Notes from James:
I don’t care if you’ve never written a word before—if you’ve lived, you have a story worth telling. The people who write the most impactful books aren’t the most famous or the best trained. They’re the ones who tell the truth with clarity and heart.
In this episode, I show you how to do exactly that. You’ll learn how to structure your life story for emotional and commercial impact, and how to weave in other stories, research, and personal growth without losing the power of your own voice.
Episode Description:
This episode picks up where Part 1: Why You Should Write Your Autobiography left off. If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, I highly encourage you to go back and start there first—it lays the essential groundwork for what we’re doing here.
In this (Part 2) episode, I walk you through how to identify the core of your story, pick the right style of memoir or hybrid book, and build your narrative around proven storytelling frameworks like the arc of the hero. I also introduce my “Six U’s” checklist for great autobiographical writing—so every page you write is unique, useful, urgent, unforgettable, uplifting, and universal.
Whether you’re writing a classic memoir, a hybrid self-help book, or an autobiographical novel, this episode gives you the exact structure you need to make it work.
Also—if you’re serious about writing and publishing your own book, check out my full course: Write and Publish a Book in 30 Days. It’s everything I’ve learned from writing over 25 books that have sold millions of copies.
This is the blueprint I’ve used for every bestselling book I’ve written. You’ve got the raw material. Now it’s time to build.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to turn intersecting life moments into a compelling narrative
- Why your story needs to follow the arc of the hero (and how to do it)
- The Six U’s of great memoir writing—and how to apply them on every page
- How to protect real people in your story without sacrificing truth
- Why memory doesn’t matter as much as you think when writing your life story
- How to turn your autobiography into a nonfiction bestseller (with examples from Limitless, Choose Yourself, Atomic Habits, and more)
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to Autobiographical Writing
00:28 Finding Your Core Story
01:34 Types of Autobiographical Works
02:32 Example: Craig Stanley's 'Blank Canvas'
05:24 The Hero's Journey in Autobiography
14:23 The Six U's of Compelling Writing
21:58 The Universality of Autobiographical Stories
23:32 The Six U's of Autobiographical Writing
25:03 Analyzing a Memoir: Prozac Nation
26:31 Turning Your Autobiography into a Hybrid Book
34:08 The Importance of Memory in Autobiography
36:08 Ethical Considerations in Writing Autobiography
39:55 Using AI for Research and Inspiration
42:53 Final Encouragement and Next Steps
Books Mentioned
- Blank Canvas by Craig Stanley
- The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
- Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
- The Puzzler by A.J. Jacobs
- Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink
- The Power of No by James Altucher
- The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr
- The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
- Quiet by Susan Cain
- A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
- Choose Yourself by James Altucher
- 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do by Amy Morin
- Losing the Nobel Prize by Brian Keating
- The Art of Clear Thinking by Hasard Lee
- When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
- Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel
- Limitless by Jim Kwik
- The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It by Kamal Ravikant
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