How to Write a Hook for Your Memoir 

This is the best video on hook. I wrote a memoir that includes a lot of things that happened to me, but NOW you just gave me permission to include just the one or two things that are central to the book. I had been struggling with the one liner, and you just solved my problem. So here’s my quick attempt after watching this video: After an identity crisis and surprise break up with her boyfriend of 8 years, a woman packs up her things and travels off grid around the world. THANK YOU!!!!!

I am writing a memoir about my journey with my Golden retriever, Prada helped me find my purpose. Her special time as a mom, a cancer survivor and a therapy dog and the difference we made together in the world.

Ok...I so needed that video today! I've been working on my hook since watching the video this morning and here's what I have thus far: A story about how God called me out of Church and into a deeper intimacy and relationship with Him. Still working on it but this video helped me get this far!!😉

Thanks Kelly. Another great nugget of advice.

I Choose, my journey to finding my confidence and and living my life

You deserve FAR more subscribers.

Excellent Kelly. Here is mine: The author recalls her identity as a woman on a spiritual quest and how her identity morphs into something wholly other when she becomes the mother of twins with disabilities.

I’m writing a story for a contest about myself and how I overcame brain palsy . My goal here is to show we’re all human with or without disability because I feel that there are people out there who feel sorry for themselves due to what others might think of them when in fact we don’t need validation of others. We only need to validate ourselves. Whoever loves us, loves us just we are. I want bring hope to whoever reads it.

You inspire me. ❤

Another great encouraging video Kelly! I read The Glass Castle years ago and loved it.. it was actually what inspired me to start writting my memior. My story takes place in Los Angeels (Hollywood) during the 1980s where I grew up in the cult "Scientology". I'll be getting in contact with your team here very soon!

Finally, I love your delivery. smooth,like a motivational speaker I'm going to watch all your videos ... 100%

This was amazing!

Youngest sibling reveals the events in childhood that led him on a solo, spiritual journey. Anyhooch, thank you for a very insightful video! One of your talented editors recently worked on my memoir. I’m striving to get it back to her within the month to begin the initial line edit. Very excited!

My book is about my journey in love, through five relationships stories and what I learned from those experiences: never give up in love.

So helpful Kelly! Thank you 🙏

Your video is helping me give some perspective on how to carry on with my memoir. Thanks for sharing your insights.

Youre really good at hitting the nail on the head for new writers. 🙌🏾

Mahalo, Kelly! Thanks for giving 3 examples of hooks for your own memoir. I'm having trouble honing in on that one theme: 1) Vague: the author recalls how she repeatedly and inevitably prevails in ultra-endurance sports and what that taught her about herself. Or 2) More specific, but does not light me up: the author recounts where the divine feminine meets the divine masculine in her life, enabling her not only to pursue her dreams but also to shatter the barriers of conventional gender roles, and ultimately, discover the harmonious balance within herself OR 3) The author shares stories of unlocking the limitless potential within the mind, body, and spirit through ultra-endurance sports. It's a transformative journey of self-discovery, where self-love becomes the cornerstone of empowerment, revealing that the connection to a divine source within us makes the extraordinary not just possible but inevitable.

Hi Kelly! I love your videos and would also love to read your memoir! I am working with a KN coach at the moment and would really appreciate your thoughts on my hook (I am also part of the Authorpreneur community but finding time zones difficult to join the Q&A live). My book focuses on the story of my burnout and my journey to recovery to find purpose in my life. But it also shows how my profession, marketing, fuels what was at the core of my burnout and how the transformation needed in marketing mirrors my own. So my working title and hook are : « Aligning to purpose » A marketing executive’s story of recovering from burnout and bringing meaning back to her profession. I would love to know your thoughts! 🙏

Thank you Kelly, this has been very helpful as my title and hook keeps changing. latest title, "Walking Into the Light Without sight; A New Vision for What Is Possible". with the hook being...A woman shares her experiences in opening the door to the spirit world, and how we all have the ability to make this connection.

