Phase 02 — Pre-Project
Plan a Memoir.
Memoir is not autobiography. Pick the slice of your life that wants telling, name the transformation, and Grey lays out a spine that earns the reader's attention chapter by chapter.
Grey.
Your writing partner. Memoir lives or dies on what you decide to leave out. Autobiography catalogues a life. Memoir argues for a transformation. Tell me the slice, the turn, and the voice; I'll build the spine that makes the reader trust you by chapter three.
Step 1 — Choose Your Form
Short Memoir / Vignette
15,000 to 25,000 words
One period, one transformation. Six chapters. The lyric form. Hybrid memoir-essay sits here too.
Themed Memoir
50,000 to 70,000 words
The market default. One arc through one chapter of life (illness, loss, calling, transition). Wild, Educated, The Glass Castle.
Coming-of-Age
60,000 to 80,000 words
Childhood through young adulthood. The threshold story. Twelve chapters from earliest image to leaving.
Life Memoir
80,000 to 120,000 words
Whole life or a major career. Sixteen chapters across decades. Best when the public knows your name or your work.
Step 2 — Your Memoir
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