There is most certainly an art to writing memoir. Memoirs are one of our favorite genres at Communicator Academy but one of the most difficult to write (well). This week’s guest, author and speaker Susy Flory, joins us and gives us her best tips and experiences writing memoir. Susy explains exactly what makes a memoir good, the different types of memoir and a few of the rules for memoir.
If you are a writer, or aspire to be, this episode is for you. Kathi describes this episode as a master class so pull out your notebook and listen in.
Let’s have a winner!
Do you want a copy of Thunderdog or Dog Tails? Leave a comment below on what memoir is your favorite read? Two of you will win!
Susy Flory
Susy Flory is the New York Times bestselling author or co-author of eleven books, including an upcoming memoir with NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski, called The Sky Below.
Susy grew up on the back of a quarter horse in Northern California and took degrees from UCLA in English and psychology, and has a background in journalism, education, and communications. She first started writing at the Newhall Signal with the legendary Scotty Newhall, an ex-editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and a one-legged cigar-smoking curmudgeon who ruled the newsroom from behind a dented metal desk where he pounded out stories on an Underwood Typewriter. She taught high school English and journalism, then quit in 2004 to write full time.
Learn more about Susy at her website.
Meet Your Hosts
Kathi Lipp
Author, Speaker, Communicator Academy Creator and CEO
Communicator Academy founder, Leverage: The Speaker Conference creator and master instructor Kathi Lipp, is a national speaker and author of 16 books including “Clutter Free,” “The Get Yourself Organized Project,” and “The Husband Project.”
She is a frequent guest on radio and TV, and has been named Focus on the Family radio’s “Best of Broadcast.”
She is the host of the popular podcast “Clutter Free Academy with Kathi Lipp.”
Over the past 10 years, Kathi has helped hundreds of people increase their platform through teaching and coaching. She is a frequent teacher at writer’ s conferences and has helped countless authors and speakers find their audiences.
Kathi’s desire to help fellow speakers and authors avoid the mistakes she made, increase their confidence and be the person God made them to be, inspired her creation of Communicator Academy. The podcast as an extension of Communicator Academy is just another way Kathi wants to serve her audience.
Michele Cushatt
Author, Speaker, Mastermind Coach
As an experiened keynote speaker and emcee, Michele Cushatt’s speaking experience includes Women of Faith, Compassion International, and various retreats, conferences and events held across the country. She has also led radio, video and audio recording projects.
Since 2014, she’s been the co-host of Michael Hyatt’s popular This Is Your Life podcast.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Dear Kathi, Michele, and Susy, what a wonderful podcast about one my favorite genres. I loved Undone, and I’ve been reading other memoirs while I allow my own memoir manuscript to rest before tackling another round of editing on it. I needed to hear this and hope to learn more about this topic soon. Thank you, all three of you. 🙂 And yes, please, to having my name entered into the draw.
Blessings ~ Wendy
Hi,
A favorite is Mennonite in a Little Black Dress! and does Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts count? Thanks, ladies! I feel like each blog is a little memoir – appreciate your humor, humility and expertise.
Sue, you won Susy’s book! I’ll send you an email to find out which one you want. 🙂
Thank you for this Wonderful podcast Kathi, Michele and Susy! My take away …”knowing what to leave out!” Undone was my favorite memoir to read because of its heartfelt authenticity, love, pain, and passion whiling giving hope and inspiration for the future! Have a great day! –With sincere gratitude…Becky
Hello Ladies! I have been loving the Communicators Academy podcasts and was actually surprised to really enjoy this episode on memoirs. Honestly, I’ve never considered writing a memoir so I overlooked this new episode for a few days but finally decided to listen in just for fun. It seems strange to me that you all said it is one of the toughest forms of writing and yet after listening to the podcast I’m more intrigued that ever! My favorite memoir really is Undone, which I promise is not me just sucking up here, but I would love to read Thunder Dog because you ladies have really got my attention and I now want to explore a memoir with fresh eyes and see if this might be the direction for me. Thanks again for your excellent work. I’m learning am blessed to learn from you!
Katie, you won Susy’s book! I’ll send you an email to find out which one you want. 🙂
Great podcast and so helpful for me as I enter the second round of editing my memoir. I am a huge fan of Michele’s “Undone” and I could relate to some of her struggles, but was blown away by the depth of her struggles. I also appreciated Edie Wadsworth’s recent memoir, “All the Pretty Things.” I was blessed to be a part of her launch team and her story is tender and redemptive. I am so excited about your new podcast–keep up the good stuff!