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Dawn Brookes

Author

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    • A Cruise to Murder
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    • Murderous Cruise Habit
    • Honeymoon Cruise Murder
    • A Murder Mystery Cruise
    • Hazardous Cruise
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  • Carlos Jacobi
    • Body in the Woods
    • The Bradgate Park Murders
  • Lady Marjorie Snellthorpe Mysteries
    • Death of a Blogger
    • Murder at the Opera House
    • Murder in the Highlands
  • Nursing Memoirs
    • Hurry up Nurse! Book 1
    • Hurry up Nurse 2: London calling | Book 2
    • Hurry up Nurse 3: More adventures in the life of a student nurse|Book 3
  • The Rachel Prince Mysteries Box Sets
  • Children’s Books
    • Suki Seal & the Plastic Ring
    • Gerry the One-Eared Cat
    • Danny the Caterpillar
    • Ava & Oliver Series
      • Ava & Oliver’s Bonfire Night Adventure
      • Ava & Oliver’s Christmas Nativity Adventure
    • Miracles of Jesus Series
      • Jesus Feeds a Big Crowd!
      • Jesus heals a man on a stretcher
  • My Readers Top 20 Books Read in 2021

Blog Posts

Could you find Love on a Cruise?

February 14, 2020

While sun, sea and sightseeing are enough for a lot of cruisers, 14% of holidaymakers say they have found romance on the waves, with almost half of those staying with their nautical darling for several years. Many marry and start a family, so who knows? 

A balmy night in the Caribbean, a ship in the middle of a sparkling sea beneath twinkling stars, live music to dance to, arms entwined, hips swaying, a first kiss … 

It doesn’t have to be a scene from the old TV show “The Love Boat”. It might just be possible you could meet the love of your life on a cruise ship.

Cruises are a popular style of holiday for many people, with plenty of single people choosing to cruise, either on their own or with friends.

A multitude of cruise lines are responding by encouraging single people to take cruises and many offer single staterooms. Norwegian Cruise Line was the first cruise line to build staterooms and common areas specifically for the single cruiser. These studios are the perfect sized room for solo cruising and the Studio Lounge is a great way to meet other single cruisers.

So if you’re single and ready to mingle a solo cruise might be for you. Safer than backpacking, less stressful than air travel, and certainly more luxurious, a cruise allows you the opportunity to travel in elegant surroundings, enjoying the company of like-minded travellers. And it’s so much more fun than using a dating app!

Meeting people face to face, you can tell right away if there’s a spark.

The key is to meet and speak with lots of people, introduce yourself, be open to new experiences and enjoy the multitudes of activities on board.

Mr or Miss Right isn’t going to appear just because you book a ticket, but they could be waiting for you at a relaxed meet and greet, in the gym, at a cocktail party or listening to a talk. Cruise ships are full of venues and activities, so you can get out there. You never know where you might bump into your ideal mate. Following your own interests, such as going for an early morning run, like Rachel Prince does, could lead to more than you bargained for, but in a good way! 

Taking an excursion ashore, you might spot the person you had your eye on the previous evening in the bar. In a crowded market, or an art gallery, it could be that fate is on your side when you bump into each other ‘accidentally’ and start a conversation. Who knows where it could lead? 

A cruise ship is like a floating city, contained, busy, lively. You will sometimes see the same faces for the duration of your holiday. Especially if your interests coincide with others going to the same venues. This means you are more likely to get talking to people, as everyone is in the holiday mood, relaxed, happy and friendly.

A couple of cocktails, if you drink, and the conversation flows easily. A chat about the following day’s excursion can lead to making plans with new friends to attend an art lecture or an on board show the next evening. If someone is interested it is natural to chat more closely, to make plans to spend time together. It is altogether possible to meet the love of your life at midnight, in the middle of the ocean, beneath a canopy of stars. Or to realise that a growing friendship could well turn into something more.

Perhaps you might take a themed cruise; running, food, gardens or history perhaps. This way, anyone you do meet will have similar interests, making it easier to strike up a conversation naturally. Themed cruises also have the advantage that, should you fail to meet anyone you feel romantically inclined to, you can still have an interesting, fun time seeing beautiful places and meeting new friends.

Just as on land, a shared interest makes it easier to chat to your companions. Friendships forged on a cruise can last a lifetime and, if you are looking for love, or at least open to finding a partner, then you could well find someone special while you’re both ‘all at sea’.

