A memoir is above all else a story. It can be full-length, like a novel, or brief, like a short story or monologue.
Like any good story, it needs:
- Structure (a beginning, middle and end)
- A protagonist (the narrator—you)
- Strong supporting characters who have well-defined relationships with the protagonist and each other
- Significant situations to serve as focal points that give the story motion
- A unique and original voice
Here are some types:
Autobiography
a detailed account of one person’s life, often beginning at birth through the present moment, with added information about predecessors and descendants.
Episodic
a narrative about a specific phase of a person’s life:
My Time In The Military
My Career as CEO of the SuchAndSuch Corporation
How I Spent The War Years
My First Marriage
What It Took To Start My Business
My Time In Jail
etc
Event
a description of a single experience:
Our Meeting, Courtship and Marriage
My Lawsuit
Building Our Home,
Our Voyage To America
etc.
Confessional
some indiscretion you may have committed, how you came to terms with it, how it changed your life, and how you atoned (or failed to atone).
Professional
the outline of your career
Transformational memoir
an account of a major change in your life
Coming of age
Finding and adhering to a religion
Overcoming an addiction
Coming out of the closet
Advancing a cause you were passionate about
etc.
Travel memoirs
Literally, the description of a journey.
Some memoirs purport to give advice based on experience.
I think by now you get the picture. You can be as specific as you please, and I’m willing to bet that anyone can suggest another type based on his or her own experiences.
Of course, you can make a hybrid out of any combination. The outline of your career can also be a confessional that can in the end be taken as advice based on your experience. They can also be regarded as chapters in a book resembling a full-blown autobiography. You might decide