Finishing and Marketing Your Memoir: Context, Habit, and Beating Perfectionism with Marion Roach Smith
CONTENT WARNING: This conversation includes a brief discussion of suicide.
Sue interviews memoir teacher and author Marion Roach Smith about obstacles that keep writers from finishing and marketing memoirs. Smith emphasizes the need for context and answering “Why this writer? Why now?”, not simply recounting events. She addresses worries about family members’ differing versions, urging writers to focus on their subjective slice of the story. Practical strategies include habituating writing with set page or word counts and building life around sacred writing time without burnout, while respecting memoir as serious work. Smith teaches memoir as argument-driven rather than autobiography, rooted in what the writer learned, often found in small moments. She discusses writing as processing grief and sharing humanity, with examples like an op-ed influencing suicide-prevention policy. Finally, she warns perfectionism kills creativity, advocates a “vomit draft,” many revisions, and ultimately shipping the work.
00:00 Welcome and Bio
01:07 Why This Story Now
02:54 Family Truths and Time
03:41 Daily Writing Habit
05:32 Memoir as Argument
06:52 Build Life Around Writing
08:43 Live Like a Writer
13:03 Small Moments Matter
15:56 Stories That Change Policy
19:51 Perfectionism and Vomit Draft
21:10 Drafts Process and Shipping
24:12 Where to Find Marion
24:53 Final Thanks and Goodbye