Top 50 Memoir Blogs
@2019 Update If you are looking for help in writing your memoir, check out this resource: The Memoir Network.
2017 Update: This post has brought many readers to this site. I hope you find the lists and links below helpful.
Recently I found a new resource that should prove beneficial to anyone searching for good examples of memoir writing and good advice about how to write one yourself. This blog post How to Write a Memoir will get you started.
The thing readers search for most in this blog is a list of best memoirs, whether it be Mary Karr’s, Sue Silverman’s, or my own.
But this week I was honored to have 100memoirs.com included in another list–top 50 memoir blogs from Adult Education Course. The mention included a “Top Blog” badge and has brought some new readers. I’m grateful.
But I’m even more happy to have the list itself. Many of these blogs are new to me, and I plan to visit as many of them as possible over the next weeks and months. I hope you do also. The annotations show that the author has really studied the blogs, not just brushed by them.
Here’s the beginning of the post along with a link to the full list. Enjoy!
50 Best Memoir Blogs
Reading a memoir is the perfect way to learn about a stranger’s intimate secrets without being accused of stalking. If you can’t get enough of true narratives, or are interested in writing a memoir yourself, then look no further. Our list of the 50 best personal memoir blogs is full of poignant childhood tales, scandalous anecdotes, and valuable resources for any aspiring writer. They may even inspire you to write your own!
Top Five
- La Belette Rouge: This psychotherapist and author blogs out of Los Angeles, California. A wide range of topics are touched upon, including fashion, moving across the country, and the craft of writing.
- Why We Love It: We can’t help but laugh with this blogger — even when she presents very serious subjects, she finds a way to see the humor in them.
- Favorite Post: Don’t read unless you are infertile, childless not by choice and/or bitter, really-don’t
- Memory Writers Network: Targeted toward aspiring memoir writers, this blog offers great advice about embracing your own story. There are also links to many helpful writing resources.
- Why We Love It: This blogger gives very detailed tips about making your memoir as compelling as possible.
- Favorite Post: Self-concept and memoirs: The power of purpose
- writing to survive: This blog began as a way for a stay-at-home mom to maintain an intellectual life. She also uses this outlet to tell a traumatic story from her past and offer forgiveness.
- Why We Love It: The writing is full of poetic language and doesn’t shy away from selfish, lovely, and oh so human thoughts.
- Favorite Post: In my defense
- Sixth In Line: An interest in all things autobiographical drives this blogger. Since 2006, this blog has examined how honesty and creativity both play a role in telling the story of a life.
- Why We Love It: Honesty and detail in the face of death and love make this blogger’s writing a thing of beauty.
- Favorite Post: My mother/myself.
- Mzungu Memoirs: Follow along with this family as they volunteer in Uganda. Posts range from fixing a clothesline to discussing different cultural perceptions of time and relationships.
- Why We Love It: These bloggers take on parenting in a foreign country, which presents its own set of unique joys and challenges.
- Favorite Post: A Rebellious Son
The Rest of the Best
- 100 Memoirs: Covering everything from memoir trust to the audio book form, this blog is a wealth of information. There are also links to this blogger’s published memoir essays.
- a road with a view: This blogger has a deft focus on the small things in life. From notes about migrating birds to a moving post about the blogger’s relationship with her mother, there is a clear sense of life in context with the outside world.
- Alexis Grant: A travel writer started this blog to share her experience writing her first memoir about backpacking through Africa. You’ll find plenty of travel writing tips, book reviews, and interviews with other writers.
Hi Shirley. I love your blog, and you’re latest list is a gold mine. Thank you so much for all your efforts. For the last twelve years, I’ve been helping people write their personal and family histories, and I just released a new book called Eating an Elephant: Write Your Life One Bite at a Time to further than goal. I’d love to send you a copy, just send me the address. In the meantime, if you’d like to check it out, it’s on amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Elephant-Write-Your-Life/dp/0983238235/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316139287&sr=1-1. I’d like to get your opinion.
Patricia, thank you for your kind words. So glad you find the list helpful. I too think it’s a gold mine. Wish I would have had it when I started out, but I’m glad to have it now.
I checked out the link to your new book. Congratulations! You must have much wisdom to offer after ten years of teaching. I can tell you are very encouraging and can only imagine how many people you have helped.
