To Write A Book

There are all types of mothers in the world, and there are many things that are written about mothers every day. Mothers have inspired everyone from world leaders to the kid down the block. Yet, most of these moms will never have their moment in the sun beyond their immediate circle of family and friends. By learning how to write a book about your mother, you have an opportunity to create something really special that will be a lasing tribute.

Tip One: Decide on a Memoir or Fictional Representation

To begin your journey of writing a book about your mom, you first need to know what type of book you want to write. You can write a memoir, which includes memories and stories about various aspects of your mother’s life.

Or, you can choose to make your mom a fictional character in a book that is inspired by her life story. Both choices will require you to know a lot of background information about your mother. A memoir will probably be more of an emotional experience for you than a fictional account.

Tip Two: Gather the Facts

Okay, now that you know which direction you’re going to take with this book, it’s time to gather lots of facts about mom. Sure, you grew up with her and have lots of memories, but you’re not the only one that she interacts with.

But still, you should start with your own special memories about her. Then you can go about interviewing various family, friends and acquaintances about what they know, or remember about her. You’ll be surprised at the things you don’t know about dear old mom.

If your book is not going to be a surprise gift for your mom, then go ahead and interview her about her life story. She’ll probably be more than happy to sit down with you over your favorite meal and chat about events from the past. Of course, if it is a gift, you can be sneaky and secretly record her memories.

Tip Three: Create an Outline

Even though you’re writing about your own mother, the book still needs to be organized in a way that makes it easy for readers. The easiest way would be to start from the beginning and take it all the way to the present day. Or, you can focus on a very specific time or event in her life, and use that as a basis for the book.

Each chapter will talk about a specific time and place or event.

For example, Chapter One: Running Errands for A Nickel and an Ice Cream Cone

This chapter sets up the story of how a mom often ran errands as a little girl, and had some funny things happen while doing it.

Tip Four: Stay Objective

Because you are so close to the subject of the book, you may at times get overly emotional and drift towards too much sentimental mush. Or, if you have a testy relationship with your mom, too much negativity can cloud a good story.

If you’re going to commit to being the author of your mother’s memoir, then think of yourself as a writer who has been hired to write this book. Your main goal is to write about your mother’s ups and downs in an entertaining and enlightening manner. You can only do this if you can keep your own deep emotions out of it. Save all of those pent up feelings for your own memoir.

Tip Five: Take Your Time

If other people are going to read this book, then take your time to do a good job of covering your mother’s story. If you are a first time author, you’ll quickly discover that writing a book is a step-by-step process that involves putting your thoughts into the right words.

I suggest that when working on the first draft, you just allow the words to flow out of you freely, without much thought about trying to make it perfect. This way, what you really want to say will come out of you a lot easier. You can always go back later and edit what you’ve written.