Research the subject of the memoir. If it is not about the person who is writing the book, extensive research must be done about the person and ideas being written about. Make some notes on the topic that will be written about. Narrow the ideas down from an entire life story to a few facets of that life. Decide what the most crucial and interesting facets of the story are and how they will be elaborated upon. Select a theme that will become a major thread. According to Writer's Digest, many good memoirs are known for having a major theme with which people can identify. Many popular themes found in memoirs include traumatic events, family, recovery, love, healing, loss, travel or war.
List all chapter ideas. Make sure to thread any main theme that has been selected the whole way through. It is important to bring thoughts back to the main idea. Readers want to know why they should be connecting with the book.
Make a list of all the characters. Write down the traits related to these characters. It is a good practice to include a sympathetic character as well as a villain. According to Writer's Digest, a villain can be a metaphor (drugs, sickness). Many memoirs need a conflict to maintain momentum and to keep readers interested in the protagonist's struggle.
Write a list of possible hook ideas. The hook in the memoir style of writing is the opening page or first chapter. It must be interesting enough to keep the reader involved. Many memoirs do not begin chronologically. They can open with a scene from the past and skip to the future. This is a common way to create a hook since the story opens up with a critical scene from the past.
Type the entire outline as a list with extra space so that more ideas can be added if necessary. Make sure the list of characters, scenes and hook ideas is in bold and easy to read type. Refer to this as the writing process begins.