My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Wendy Dale, owner of Memoir Writing for Geniuses and author of The Memoir Engineering System. We are chatting about writing memoirs. Ever hear the phrase “Just write” or “Write a crappy first draft”? Author Wendy Dale is leading a revolution to destroy this common writing maxim. What should you do instead? Make your first draft your final draft.   She believes that crafting a memoir is like learning any other skill. No one would hand a person a flute and tell them, “Just play until you figure it out.” Instead, you need to learn the concepts that go into crafting a great memoir.   Wendy spent fifteen years reading thousands of imperfect manuscripts in order to figure out the components that make all memoirs work. The result is the book The Memoir Engineering System, which was just published, January 2025! Wendy is also creating the world’s first reality show for writers, “Write or Flight,” based in Peru.   Wendy is a seasoned memoir-writing coach whose clients have come from Entertainment Weekly, the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Simon & Schuster, Seal Press, Wiley, NBC, National Geographic Wild, and Nickelodeon.   The author of the memoir Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals (Three Rivers Press/Penguin Random House), Wendy lives with her husband and two bunnies in Cusco, Peru.   Subscribe to Online for Authors to learn about more great books! https://www.youtube.com/@onlineforauthors?sub_confirmation=1   Join the Novels N Latte Book Club community to discuss this and other books with like-minded readers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3576519880426290   You can follow Author Wendy Dale, owner of Memoir Writing for Geniuses about writing memoirs. Website: https://www.geniusmemoirwriting.com/ FB: @memoirwritingforgeniuses LinkedIn: @writerwendydale   Purchase The Memoir Engineering System on Amazon: Paperback: https://amzn.to/4pnbcpC Ebook: https://amzn.to/3Kb4UdC   Teri M Brown, Author and Podcast Host: https://www.terimbrown.com FB: @TeriMBrownAuthor IG: @terimbrown_author X: @terimbrown1   Want to be a guest on Online for Authors? Send Teri M Brown a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/member/onlineforauthors   #wendydale #thememoirengineeringsystem #memoir #memoirwriting #terimbrownauthor #authorpodcast #onlineforauthors #characterdriven #researchjunkie #awardwinningauthor #podcasthost #podcast #readerpodcast #bookpodcast #writerpodcast #author #books #goodreads #bookclub #fiction #writer #bookreview *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.