Alas, I am not able to review your book and am not encouraging people to send me more memoirs. In order to write my own memoir, while I am working 40 hours a week as a granny nanny and keeping up two blogs, I simply have to close down new opportunities to read and review. I know you will understand.
I do encourage any of the readers of this blog to check out your book. And I also encourage you to make connections with other memoir bloggers on the list.
All best!
Congratulations, and thanks for passing this list on. I’ll have to check out these blogs. Hey, they left mine out 🙂
I am excited to read these blogs as I have a memoir blog regarding a serious spiritual emergence of my own in the midst. As writer’s, we put ourselves out on a limb revealing and and purging our most personal intimacies and experiences,but in the end it is empowering and spirituality freeing for our souls to share our true words with the world. That is what I believe. Yay for the ladies!
Linda, thanks for leaving this comment. Readers can click on your name to see your fascinating website/blog. I suggest you also comment on the original post. It could be that the team putting the list together never saw your blog and would love the opportunity to view it.
I can’t imagine how large the task of locating all the “personal memoir blogs” on the internet!
[…] gal who’s making a difference in Africa… Congrats to 100 Memoirs for her well-deserved listing in the 50 best blogs about memoir… MaryLou Driedger, internet diarist extraordinaire, has […]
Congratulations Shirley. This is a well-deserved honor! And thank you for sharing your good news. I found several other friends on there. Woe is me. I seldom FOCUS on memoir though nearly all my posts on the Heart and Craft of Life Writing have value for memoir writers. So mine was also not discovered. But hey! They said fifty, and the ones on there are all deserving.
Hi Sharon, I can’t imagine how they overlooked the Top Creative Writing Blog of 2010! But readers here should not. I really enjoyed your current post on Tuesdays with Morrie. Anyone interested in reading more carefully or writing with clearer purpose should visit that post! Thanks for your kind words about this blog also.
You are most deserving, Shirley. This a wonderful blog and your are a great source for information. Brava!
Thanks, Charles. I feel the same about your blog. I’m an avid subscriber.
Here’s another lovely list I am happy to be on, and one that will help you find even more memoir blogs: http://alanasaltz.com/five-awesome-memoir-writing-blogs. Thanks, Alana!
Hi Shirley–what a great resource list you compiled! I will make sure eveyrone on my lists get this list–that’s networking isn’t it? I subscribe to several of these already and am pleased to see many friends on the list, including Jerry Waxler, who is part of the National Association of Memoir Writers, as is Sharon Lippincott. I’m putting that badge on my site ASAP! Thank you again for the honor.
–Linda Joy
Hi, Linda Joy,
Congratulations for your inclusion on the list as the National Association of Memoir Writers blog, Linda Joy. Readers can find you here: http://www.namw.org/become-a-member/namw-benefits/
I can’t claim credit for this list, however. I was notified of inclusion by someone named Terry, and the list is a project of adulteducationcourse.com. Obviously it is not just a Google Search list. Someone has really read a lot of blogs! And even has favorite posts that aren’t always current but classic.
When someone works so hard to compile the list (even if no list can be totally comprehensive), I will wear the badge with pride. Glad you will also.
Congrats, Shirley! And thanks for sharing the list!
Thanks, Annette. I see that I never responded to you. I’ll have to go pay you a visit to see what you are up to!
Linda..I just started writing a memoir style blog and wanted to see what others were doing out there in the blogosphere. I found your site and am so excited to read and learn! I am adding this to my “favorites.” Thanks for what you do!
Hi Shirley,
I came across this blog and didn’t realize there was such a thing as memoir blogging. It is brilliant, this list. It could be very useful as my memoir ON MY BEHALF just released. Garnering ideas to promote…
THANK YOU.
Helen D.
Helen, welcome here! Glad you found this blog and hope you come back and introduce yourself to the community. Sorry it took so long to reply. I was on vacation. I promise to be more prompt if you leave another comment. All best with your book! And congratulations. Many of us aren’t there yet.
I would like to nominate my own memoir blog entitled A Redhead’s Journey Through Madness. It’s about being raised by my Father, a former Marine who idolized Hitler and being abandoned by my mother who has paranoid schizophrenia. There are also redeeming characters in my book, like my Grandmother, a sweet lady who used to rock me on her lap as she taught me to love books (I’m a huge book worm to this day).
