The Point Where Editing Starts Damaging the Memoir

Most memoirs need editing. But memoirs can also be over-edited. Especially now that AI-assisted editing and hyper-clean prose are everywhere. At a certain point, improvement starts removing the very qualities that made the memoir feel alive. The writing becomes cleaner. And less human. Real memory contains unevenness. Not chaos. Texture. The danger with excessive editing … Read more

What You Think Is Your Voice Often Isn’t (And What’s Actually Getting in the Way)

One of the most common concerns memoir writers have is losing their voice. They want the writing to remain theirs. They don’t want it to sound altered, or rewritten, or artificial. That concern is valid. But it often protects the wrong things. What Writers Mean by “Voice” When most people refer to their voice, they … Read more