How to Speed Write Your Memoir like Sarah Palin

Not since the release of the Harry Potter series has a book created such fervor with the reading public. Sarah Palin's autobiography "Going Rogue: An American Life" hits shelves on November 17th. Clocking in at 400 pages - when most novels take an average of 5-7 years to write - it was written in just under four months. Four months!

Maybe you, too, have a life story worth writing: a tale of overcoming great odds or surviving (insert something horrible here). Inspired by Sarah Palin's feat, here are a few tips to take your adventure in anonymity to the shelves of stores everywhere.

1 Live an interesting life. Love or hate her, Sarah Palin has fascinated the public. You may disagree, but Harper, her publisher, has commissioned a huge first printing of 1.5 million copies. That's a lot of trees for a lot of inquiring minds.

2 Think of your obituary. What will it say you accomplished? How will a few paragraphs summarize an entire life? This is a good starting point to discover what the meat of your memoir will contain.

3 Avoid being narcissistic. We all have thoughts, opinions and feelings. In that aspect, you are not that special. Ironically, a good memoir is not just about you. It's about how you affected the people and the world around you.

4 Skip the boring stuff. If your memoir reads like your aunt's vacation recitation, complete with every single minute detail, you're doomed. A good memoir shares many of the same principles as writing a good novel: conflict, conflict, conflict! A good test is to pretend you're telling your life story in an Irish pub. Every patron should be hanging onto your every word. If they're bored, then so is your reader.

5 Hire a ghostwriter. It's the secret of many an autobiography. And while it may seem like cheating, it can be beneficial. Of course the ghost writer does most of the heavy lifting, but more importantly, the ghost writer separates the wheat from the chaff. While you may think the time you saw the Grand Canyon was a metaphor for the emptiness in your life, the ghost writer will smartly cut that episode and focus on the action and major events of your life.

6 Have an incentive. Sure, Sarah Palin was offered to write her memoir and for good money, too. She may also have some scores to settle. What's your incentive? Do you have an agenda you want to push? A life you want to clarify? Is the end of your life nearer than the beginning? Know why you want to write and what you want to accomplish. This will keep your mental excuses at bay when your passion starts to fade.

7 Give yourself a deadline and a reward. Without a deadline, you may find yourself a victim of procrastination and the memoir in your head will go with you to your grave. At the same time, give yourself rewards as you hit milestones along the way.

8 Write a story. A memoir must still adhere to the tenets of good story-telling; open with a hook, a teaser, or opening event, just like a good movie. Then move onto setting up characters (in this case, you) and continue to face increasingly difficult obstacles until you reach a dramatic climax. Even the most exciting life can be made to read boring if not written with clarity and conflict.

9 Have something at stake. If George Washington were to write his autobiography, he would have the fate of the republic at stake; when Drew Barrymore wrote her autobiography at the tender age of 14, her sobriety was at stake. Good drama, even in memoirs, has something at stake.

10 Finally, let the speed in which you're writing be your friend. Don't overthink things. Just get that first draft down. You can always edit later. Sarah Palin wrote a 400 page tome in less than four months. That's about an average of 3.3 pages per day. Set a goal; do whatever is necessary to reach that goal; and reward yourself when you do. Good luck!

Source: Net