happened to Kevin during his adolescence.

It is an enjoyable and irresistible show to watch for this reason. You get to see the memory that the older Kevin (Daniel Stern) is remembering, and actually see it play out through the eyes of the younger Kevin (Fred Savage).

A couple of summers ago, I took a course in memoir writing. One of the pieces I had to write was about situating myself in history. I had to talk about my past, how it has led up to my present, and how it will soon enough lead into my future.

I figured that starting with the year I was born was most appropriate. So I learned how to write a memoir, or how to write an autobiography - my autobiography.

We wrote pieces week in and week out about our influences, our family history, our origins. We learned how to write a memoir.

We didn't just talk about where we came from, but about how we had been shaped into who we are through our experiences.

If you'd like to read the sample memoir I wrote about situating myself in history, click here. You may even find yourself waxing nostalgic about the memories that my writing spurs within you.

Or maybe you would like to read another one I've written using rapid recall to write remembrances of my childhood. This one may be just the ticket to establishing your own flare for memoir writing. Click here to read this memoir.

Use these memories that you come up with. Write them down and share why they were or still are influential for you.

How did they impact you then? Looking back, was that impact the right one, or do you wish you had reacted differently to whatever occurred? Read some more memoir writing questions and make up some of your own to find what has meaning for you.

Don't second guess yourself for what you did. Everything happens for a reason. Thinking about these things is all part of learning how to write a memoir. Check out this interview with Karen Tintori to see how she thought about things and learned how to write a memoir. She has since become a published author in her own right because of these memories that she stirred up and researched.

I know that people say the "what if?" game is something you just shouldn't play, but sometimes it makes for the best writing.

What if Michael Jackson had never released Thriller? Would he have become as popular?

What if Dr. Martin Luther King Day had never become a national holiday? Would the fight for civil rights and fair treatment of all still be going stronger than it is nowadays?

There are a million what-ifs and just as many answers that you can come up with if you only think in terms of what you may have wanted to happen in place of what did, or even what an even worse scenario may have been.

Consider the possibilities for your past. Write your reality, and if you feel so inclined, you can even make this piece of writing a fictional one.

Your memories can be the spark that lights the fire beneath you to get you writing. Mixing facts with fiction sometimes makes for the best writing.

Watch The Wonder Years. The storylines were obviously ideas that could happen to anyone, but nonetheless, they were fictional. The social conflicts and historic events that occurred in the show were real. This made for a great story, as it mixed fact with fiction.

Look to Forrest Gump. This is a movie that also mixed social issues with historical events and even placed Tom Hanks' lovable character into old camera footage that showed him with various since-dead Presidents.

It's funny how Forrest was able to make a name for himself without even meaning to do so. He didn't realize the impact he was making as he was making it.

He lived his life and then proceeded to recount it to people on a bench at a bus stop.

These people were apt to completely disregard what seemed to be the ramblings of a nut. After all, he didn't look like the kind of guy who would meet three Presidents, teach Elvis dance moves, win a full scholarship for football, run back and forth across the country with barely any rest, or be at the helm of a very profitable shrimping company.

Learning how to write a memoir or how to write an autobiography is as simple as re-living your memories. Think like Kevin Arnold or Forrest Gump.

Take memories in for all they're worth.

Think about other people's memories. Interview your family, friends, or anyone else you can think of who just might have a story to tell.

You may be surprised that you'll find interesting, special tales that will help lead your writing in the right direction and save you from falling into that writer's block trap that always seems to be lurking.

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