Is it Memoir, Autobiography, or Self-Help?

Writing a book is an exciting journey for any author, but it can be challenging to determine which genre to pursue. Memoirs, autobiographies, and self-help are popular genres that authors often confuse with one another. While they may share some similarities, there are some critical differences that aspiring authors should understand.

To help you decide, let’s explore the differences between various types of books:  

Memoirs

Memoirs are personal accounts that offer a unique perspective on the events that have shaped the author’s life. They often take the form of a narrative, with the author sharing their experiences, emotions, and observations. Memoirs can cover any topic, from overcoming personal struggles to achieving significant milestones. 

Usually, memoirs are based on a time period when the author overcame adversity, achieved something, or learned a valuable life lesson. It reads a lot like fiction and relies heavily on the devices of fiction—setting, dialogue, plot, description, etc.—yet, memoir and fiction are fundamentally different. 

While fiction is powered mainly by imagination, memoir is based more on memory and factual events. Both, however, share the same story elements and read like a story. 

Autobiography

Sometimes the lines get blurred between memoir and autobiography. Memoir and autobiography both deal with the author’s life, but they differ in their focus and scope. An autobiography is a comprehensive account of the author’s entire life, from childhood to the present day. It typically covers all major events, people, and experiences chronologically, and often includes a detailed family history.

On the other hand, a memoir focuses on a specific time period or theme in the author’s life and usually covers only a few years or a single event. It may also be more subjective in nature, focusing on the author’s emotions and experiences rather than presenting a strictly factual account of events. Additionally, an autobiography is typically more straightforward and factual, while a memoir often employs the literary techniques mentioned earlier to create a narrative structure.

Self-Help

When starting their writing journey, some authors begin writing a memoir only to realize later they are actually writing self-help (also referred to as personal development). The self-help/personal development genre is a great way for writers who have overcome challenges, such as the dark night of the soul, addiction, abuse, or depression, to use their stories and experiences to create a transformational self-help book for their readers.

Through storytelling, advice, facts, helpful tips, and techniques, writers can offer a process for readers to apply to their own lives and share the tools and strategies that worked for them. It’s not just entrepreneurs and coaches who can benefit from this format; anyone can share their message and offer tools for readers through a self-help book.

However, some writers may be hesitant to write a self-help book because they don’t feel they can openly tell their story through a self-help book when in reality, most self-help books are based on the author’s personal experiences and incorporate their story into each chapter. A good self-help book should not read like a textbook but instead offer examples, stories, and a process to help readers overcome their situation while sharing how the author worked through their own experience.

It’s important to remember that readers enjoy a good story and learn best through examples. While self-help books provide information such as tools and processes, it’s the personal stories and experiences of the author that helps readers connect and apply the information to their own lives.

Is Memoir or Self-Help Best for You?

Do you have something to share that could help another who might relate to your journey? Can you write a manual to guide that person through the process and on to healing based on your own experiences? Do you want to share your experiences without going too deep or getting too personal with all the details of the entire story? Perhaps you have a coaching practice or online program where this book might also serve as a product for your clients? Or maybe you have a desire to speak and share your story with the masses? If you answered yes to any of these questions, a transformational self-help book might be right for you.

For instance, let’s say you initially set out to write a memoir about a time in your life when you hit rock bottom, and you were battling depression and suicide, but the process is proving to be too emotional to revisit entirely, yet you feel compelled to help others who may be battling depression, or their loved ones who might also be adversely affected.

In this case, you might shift your focus to self-help and open the book with who you are and why you are writing the book, a taste of what you’ve experienced, and how the book will benefit the reader. As the chapters unfold, you might inform the reader about depression, add some suicide statistics, explain the symptoms, what others can and cannot do to help, and what the subject can do to move forward or get help. 

Throughout the book, you would support the topic of each chapter with your own experiences and true-life examples, and there would still be much of you and your story in the book, but the focus wouldn’t be so much on your story alone as it would in a memoir. 

On the other hand, do you consider yourself a good storyteller? Do you prefer reading and writing fiction over non-fiction? Although memoirs are not technically fiction, they still contain the elements of fiction and read like a story. If you tend to gravitate toward fiction, a memoir might be your best bet. If you don’t have a desire to share tools and techniques to help the reader but want the reader to instead learn by reading about your journey through a narrative story, then memoir may be the genre for you. 

In Conclusion

Writing a book is a challenging but rewarding experience, and choosing the right genre is a crucial decision for any author. While memoirs, autobiographies, and self-help books all share similarities, they differ in focus, scope, and purpose. 

Memoirs offer a unique perspective on a specific time or event in an author’s life, while autobiographies provide a comprehensive account of an author’s entire life. On the other hand, self-help books use personal experiences along with tools and techniques to help readers overcome their challenges. 

Ultimately, the decision is up to each author, and it all comes down to the author’s long-term goals and personal preferences. Regardless of the genre, a well-crafted book that shares personal experiences and tells a compelling story can inspire and help readers transform their lives—regardless of the genre. 

If you have a book inside you, I’d like to invite you to join my upcoming 5-day challenge: Jumpstart Your Transformational Book. This free challenge begins Monday, April 17. Register here.