The easy, relaxed atmosphere encourages intimacy and lowers the barriers between fellow travellers. You know you are all heading to the same destinations, you are all here for the same reason, this naturally gives you something in common. Dancing, dining and being entertained in such an enclosed environment, albeit with up to 4,000 other people, means that friendships spring up more readily. 

As you are enjoying such luxurious surroundings on the ship and magnificent views from the deck, it is natural, perhaps, to fall for someone. If it happens for you, I’m sure the cruise will add that little bit of extra sparkle to a special relationship as you drink in the atmosphere together.

Enjoying all that a cruise has to offer with someone special by your side makes it more exciting. The fluttering in your stomach when you see them, the enjoyment of each other’s company, getting to know one another in such glorious settings, knowing that, on a cruise ship, you are in a very safe environment. You can really relax and allow the magic to happen. 

If you do meet someone you can connect with, let the gentle waves and starry skies work their magic.

With cruising, anything is possible!

New Year, New Decade

January 1, 2020

Reflections on 2019

With every New Year comes new optimism for what lies ahead, but first, I thought I’d look back at 2019.

In many ways the year in the UK was marred by a new type of toxic politics that did nothing to make us a proud nation. On top of that was and is a real concern about the impact that global warming is having on our planet. Whilst the first has had some sort of resolution, the second will remain a deep concern over the next decade and we can only hope that world leaders act soon and that we each do our bit to help turn the tide.

On a more relaxing note, I enjoyed a Baltic Cruise in August, taking a well-earned break from writing. I couldn’t resist doing a little bit of cruise research, though!

Now back to me and my life as an author! I had a productive 2019, releasing four books throughout the year:

April: Killer Cruise book 3 in the Rachel Prince Mysteries was launched

August saw the release of Dying to Cruise book 4 

November was celebrated as I finally fulfilled a promise for a final nurse training memoir. Hurry up Nurse 3: more adventures in the life of a student nurse

December completed a marathon year when A Christmas Cruise Murder book 5 in the Rachel Prince mystery series was released

In September, I started an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Derby and felt pretty exhausted by Christmas. Having recharged my batteries, it’s time to look forward to 2020.

Plans for 2020

Continue Writing

Rachel Prince Mysteries

Dawn Brookes, author

My main focus for the coming year will be to continue writing. I hope to publish three more Rachel Prince Mysteries throughout 2020. The next book, I am already working on, Murderous Cruise Habit will be released in March.

Children’s Books

With the environment in mind, and plastics in particular, I have just written a children’s book called Suki Seal and the Plastic Ring. This book is currently being illustrated and I hope to launch it towards the end of January.

Memoirs

I will be starting a vocational memoir of my district nursing years but can’t promise a 2020 release at this stage.

Studying

I start semester two of my MA towards the end of January so no doubt will be studying hard. I also hope that my writing will improve as a result of the MA, who knows?

Radio/YouTube Channel

I have been wanting to host a book-themed local radio programme for some time now and hope to be working with my local community radio station to achieve that goal. Until that happens, I will be spending more time developing my YouTube channel to focus on all things writing.

Audiobooks

I will continue to make my work available in as many mediums as possible with more audiobooks to be released throughout 2020.

Dying to Cruise will be released in audiobook format in early January.

Audiobooks are expensive to produce as well as being time consuming. I realise that not everyone can read and that many people now prefer the audio medium so I am working with Alex Lee, narrator of the Rachel Prince Mystery series to produce audiobooks that coincide with book launches, rather than four months later. 

I intend to narrate my third memoir myself and will let readers know when this is available.

Foreign Rights

I will be looking into translation or sale of foreign rights of my Hurry up Nurse and Rachel Prince mystery series in 2020 as there are large parts of the world where English is not the first language. Initially, I will be thinking about German and Spanish.

Keeping in touch with readers

Readers of my books are the most important part of my growing business and if you’re one of them, I can’t thank you enough for supporting my work by buying my books and reviewing my work. I am especially grateful to beta readers who give their time to read and comment on early drafts.

I almost forgot! I adopted a rescue dog in December from the RSPCA. Molly has had a difficult life and comes with many issues but I’m pleased to say that she is responding to love and attention.

All that’s left for now is to wish you a very Happy New Year with health and happiness! May your dreams come true in 2020.

Crime Writers’ Daily Writing Habits

October 6, 2019

Crime Writers’ Writing Habits

I thought it would be fun to select a few crime writers and discuss their writing – or not – habits! Much emphasis is placed on ritual and routine when it comes to art, but as these few examples show, every writer is different.

