A memoir is usually regarded as a non-fiction (factual) account about a particular theme, or a selected period in the author’s life. It would normally be emotion-focused and while only covering a part of the author’s life, it could have various timelines.

An autobiography is like a memoir, is also non-fiction (factual), and written in the first-person point of view. It would usually be written in chronological order and relate all, or a substantial part of the author’s life up to the time of writing.

My personal story, A Life of Choice, would be referred to as my military memoirs by some because it relates only to my military career with flashbacks to my earlier life. I refer to it as an autobiography because it tells the story of my life in chronological order up to the time of writing.

Although I may make an occasional reference to ‘military’, these tips should be suitable/adaptable to anyone wishing to write their personal story. Refer to yours however you like, and don’t get hung up on labels for something that you haven’t completed yet. Procrastination is what holds a lot of writers on a blank page or blank screen.

Throughout the sequence of actions on the attached pages/screens I’ll use **(Computer users) where appropriate.

***