How To Write A Memoir By Best-selling Author Terezia Farkas: Interview by OneResourceForAuthors

Terezia Farkas. International Bestselling Author. Columnist. Writes about dealing with depression.

Written on October 17, 2013 by Fairy God Blogger of OneResourceforAuthors

Good day my special friends, I would like to introduce you to Terezia Farkas, author of Heart of Love Evolution – Surviving Depression.  Terezia Farkas brings to life her own incredible story with painful, stark precision so that others can journey away from their own personal pain into the brightness of love through greater self-acceptance and a deeper relationship with Spirit. Her heartfelt, stirring book provides you with a real-world guide for getting past your most challenging personal situations and puts you on a path away from self-hate and agony to a place in life where you can merge with the positive energy of hope, courage, and unending self-love.

One of my favorite actresses, Ashli Judd, wrote a memoir called All That Is Bitter & Sweet where she tells us how she considered suicide in the sixth grade.  She also received help in a rehab clinic for depression for 42 days that helped save her life as an adult.  When you consider Ashli is the half-sister of Winona Judd and the daughter of Naomi Judd, all of them popular and successful, it is hard to believe she would suffer such a sad setback.  I believe Terezia’s book is very important and think everyone who has or had this problem or knows someone very close to them should purchase a copy of this book. 

What do you think Bailey, my little Fairy Dog Blogger.  Have you ever felt depression and needed some extra special care.  “Oh yes, Fairy God Blogger, I lost my daddy last year and I really miss him and I often just lie there and mope around.  I don’t always know how to get happy again so this book would be perfect if my momma would just buy a copy and read it to me.”  I know Bailey, sometimes it is hard to know what to do so having this book to help you get past your most challenging personal situations would be a God send. 

Here are some words of wisdom from Terezia about getting your memoir edited.  
                                                                                                                            CONTINUE READING.....

Terezia Farkas, International Best-selling Author

A Memoir of Writing by Terezia Farkas

How do you approach getting a memoir edited? A memoir is, after all, one of those rare pieces of literature that lies in no-man’s land. It doesn’t fall neatly into autobiography or non-fiction literature. In a memoir, your main theme is a conflict that people can associate with. Yet you are free to use literary expression to highlight that conflict. You can change names, alter small details, and even totally ignore most of your life while choosing to focus on one event.

So a memoir has to be edited a bit differently I believe than an autobiography. The first thing to remember is your book is your book. It is you expressed in every word you’ve written. You chose a part of your life to explore. You diligently put each word on the page that expressed you as an individual. Your thoughts about people, situations, and events are uniquely yours.

No editor should change any of that. When I picked my editor, I made sure to tell her I wanted nothing changed in the voice of my story. I only wanted her to do a copy edit. I made sure she understood what I wanted and why I wanted it that way. You have to tell your editor why you want something done. An editor is human, and has tons of other books and articles to go through. If you take the time to have a conversation with him or her it helps tons! Your editor then knows what direction you want to take your book, and has a clearer understanding of your character and hence “voice” of your memoir.

My editor was nice and obliged. Some editors are not like that. They will say okay to you but then go and change the structure of sentences and paragraphs, making it more of a content edit. I’ve heard of cases where entire chapters were re-written or deleted. And there goes your voice.

So I would suggest first checking out reviews of the editor. You can find them anywhere on line. If your editor is not listed on the internet, ask to see past memoirs she or he edited. If you think that the author’s voice has not been altered, then you have a winning editor!

Once you are happy and satisfied with your editor, I recommend getting a content edit. Now that your editor knows you, the flow of your thoughts can be tweaked to make your story more compelling. Watch out for editors that get carried away with over editing your story. With a memoir, the editor has to understand that there is some literary license taken which distorts or alters some facts to make a point. You could be describing a depressed person attempting to feel positive, and suddenly use the metaphor of birds to highlight the idea of positive affirmations. It makes sense in the context of the whole idea, and beautifully illustrates your point. A good editor will leave it in.

And while it is good in the early stages to get feedback from family and friends, the best editing is still done by an editor. Happy writing!

Terezia Farkas. International Bestselling Author, Huffington Post/ CNN contributor, columnist of Depression Help. Focus is mental health. Her bestseller Heart of Love Evolution – Surviving Depression is available on Amazon. Website:  www.tereziafarkas.com Follow on  Twitter.

---