Ian Fleming (1908-1964)

Ian Fleming described himself as a writer rather than an author and writing in an article on the topic or writing he suggested that writing 2,000 words per day, five days a week for six weeks enabled him to produce his first draft for his Bond novels.

The novels he produced were around 60,000 words which is acceptable in series writing even to this day.

Agatha Christie (1890-1976)

Agatha Christie didn’t have a special room to write in and carried notebooks around and jotted down plots, labelling her notebooks. She wrote longhand and then typed it up later. In later life she dictated her books. She never had a daily routine of writing and would nip off to write when the opportunity presented itself it.

Strangely, it appears that Agatha Christie was the only one of these four to admit to having difficulties writing with the process causing her much stress at times. And yet it is Christie’s works that are among the world’s top bestsellers with her estate claiming she is third only to Shakespeare and The Bible. Her books are still enjoyed today with Miss Marple and Poirot being crime mystery staples. I remember seeing The Mousetrap on stage in London, the longest running play in London still enjoyed by so many readers today.

Dorothy L Sayers (1893-1957)

Dorothy L Sayers wrote at night as she worked full time for a London advertising agency.

I couldn’t find  anything written about her habits but would assume that as one of the first female graduates of Oxford she was methodical.

Sayers moved away from crime writing after WWII, her last being published before the war’s outbreak. She later concentrated on writing Christian drama for which she was well regarded.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

Arthur Conan Doyle, one of the earliest writers to use an agent claimed not to have much of a routine once money wasn’t an object.

In an article, he explained he would spend a whole day on a work if he was engrossed but less time if he wasn’t. He seemed to intimate spending less time writing his short stories (Sherlock Holmes novels seemed to be short stories to him), and was also less concerned with their accuracy as they were a product of what he termed, fantasy.

Conclusion

It seems from just these four examples that routine isn’t everything and yet so many writers today swear by it.

I personally set myself a goal of 2,000 words when writing but don’t write every day. I’m perhaps more akin to Ian Fleming at this point in my career although I will be much more like Arthur Conan Doyle as I develop I think. It pays to remember there is no such thing as one size fits all.

If you would like to read more about writer/artist rituals, the two books listed here might be worth a read. Daily Rituals: how artists work seems to be out of print but is available as an audiobook.

Dawn Brookes is author of the Rachel Prince Mystery series of cozy mysteries and the Hurry up Nurse series of memoirs.

An author’s take on reviews

August 12, 2019

Bad Reviews: Do they make or break authors?

I’ve recently come across a number of posts by authors on social media feeling hurt by negative reviews. The temptation is to want to hit back, have the reviews removed (not going to happen), or be reassured by others that the reviewer is the enemy which is not the case. 

When I received my first one-star review, like so many authors before me, I was devastated. How can someone dismiss my work out of hand when it took months and months to create something decent enough to put out there? It turns out, quite easily in fact because mostly it’s not personal. It was amazing how, in spite of loads of positive reviews, all I could see was that one-star – I read it over and over – it was almost like self-mutilation. Many authors respond in the same way because we are seemingly programmed to focus on the negatives!

I have since realised that bad reviews are quite acceptable and the one and two star reviewer is entitled to his/her opinion, after all that’s what the review process is all about. Not only that, but when I got things in perspective, I realised I had arrived as an author. Every author has one-star reviews at some point.

The reality is that not everyone is going to like your book. Once an author puts their work out there, its in the public domain and someone, somewhere is not going to like it. Some reviewers will be just plain rude about it. 

Since that first low star review, I have developed a thicker skin in terms of reviews but if the reviewer offers any useful nuggets of information as to why they didn’t like the book rather than comments like, ‘utter drivel’, I will try to improve the next book. 

Thankfully, the good reviews far outweigh the bad which means that the majority of readers enjoy my work and I assume that’s the same for other authors. On balance, if someone has taken the time to write a review, I am pleased they felt strongly enough about the book to do so, no matter what the star rating. I have read books that are bestsellers with hundreds of five star reviews and hated them so why shouldn’t someone be entitled to dislike mine?

There are trolls out there, and some unscrupulous competitors or friends of competitors who might leave a poor review because they misguidedly believe it helps their own or a friend’s book but these people are few and far between, and pretty obvious. It only takes a minute to look at their reviews and discover that all books in the genre receive one-star reviews except for one! 

