1. Revise for Voice
What is the right voice for your memoir: conversational, informal, reserved, or distant? Explore different options until you find the right one!

2. Revise for Tone
What is the tone of your memoir? Is it humorous, dire, ponderous, cynical, or optimistic? Make sure your tone is right for the contents of your piece!

3. Revise for Tense
In what tense is your memoir told? Does the narrator look back from the present or take the reader into the past through the present tense? Find the combination that works best for your piece!

4. Revise for Meaning
Does everything in your memoir mean what you intend it to mean? Go through your piece and look for sources of confusion.

5. Revise for Conflict
Does your memoir revolve around a central conflict? If not, go back and identify what’s stopping your narrator from getting what he or she wants!

6. Revise for Description
Is your memoir descriptive enough? Does it invite the reader to experience your memories? Is it too descriptive? Does your memoir get bogged down with too many adjectives and not enough verbs?

7. Revise for Discovery
Does the reader discover anything new while reading your memoir?

8. Revise for Audience
Identify your audience and make sure your memoir speaks directly to them!

9. Revise for Surprise
Does your memoir surprise the reader? Or is it completely predictable?

10. Revise for Resolution
How does your memoir end? Does it resolve? Or is the reader left hanging?