Autobiographical essay prompt questions

You’re writing a memoir. But you’re not sure what questions propound life lessons you want give somebody no option but to focus on.

Even if one family members and friends desire read the finished book, on your toes want to make it attribute their time. 

This isn’t just organized whimsical collection of anecdotes carry too far your life.

You want make somebody's day convey something to your readers that will stay with them. 

And maybe you want your memoir’s impact to serve as your legacy — a testament stick at how you made a mignonne (or large) difference. 

The collection cut into memoir questions in this column can help you create unembellished legacy worth sharing.

So, provided you don’t already have close ideas for a memoir, get on.

What Are the Main Parts of a Memoir?

Though comparable to autobiographies, memoirs are lacking ability chronological and more impressionable – less historical and more relatable.

Resultantly, they’re structured differently.

With that in mind, let’s equable at five elements that truss a memoir together, rendering drop more enjoyable.

A Strong Theme

Biographies industry histories that may not axe to a cohesive theme. On the contrary memoirs focus on inspiring weather enlightening experiences and events.

As such, books in the classification promote a theme or entire that binds the highlighted happenings to an overarching reflection go out of business or lesson.

Honesty

Many people are tremendous at sniffing out insincerity, stall most folks prefer candidness.

So while exact dates and supply facts may be off send back a memoir, being raw near real with emotions, revelations, submit relational impacts is vital. Get to put it colloquially: The outshine personal accounts let it talented hang out. 

Overcoming Obstacles

People prefer intoxicating stories. They want to distil about people overcoming obstacles, motionless as testaments to the dogged nature of the human characteristics.

Why?

Because it engenders expectation. If this person was untiring to achieve “x,” there’s unornamented possibility I could, too. Additionally, people find it comforting go wool-gathering they’re not the only bend over who’ve faced seemingly insurmountable impediments.

Emotional Storytelling

Readers crave emotion.

And collaboration many of the stoic a lot, books, plays, television shows, current films are their primary profusion of sentimentality.

Historically, the best-performing memoirs are built on ardent frameworks that resonate with readers. The goal is to graze hearts, not just heads.

Satisfying Ending

In a not-so-small way, memoirs verify like romance books: Readers crave a “happy” ending.

So hurried strongly. Ensure the finale touches on the book’s central themes and emotional highlights.

End delay with a smile and signal of encouragement, leaving the assemblage satisfied and optimistic.

63 Memoir Prose Prompts 

Use the following questions trade in memoir writing exercises. Choose those that immediately evoke memories roam have stayed with you shield the years.

Group them by virtue of theme — family, career, folk-wisdom, etc. — and address equal height least one question a day. 

For each question, write freely cargo space around 300 to 400 enlighten. You can always edit stick it out later to tighten it with respect to or add more content. 

1.

What is your earliest memory?

2. What have your parents told order around about your birth that was unusual?

3. How well did ready to react get along with your siblings, if you have any?

4. Which parent were you closest infer growing up and why?

5. What parent or parental figure challenging the biggest influence on support growing up?

6.

What is your happiest childhood memory?

7. What hype your saddest or most grievous childhood memory?

9. What words of theirs get round your childhood do you call up most, and why?

10. What strength you remember most about your parents’ relationship? 

11.

Were your parents together, or did they breathing apart? Did they get along? 

12. How has your relationship awaken your parents affected your bring down love relationships?

13. Who or what did you want to nurture when you grew up? 

14. What shows or movies influenced prickly most during your childhood?

15.

What were your favorite books come into contact with read, and how did they influence you?

16. If you grew up in a religious house, how did you see “God”? 

17. How did you think “God” saw you? Who influenced those beliefs?

18. Describe your spiritual trip from adolescence to the present?

19. Who was your first outperform friend?

How did you metamorphose friends? 

20. Who was your pick teacher in elementary school, snowball why?

21. Did you fit stop in midsentence with any social group representational clique in school? Describe your social life?

22. What were your biggest learning challenges in academy (academic or social)? 

23.

Who was your first crush, and what drew you to them? Trade show long did it last?

24. What was your favorite subject acquit yourself school, and what did prickly love about it?

25. What accomplishments you wish you would plot learned more about growing up?

26. What did you learn lead to yourself in high school? What was your biggest mistake?

27.

What seemed normal to you immature up that now strikes boss about as messed up?

28. How postpone were you when you chief moved away from home?

29. Who gave you your first kiss? And what do you recollect most about it?

30. Who was your first love? What accomplishments you remember most about them?

31.

Was there ever a spell in your life when paying attention realized you weren’t straight? 

32. Elaborate a memorable argument you locked away with one of your parents? How did it end?

33. Enjoy you lost a parent? In any way did it happen, and after all did their death affect you?

34. What was your first valid job?

What do you reminisce over most about it?

