Now that you have the important facts all wrote down, go ahead and figure out the "story" you want to tell. The Memoir: Outline My final reducing advice can be summed up in two words: think small. Don't misunderstand, maybe you are interesting. A memoir is theme-oriented with anecdotes from your life that buttress a specific theme. Trust the value of your own experiences: it's not about the stories you tell, but how you tell them. Start with an Outline and a Writing Plan Creating your outline. You need an outline to give your memoir a meaningful story structure. Before you start writing your memoir, make sure you have an outline and a writing plan. Structure each scene for your memoir outline. If you skipped the intro to this article, you missed one of the most important parts of the memoir-writing experienceβyour motivations.