Some reviewers are just plain negative with a reviewing average of one to two stars, perhaps they have exacting standards or perhaps they are unhappy people, who knows? Whatever the reason, it’s not my problem and I will go on seeking to improve my craft.

I have occasionally discovered a flaw in my writing if a consistent theme pops up in the lower star reviews, this makes them helpful. I would be distrusting of any book that only has high star, good reviews because it’s just not possible to please everybody.

When I see a one-star review these days, it’s less of a dagger through the heart and more of a sigh moment, sometimes I have to laugh at the comments! One thing I never do is to respond or engage with the reviewer. Firstly because it would look like sour grapes and secondly, it could also seem like I’m stalking reviewers. Neither do I contact Amazon or other platforms and request the review be removed. Why should it be? I think the only time I would do this is if the review was in breach of Amazon’s terms and conditions. 

Instead of focusing on the negatives, we need to read all the positive reviews of our books and realise that the majority of readers appreciate and enjoy our work. This is what motivates me to write more and to put my work out there for criticism and for praise. 

Don’t let bad reviews break you, let them make you a better author and a stronger person.

Dawn Brookes is author of the Rachel Prince Mystery series and the Hurry up Nurse series of memoirs.

Making a Living as an Author! It all began with a broken foot!

June 12, 2019

Genuine Thanks to Readers 

First of all, if anyone had told me when I published my first memoir as an indie author in August 2016 that I would sell more than a couple of hundred copies I would have been excited at the prospect. Three years on and I have sold over 25,000 books, mostly in the past year. I have my readers to thank for this and I am truly grateful.

I’ve moved over to using the term indie rather than self-published because I think it more realistically reflects the independent author as a complete business person. Many indie authors don’t sell more than a couple of hundred books but before we mock, many traditionally published authors sell fewer than 5,000 copies of a book and bearing in mind they receive pennies rather than pounds for each book sold, the majority would struggle to earn a living.

My Journey began with a broken foot!

The journey began in 2016 when I finished a memoir that I’d been writing for a couple of years. I broke my foot in three places while at work and ended up being unable to drive for eight weeks. Having worked in the NHS for around thirty-nine years, I was not used to sitting around and my friends all worked. I remembered the story I had started on the laptop and despite losing a large chunk of it when a hard drive was destroyed, I picked it up again to pass the time. The rest, they say, is history!

I published the memoir and went on a cruise to the Mediterranean. Naivety reigned supreme at the time, and after selling a dozen or so copies to friends and family, I realised there was more to being an author than I had ever imagined. I assumed that after all the hard work, I would put the book out there and the whole world would realise it was a bestseller! Not quite, but you get the picture.

Reinventing Myself

I had given decades of my life to the health service, and the time had come to do something I had always wanted to do – write. I was about to embark upon a steep learning curve because being an author – traditionally published or indie – involves so much more than writing. 

Still, the first task is to write something that others might want to read and then to keep writing and this is what I did. In 2016 I produced the first memoir and then in 2017, a second memoir, and a couple of children’s books. 

Last year, I wrote my first novel, the first in a cosy mystery series with a second published later in the year and a third earlier this year.

In addition to this, I wrote two more children’s books. Danny the Caterpillar and Gerry the One-Eared Cat are among my favourite children’s books….

My children’s book listings can be found here.

Learning Curve

Whilst Amazon has opened up a new and exciting world for the author who wants to maintain control of their creative work, with over 5 million books on the platform it is a monumental task to get a book noticed. One has to delve into research and marketing to find out what is required to make a book get noticed.

To sell books, firstly the book needs to be worth reading and then an author or publisher must learn a multitude of other things. 

Skipping over the steps involved in writing and producing a high quality book such as drafts, editing, beta readers, professional editing and proofreading, there follows many other factors required in order to sell books and keep them visible.

Reviews

The bane of many an author’s life is the need for reviews. Reviews are required for social proof and they may also be responsible for triggering Amazon’s algorithm among other things in order to make books more visible.

When I buy a product, I check the reviews beforehand and like to see at least twenty or thirty reviews to inform my purchasing decision. They don’t all have to be five star, in fact, if they are I am suspicious that they may not be genuine. You get the picture? People who buy books are the same, they want to see that other readers have enjoyed the book, of course not everyone is going to enjoy a book, so the first thing an author needs to develop is a thick skin. It is devastating when that first 1 star review comes in, but as long as the majority of people like the book, its easier to live with the negative reviews. That said, its hard to get reviews in the first place.