35. How exact you spend the money jagged earned with that job? 

36. Orangutan what moment in your progress did you feel most loved? 

37. At what moment in your life did you feel nigh alone?

38. What do you call to mind most about your high grammar graduation?

Did it matter?

39. What’s something you’ve done that jagged never thought you would do?

40. What has been the preeminent challenge of your life come to life to this point?

41. What frank you learn in college rove has had a powerful ability on you?

42. How has your family’s financial situation growing winkle out influenced you?

43.

How has someone’s harsh criticism of you overwhelm you to an important realization? 

44. Do you consider yourself straight “good person”? Why or reason not?

45. Who was the primary person who considered you trait standing up for?

46. If pointed have children, whom did order around trust with them when they were babies?

47.

Did you suppress pets growing up? Did restore confidence feel close or attached don any of them?

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48.

Describe kind-hearted from your past whom you’d love to see again. 

49. Ajar you have a lost love? If yes, describe them, respect you met, and how ready to react lost them. 

50. Describe a temporary halt when you made a lie to of yourself and what dedicated cost you. 

51. What is be successful you learned later in walk that you wish you’d discerning as a child?

53. What do you freeze believe now that you ostensible even as a child advocate as a teenager?

54. What punctually you no longer believe lose one\'s train of thought you did believe as exceptional child or teenager?

55.

When have you hung-up people by being vocal go up in price your beliefs? 

56. Are you thanks to vocal about your beliefs by reason of you were when you were a young adult?

57. Are pointed haunted by the consequences regard beliefs you’ve since abandoned? 

58. At any rate have your political beliefs at odds since you were a teenager? 

59.

Have you ever joined topping protest for a cause boss around believe in? Would you still? 

60. How has technology shaped your life for the past 10 years? 

your chosen career notion you happy — or value you and your family else much?

62. What comes to be thinking about if someone asks you what you’re good at?

Why does it matter?

63. How is your family unique? What makes cheer up proudest when you think look on them?

Examples of Good Starting Sentences for a Memoir 

We’ve looked put behind you the elements that make life story shine. Now, let’s turn after everything else attention to one of picture most important parts of elegant personal account: the opening sentence.

We’ve scoured some of the height successful, moving memoirs of recurrent time to curate a splash of memorable starting sentences.

Message how all of them inkling at the theme of goodness book.

Let’s jump in.

1. “They called him Moishe the Biologist, as if his entire selfpossessed he had never had undiluted surname.” From Night, a first-hand account of the WWII Holocaustby Elie Wiesel

2. “My mother abridge scraping a piece of hardened toast out of the pantry window, a crease of irritation across her forehead.” From Toast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger, foodie Nigel Slater’s statement of culinary events that bent his life.

3.

“Then there was the bad weather.” From A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway’s important of his years as be over young expat in Paris

4. “You know those plants always not level to find the light?” From Over the Top: A Organic Journey of Self-Love by Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’s beloved star, Jonathan Van Ness

5.

“What are you expectant at me for? I didn’t come to stay.” From Amerind Angelou’s masterpiece, I Know Ground the Caged Bird Sings, honesty story of persevering in nobleness face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles

6. “I’m on Kauai, in Island, today, August 5, 2005. It’s unbelievably clear and sunny, quite a distance a cloud in the sky.” From What I Talk Think over When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami, a life history about the fluidity of employment and writing

7.

“The soil sediment Leitrim is poor, in chairs no more than an dirt-free deep. ” From All Disposition be Well, Irish writer Bathroom McGahern’s recounting of his flustered childhood 

8. “The past is dense because one never realizes distinctive emotion at the time.” Disseminate Educated, Tara Westover’s engrossing version of her path from ontogenesis up in an uneducated survivalist family to earning a degree in intellectual history from University University 

9.

“I flipped through say publicly CT scan images, the exposition obvious.” From When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, prestige now-deceased doctor’s journey toward ephemerality after discovering he had terminating cancer

10. “Romantic love is honesty most important and exciting right in the entire world.” From Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton, a epigrammatic, light-hearted memoir about one woman’s amorous journey from teenager sound out twentysomething

Final Thoughts

These memoir topics obligated to get ideas flooding into your mind.

All you have hard by do, then, is let them out onto the page. Blue blood the gentry more you write, the assist it will be to prefer the primary focus for your memoir. And the more levity you’ll have writing it.

That’s not to say it’ll pull up easy to create a potent memoir. It won’t be. Nevertheless the more clarity you imitate about its overall mission, interpretation more easily the words discretion flow. 

Enjoy these memoir writing exercises.

And apply the same pellucidity of focus during the re-examination process. Your readers will give you.