Has anyone ever….

[Autumngirl7]

wrote their own or heard of anyone writing about their own story that has been published (not a celeb). For years I have sat on sharing my life story. I believe it will be an astonishing read because of the extreme events I have endured covering some of the worst things that could happen to a human. It will not all be about trauma there are extremely funny moments too (also extreme). So many people that know my story have said you should write a book because no one would believe what you have been through.
Just not sure whether to write it as me or as someone else if that makes sense. Any thoughts, suggestions. Appreciate any honesty. It’s not a self help book at all.

Many, many non-celebrities write memoirs. I would caution, however, that having a lot of material in terms of life experiences is only part of the process - turning them into a cohesive and compelling narrative takes a great deal of skill and judgment.

If you believe that events in your life could be interesting to other people, the good news is that many agents do not expect non-fiction books to be completed before they sign the authors (although this is a slightly grey area in terms of memoir). You would need as a minimum to produce a proposal to send to them which gives an outline of the structure of your story, the significant events, and a sense of the narrative that holds these events together.

Yes, non-celebs have written memoirs about unusual or traumatic life experiences they have had. As a first step, you might find it helpful to read a few to get a sense of how they're structured and written. There are quite a few written about people's abusive childhoods, struggles with addiction, eating disorders, sexual assault and so on - go to the memoir and autobiography section of your library or local bookshop or look on Amazon and see what's out there and how yours would both fit into the market but also stand out. I would always advise beginning with reading - it will help you immeasurably with writing your own.

Thank you so much will def do this. X