What makes a memoir? -- Interpreting the comings and goings of life -- Writing small about big topics -- Reading literature to inspire writing -- Choosing a seed idea -- Expecting depth from our writing -- Studying and planning structures -- The inspiration to draft -- Becoming your own teacher -- Revising the narrative portion of a memoir -- Editing for voice -- Seeing again, with new lenses : interpreting your own story -- Flast-drafting -- Revising the expository portions of a memoir -- Reconsidering the finer points -- Rereading your draft and drawing on all you know to revise -- Metaphors can convey big ideas -- Editing to match sound to meaning -- An author's final celebration : placing our writing in the company of others.