Numerous sources suggest that only 1% of purchasers review a book on Amazon and less than this if the book is offered for free. A new author therefore needs to sell 100 books at least to get 1 review. I never reviewed books until I became an author because I didn’t understand the importance, I now review the majority of books I read, and I read a lot.

If you read a book and enjoy it, please leave an honest review for the author, if you don’t enjoy it, please remember there’s a person at the other end of the spectrum and at least try to say one positive thing if you can. I used to teach on a post-graduate course and I gave a feedback sandwich: starting with the good, adding in the areas for improvement and ending with more good! The feedback was still honest!

Marketing

Blood, sweat and tears have gone into producing the initial manuscript and getting the book out there, so be patient with the new author (and the not so new)! I think every author is guilty of the “buy my book” syndrome, particularly when it comes to social media. This is mainly down to over-enthusiasm and can also come from desperation!

Social media is a free platform and authors, I’m ashamed to say, myself included, can get a bit carried away. If they don’t learn they will either lose their Facebook friends, or develop a lot of other author friends who are in the same boat but are never going to buy their books!

I have now separated my social media into business and personal. I do still post the occasional ‘good news’ story or special offer but I don’t want my friends to get ‘heartsink’ whenever I post anything! I have a Facebook page dedicated to my work as an author for those genuinely interested in my writing, and here, I would still rather engage with readers than constantly market to them.

Paid marketing is actually the best route for getting a book seen by more people and Amazon, Facebook and others offer marketing platforms to authors. As the majority of indies sell more eBooks than paperbacks, I had to learn not to overspend and discovered terms like Return on Investment (ROI) to make advertising pay.

Results

Up to the end of May 2019, I have sold in excess of 25,000 books and have finally moved into profit during the 2018-2019 tax year. 

Over the past two months I have had over half a million page reads through kindle unlimited and over 2.5m since 2016.

For a full list of my books, please visit my Amazon author page.

What Next?

I continue to publish my books as audiobooks in addition to print and eBook, and Killer Cruise is currently in production. A Cruise to Murder and Deadly Cruise are already available as audiobooks. If you’ve never listened to an audiobook, you can try any one of mine for FREE for 28 days by joining audible. If you find it’s not for you, just cancel before the 28 days are up.

I am working on the fourth book in the Rachel Prince Mystery series, Dying to Cruise will be launched in the summer of 2019. I am also working on a third memoir. 

Last month, I was approached by a small publisher with reference to producing a further memoir and negotiations are still underway.

I think I can safely say that although I still have much to learn, I have reinvented myself as an author following a successful nursing career that spanned four decades.

Writing a Memoir

April 23, 2019

By Dawn Brookes, bestselling author of  Hurry up Nurse: memoirs of nurse training in the 1970s.

Dawn Brookes, author

Recently I gave a talk at a local church to an interesting group of people, most of whom could write great memoirs if they had a mind to. We all have a story to tell, so if you’ve ever considered writing your own memoir but don’t know where to start, read on…

Memoir or Autobiography

First of all you need to decide whether their focus is on your whole life story (an autobiography) or on one aspect of your life, bringing in themes, memories and anecdotes that highlight that theme (a memoir). To be honest, unless you’re famous or writing for posterity, a memoir is likely to be more readable that an autobiography! Having said that, who knows?

Reasons for Writing

People have different reasons for writing a memoir or autobiography, some of which are listed below:

  • Personal–writing for posterity, family
  • As branding –e.g. running a business
  • Teach something
  • Publishing–writing to publish

You don’t have to be famous, but it helps!

This was a screenshot of the top 17 books listed in the bestseller list of Amazon’s memoir/biography section at the time I prepared my talk. Spot the famous people! That said, there are some who weren’t well-known prior to writing their biography or memoir.

When you niche down, it makes a difference as shown in this screenshot of the bestsellers in nursing category where two of my books feature in the top 18! If I’d taken a screenshot of the US Amazon store, niching down, my book would be top, where it has been for the past 16 months, but hey, that’s just showing off!

My point is, you can do well within your area of expertise if you’re writing a memoir. This only matters if you’re considering publishing of course. When I started writing my first memoir, it was more about getting my memories written down for posterity.