I’ve written six books to date, all memoirs, the last one as an e-book, (Random Ramblings of an Old Geezer) on Amazon.
I just started up a blog but I really have no idea what i’m doing. I’ll just have to learn as I go along with the idea that I hope to build something useful for others.
I’ve found memoirs very easy to write and try to encourage others to tell their stories.
Great blog! I am completing a memoir myself and I found this very helpful
Thanks, Anthony. You have my son’s name, so I like you already. Best of luck with your own blog. I checked it out. Hang in there, both with writing and with life. I can absolutely say that it get’s better. The 20’s were a rough time for many of us.
Hi Shirley,
I really wanted some advice. I am an aspiring author and have had a secret book hidden away about my childhood experiences filled with; confusion, self hatred, abuse, self abuse and more…
I would love to set up a memoir blog as a source of therapy and to get my story out there but I wouldn’t know where to start. Could you possibly find it in yur busy schedule to send me on the right path?
Great list. It would be quite an honour to make this list someday.
Hi, Happy to find your blog — there’s a link at the end of the post to see all 50 blogs that goes to an adult site.
Hi, Debbie. Thank you for telling me about this horrible link. I’ve deleted it.
This was quite a complex scam. They used real sites, created a badge (which fortunately I’m not using), and then changed the website after the site was no longer attracting current traffic.
I really appreciate the fact that you flagged this. Now I’m off to find out more about you and hope that you’ll want to come back to my (G-rated) site. 🙂
Hi Shirley,
Thanks for spending what little spare time you have on this inspiring blog. I want to let everyone know that it can be done.
After 15 years or so of research, reflection, writing, rewriting and more writing, I finally got my memoir published and selling on Amazon and other booksellers.
And I actually have some great, unbiased reviews! It was a long journey to relate a unique and emotional time in my life and our nation’s history, but it has been well worth the effort. What started out as a journal for my children and their children turned into something that others have embraced.
I love memoirs and now read then exclusively. My novel days are over!
Thanks again for your service.
Sincerely,
Jan Marie Ritter
Proud Author: Breaking Tecumseh’s Curse: The Real-life Adventures of the U.S. Secret Service Agent Who Tried to Change Tomorrow
http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Tecumsehs-Curse-Real-life-Adventures/dp/0988850206
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Breaking-Tecumsehs-Curse/117444524988082
Good for you, Jan! I’m off to check out your Amazon space. Proud of you.
Thank you so much for your blog. I will definitely check out the suggestions. I recently released my memoir, Battered Hope, and although the reviews have been far above what I expected, I know this is a story that needs more exposure.
It is about one bad choice that led my life into a downward spiral. It is not a story of an abusive or sordid childhood but one of mistakes, poor choices and circumstances as an adult that developed into a series of major physical, financial and emotional losses. It is a story of triumph, strength and tenacity. Written as a novel and a definite page-turner.
batteredhope.blogspot.com
Carol, I went to your blog to learn a little more about your story. Heartbreaking. I hope others find you here also. Wishing you well on the healing and writing journey.
Thank you so much for taking the time to check out the story — I encourage to look at :
http://batteredhope.blogspot.ca/2013/07/a-life-of-trauma-but-she-survived.html
Lovely stuff. I appreciate the lists as I am an avid list maker and memoir writer myself. I actually just published a book on the woes and triumphs of dating. It is sad and hilarious. Check it out http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K9UJXEA
Thank you for the list. I hope to encourage you to visit my new memoir blog (new since March, anyway) It is simply a chronicle of growing up in the 50s and 60s – http://www.thedaycalendar.com
Tom, good luck to you. Memoir blogging is fun! Now I’ll go check out your site.
I’ll admit, I’m terrible at math, but the title of this post says, “Top 50 Memoir Blogs.” I only count eight. Is it because I’m reading in mobile view or should the title of this post simply be revised so as not to be misleading?
I do appreciate the list that is available, but I was hoping to see a larger variety of personality types and styles. Perhaps that was on the original list.
Jeffro, the original list was taken down due to spam issues. However, Sue William Silverman’s list is the most comprehensive one I know. I hope the link in the first paragraph still takes you there.
