Look up verbs you want to use in a list of irregular verbs. Use them --- as shown --- if they are irregular. Add "-ed" to regular verbs to make the past simple and participle forms; for example: "I listen" (present); "I listened" (past); and "I have listened" (past participle).
Use the past perfect tense to say that one thing happened before another. Use "had + past participle"; for example: "I had lived in New York for 7 years when I met him." Use this tense to introduce events, or in the middle of a section to add extra information; for example: "She had worn the same jacket for months."
Use the past simple tense for events that happen one after the other; for example: "I walked to the shops. I bought some bread." Use this tense for most of the events in your memoir, unless you have a reason to use another.
Use the past continuous when you want to focus on the event taking some time. Use "to be (past tense) + -ing form of the verb"; for example: "I was walking." Use past continuous and present simple together if you want to show that a short event happened within the time span of a longer action or interrupted it; for example: "I was walking, and a cat crossed my path."
Use the present simple form when you want to take the reader to the time when the events are taking place and feel like the action is happening now; for example: "I place one hand on his neck. He leans in and kisses me." Use a variety of tenses within a section to make your writing clear and interesting.