Niches

Here are just a few niches where memoirs are popular, but the list is not exhaustive:

  • Career–e.g. Medical/Nursing – think Adam Kay, Jennifer Worth, Monica Dickens; lawyer; teacher; train driving; councillor; vicar, sport etc
  • War –WWI; WWII; Gulf wars; Afghanistan etc
  • Conflict–Ireland; Spain etc
  • Romantic–love story; loved & lost; cross-cultural etc
  • Rags to Riches –e.g. Cliff Richard
  • Addiction–ex addict; child of addict etc
  • Difficult background to happiness, profession, faith etc
  • Wealthy background to poverty, mental health issues, addiction etc
  • Ordinary but have a story to tell
  • Different viewpoint –war from German perspective, 
  • Religious–missionary etc
  • Travel–travel memoir
  • Pet stories
  • Worked somewhere of national interest or for famous person etc
Nursing Memoirs

Even within those niches you can niche down again e.g. historical account. This image from the UK Amazon store shows bestsellers listed under biographical history.

Making it Interesting

People want to engage with an author’s story and the book needs to be worth reading. This is just as true if you are only writing for family, the story still needs to resonate. People are more likely to engage with stories that are gritty; painful, true stories; relatable e.g. medical nursing (most people experience the health sector at some time); about abuse although this might be difficult to write; insider secrets; pet stories. Whatever the theme, if some aspects of the above are included, you are more likely to grab peoples’ attention!

Make it Unique

In one way, there is nothing new under the sun, but in another, your story is unique and you need to bring that originality throughout. Mindmap the memories associated with your story and choose carefully what to include and what not to include. Choose with care how much detail to go into if you’re considering publishing. Initially you will write a whole lot more than you need.

There are some things you need to be cautious of and these include:

  • Identifying people
  • Venting your anger at an individual or workplace
  • Defamation of character
  • Glossing over the surface
  • Too much detail
  • Not enough detail
Hurry up Nurse memoirs

My memoirs are about my work as a nurse and therefore it was important for me to protect the confidentiality of those involved, particularly patients. In most circumstances, changing a name isn’t enough in such cases so I had to change names, times, places and sometimes, gender in order to protect people from being identifiable. This doesn’t alter the truth of the content and you will need to state that you have done this at the beginning.

This also works if you do need to talk about someone who has hurt you or damaged a work environment if these things are a necessary part of your story.

Some tips you might want to consider:

  • Change characteristics e.g. gender, time, place, details
  • Get release forms signed if using real names
  • Ask friends if they are happy for you to use their names or a pseudonym
  • Include disclaimer at the front of the book
  • Don’t hide the bad bits but disguise the people responsible

Show don’t Tell

Contemporary fiction writers use a ‘show, don’t tell’ way of telling a story and such skills are just as important when writing a memoir. Take a look at the example below:

Tell:

‘The night sister walked onto the ward and told me to join her for the ward round.’

Show:

‘The loud clopping sound of heels reverberating off the marble floor outside the ward filled me with dread. As the night sister rapidly approached, the knot in my stomach told me it was time for the ward round.’

Likewise, as with writing fiction, a memoir is made more interesting by the inclusion of dialogue; description with good use of adjectives; conflict; tension; anecdotes; emotion and pacing. I read lots of memoirs, biographies and autobiographies and the better ones use all of those elements.

You also need to be real. People like you to be honest, show vulnerability, and personality. If you like humour, use it, include jokes and funny stories. Swearing will put some people off, but if that’s you, it will make the story more real to use your potty mouth. Also build the narrative, adding tension as the story progresses.

Mistakes to Avoid

  • Poor structure
  • Too much detail
  • Being a show-off/arrogant (for some this will work, but for most, it won’t)
  • Being superficial
  • Missing your topic, theme
  • Unrelateable
  • Hiding your mistakes (don’t pretend to be perfect)

Tips for Producing Your Memoir

  • Introduction
  • Sections/chapters relevant to your topic
  • Chapters named or numbered
  • Keep chapters similar lengths (not always possible but aim to do this)
  • Conclusion
  • Choose a catchy title
  • Get a good book cover (particularly if publishing)
  • Get an editor/proofreader (vital, even if self-publishing)
  • Word count 40,000 –90,000 words

Conclusion

Medical biography

This short article might give you a start, but is not exhaustive by any means. You never know where it might lead to, I have re-invented myself in my fifties and now write children’s books and cosy mysteries.

If you do decide to write a memoir, autobiography, I’d be interested to hear how it goes for you. Thank you for reading this article.

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Dawn Brookes

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