Writing an abusive childhood, ward of the State New York at ten (Tom Sawyer/Copperfield-ish), second generation Bronx American (both sides), coming of age (to 18-20 years old), post WWII memoir. Started twelve years ago in various formats: historical narrative, biographical sketches, third person short story fiction mostly to divert attention, of my personal trauma, into an authorial omniscient character nobody would recognize as me. Now, finally, found the courage, warts and all, of voice to script a vivid and continuous American Dream storyline . . . and could use some editorial feedback.

Kelly, this is very informative. Thank you. I have done first or second draft of my memoir that, for now, I named, (My Odyssey, from Fantasy to Reality). At this point I would like to get help. I am not a writer, I am a painter but love to write, and, also, although I have been in the US close to 60 years, I still talk with an accent and when I speak I have to think about every word I say. I write somewhat better than I speak. So how do I go about getting coaching from your group, especially on content, to proceed with, or finish my memoir?

Great help

Mentions two memoirs I've read, one being my absolute favourite and I'm sure many people's favourite, The Glass Castle. But Crying in H-mart was also fantastic 😍

-the author recounts how a boy from a middle class family navigated the seas of a tawny private boys high school and became a recording holding track star.

Thank you Kelly!

This was spot on for me! Thank you.

Building a relationship with my dead celebrity mother healed my childhood trauma.

Thank you for this, Kelly! It was so great to meet you and learn from you in Tampa last weekend! QUESTION: How might this be different for a Teaching Memoir?

“An Armenian American boy walks with us on a journey through childhood sex abuse heroin addiction hope and redemption in Asbury Park New Jersey”

I have a specific time line 22 years young, locked up and growing up at the same time in the only womens jail in Los Angeles.

Just joined your writers bootcamp which I found incredibly helpful- Had missed the hook explanation- so just watched your video-Thank you so much for sharing yours and others hooks. My hook could be this-and may interest you because of your more personal hook. What do you think Kelly? 'The author, an immigrant to Africa, aged 37, fulfils her lifelong dream and marries at 41, blossoms into a mother at 42, but BANG, by 43 is reduced to a widow'.

1.Surviving Hari-Cari.schizophrenia and grandiose delusions. 2. Homeless on the streets of Seattle & dinner w the Criminally Insane. 3. Successful, loving parents, a Little House childhood. Nothing could have prepared me for a the future headed my way like a freight train: a family experiencing addiction, homelessness, missing persons, battered women’s home, prison time, black magic, mental illness, attempted murder victim. 4. Lost, from walking away from all I’d known, I found a key to my future in A Place Called Dismal Swamp.

Is the hook similar to the summary / description that is on the back of the book?

Navigating the corporate maze, a personality test left me stranded between two worlds. One, a realm of fragile self-esteem; the other, a domain where confidence echoed from skyscrapers. How could I distill my dual existence into singular traits?

I know someone who is writing a memoir about her healing journey from childhood sibling SA and PTSD. What do u think of this as a hook?🤔

I'm a writer who wants to know how to write a memior and a novel 📖

How do I peek interest, from a abusive childhood, To terminal illness marriage , to family, life, and loneliness, Thx

Saved in Paradise-A Memoir on How I Became a Devout Christian by Helping Fire Recovery in Paradise, California

"Finding Justice in an Unjust World"

So should a hook include "The author" in place of a name? Or is that implied in a memoir?

Woman begins her healing journey after reporting her abuser to the police.

Kelly, I have felt you need to write your 3rd "hook" book! About how you lost your partner to cancer. It is a very moving story.

Understanding (or Looking Back at) My Life After Being Diagnosed with ADHD at the Age of 54

Are you based in San Diego?

Becoming A Mormon: A Memoir My 48-year Journey to Becoming A Latter-Day Saint

"Do you know anyone who is racist? Do THEY know it? I was certain that I was not racist, I was wrong! This is a story of HIDDEN RACISM and self-discovery." - CONFRONTING UNCONSCIOUS RACISM by Daniel Balmer

My Life as the Daughter of a Mother Diagnosed with Schizophrenia

How do you know your life is interesting to write a memoir?

The French Woman channels her memoirs through her future incarnate - proving The Curse to be real. The Curse of the French Woman.

The author recounts finding herself after being swept away into a hindu cult group with her ex husband.

Why do you look so young?