Cathi, yes, I totally identify with what you're saying and feeling, that "who would want to read about me" feeling. My sense is that many memoirists feel that way.

Ironically, however, when you see how popular memoirs are, those numbers tell a different story!! In fact, hundreds and hundreds of people want to read our stories!

Why? Because they identify with our stories. They better understand their own lives from reading about ours. Our readers feel not so alone. Because we're writers, we can give a voice to those who don't have one.

I receive so many emails from women thanking me for telling their story, too. That's so powerful.

And, ironically, it's not really that I (or any other memoirist) am so "special." Rather, it is because our stories are common, and, because of this, we give voice to this commonality among all of us. That's where the connections are. That's why readers read our stories.

Does that make sense? What do you think?

In other words, even if a reader hasn't had an incestuous childhood, she can still identify with my story. For what I'm ALSO writing about are things like loss, alienation, search for identity--universal themes.

Writing memoir is discovering these common bonds among us. And I am convinced that your story, too, would fully resonate with readers--that you would be giving a voice to those who don't have one.
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author, "Fearless Confessions: A Writer's Guide to Memoir"
www.suewilliamsilverman.com