My blog, Difficult Degrees
Hi Shirley, I just stumbled across this page and am happy to have found it! I’ve written a memoir about my very eventful life as a mother, jazz musician, music journalist, expat (I’m a New Yorker living in Rio), my experiences playing drums in Rio’s Carnival parades, etc. and the ups and downs of being a spiritual seeker. I’ve got 35 5-star reviews on Amazon, but feel that there are lots of people who would love my book if they just knew about it! If you’d like, you can see the book here: http://goo.gl/OfdMd7
And check out my blog here:
https://finallygettingdowntobrasstacks.wordpress.com/
Thanks! I love your replies here, by the way…very thoughtful.
Hi Amy. I’m glad to know that this post continues to attract memoir authors and their readers. Your life sounds exciting, and I hope you continue to find readers. I know that many indie authors would consider 35 five-star reviews an incredible achievement. It is! Write on!
Shirley, your blog is both encouraging and inspiring.
My memoir, Cruel Harvest, was published by Thomas Nelson/Harper Collins and that gave me the confidence to write more.
Your kind words and blogs are a ray of sunshine for many authors.
I was kidnapped from an orphanage, by an escaped convict, who forced me to become a migrant worker.
CRUELHARVEST.COM has a book trailer if you would like to see it. Thank you for taking the time to share so much.
Sincerely,
Fran Grubb
Thank you, Fran. I’m off to look at that trailer. What an incredible story. All best to you and your writing!
Shirley
Hi Shirley, I have written a memoir about my bicycle trip across America. My proof reader said I should release it as a blog in addition to a hard copy book. I recently read that blog posts should be between 500 and 1000 words max. Is this true? Most of my chapters, except for the very first four, are 18 to 40 pages long.
Not being familiar with blogs or social media, should I then rewrite every 500-1000 word post to have a ‘hook’ at the end for the reader to want to continue? Or simply end the sentence at that 500-1000 word point, add ‘To be continued.’ or what????
Brian, I haven’t blogged directly from my book, so I can’t offer counsel on that question. However, you are right that most blog posts are 500- 1000 words in length.
You can do “to be continued” or you can try linking directly to the free sample chapter on Amazon if you have one.
Most bloggers start well before they publish their books and engage their followers in conversations. You won’t have time to do this if your goal is to take readers to your book.
All best!
I hope it’s okay to post this here:
Writer Advice seeks flash memoir (750 words or less). Dazzle, delight, and entice us. Winners receive cash prizes and are published. Low fee for solid feedback. Deadline: 03/01/17. Fee and details: http://www.writeradvice.com.
Hi Shirley,
Thanks for the list of memoir blogs. I just love all this information, it helps me to know where I’m going to with my blog. I currently operate my own blog called Chris Turner’s Memoirs http://chriscampbellturner.blogspot.ca/
I enjoy writing real-life stories, not just my own story, but about others too. I have written some personal articles and those that I experienced while being raised in Scotland. I am also a poet and lyricist/songwriter. My songs and poetry reflect times in my life.
Currently, I’m writing an article called “Pissed off with Christianity”. Most people with Christian beliefs may not like the title, but it explains my life from when I was young up to this present time. It’s beginning to look like a novel instead of a blog post as I’m at 10,000 words already, not sure if it’s too much for a blog post. I would appreciate your comments on blog length, or from anyone who has experience writing long posts. Also, I’m with Blogger as opposed to WordPress. Articles that I’ve read always make mention of WordPress as being the more professional platform. Most say, “If you’re serious about blogging” it should be WordPress. Well, I’m a serious writer and blogger even though I’m not with WordPress. Thanks for all the information.
Hi Chris, you don’t need WordPress in order to write a good blog. And there is no required length for blog posts. What is most important is writing clearly and well and finding readers who want to spend their time reading your work.
All best!
Shirley
I am excited to read these blogs, as I have a memoir blog regarding a spiritual emergence of my own in the midst. We put ourselves out on a limb, revealing our experiences and personal intimacies, as brave writers of truth. It is empowering and inspiring to see these ladies working so hard to push out stories that are both spiritually freeing and creatively profound. You go girls!
Thanks for the visit. God bless.