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Memoirs of a Geisha is a novel turned into an epic drama film in 2005. Memoir is not a new word, but it may be the first time that some people may have heard or known that such a word exists. If you think of this word, the very first thing that would come to mind would be memories. A memoir is a collection of the writer’s memories. It consists of details of the events that took place in both the writer’s public and private life. It is also called a personal essay, so if you are knowledgeable about essay writing, then you should be able to pull off creating this one easily.

Memoirs of a Geisha is a novel turned into an epic drama film in 2005. Memoir is not a new word, but it may be the first time that some people may have heard or known that such a word exists. If you think of this word, the very first thing that would come to mind would be memories. A memoir is a collection of the writer’s memories. It consists of details of the events that took place in both the writer’s public and private life. It is also called a personal essay, so if you are knowledgeable about essay writing, then you should be able to pull off creating this one easily.

Memoir, Biography, and Autobiography: How Are They Different?

When you want to tell a story about your life, you either write a memoir, a biography, or an autobiography. While they help you tell your life story, they don’t necessarily mean that they are all the same. That is just their similarity. So how are they different? Before you confuse yourself about which is which, we will give you the details that set each one of them apart.

Let’s start with biographies as they are the most common among the three. We all know that a biography is a story of the life of a particular individual that is written by someone else. The story that a biography tells covers the whole life or the history of the life of that individual, which you can find in biography samples.

In an autobiography, the writer tells the story of their life, which makes it different from that of a biography. It’s just like the school essays we used to write about ourselves. And if you have checked out some autobiography samples, you’ll notice that they’re all written from the first-person point of view. Well, that’s pretty easy considering that we are quite familiar with both biography and autobiography.

While both are used to tell the life history of an individual, a memoir focuses on significant event plan of a person’s life. It acts as a collection of memories that one has during a specific period of their life. It only tells the story of a significant memory and not the entire life of the individual. Memoirs can be also be both written by someone else or by oneself.

Types of Memoirs

Anybody can write a memoir. You just need to figure out what type of memoir you should be writing prior to preparing your details. There are seven types of memoirs, namely confessional memoirs, personal memoirs, portrait memoirs, professional memoirs, public memoirs, transformational memoirs, and travel memoirs. Knowing each of the seven types of memoirs will help you provide a detailed life story or narrative.

Confessional Memoirs

If you have a confession to tell about some part of your life, then you should write this type of memoir. A confessional memoir consists mostly of the decisions that the writer considers as good and bad. In this type of memoir, the writer discusses and talks about the choices they have made, how it affected them and other involved individuals, and how it helped change their lives for the better (or worse).

Personal Memoirs

Can’t decide on what memoir to write? Then write a personal memoir instead. It is the most popular type of memoir which focuses only on a certain period or event of the writer’s own life. As a writer, you get to choose which memory to write about.

Professional Memoirs

A professional memoir is the type of memoir written to tell about one’s professional life or career. This type of memoir is created to keep a record of historical events.

Public Memoirs

Celebrities, artists, influencers, and other people who live their lives in a very public way are the group of people who get associated with public memoirs. The type of memoir aims to let their readers know more about who the writer really is, aside from what is being shown to them in public.

Portrait Memoirs

Among the seven types of memoirs, this is the only type that is written by another person. It does not contain the feelings and thoughts of the writer, but it documents the experiences, events, and the researched information about that person.

Transformational Memoirs

Transformational memoirs include religion and spirituality, one’s coming of age, and overcoming challenges or circumstances.

Travel Memoirs

A travel memoir is where writers express their feelings and experiences while traveling. Although it provides details of the personal adventures of the writer, it is still different from that of travel blogs. A travel memoir is where you can read about the writer’s challenges while traveling, as well as how they were able to overcome those challenges.

Memoir Samples

Here are memoir samples that will help you get familiar with the different types of memoirs and help you choose the type of memoir that is right for you.

1. Memoir Template

2. Sample Mentor-Written Memoir Template

3. Professional Memoir Template

4. Sample Memoir About Soccer Template

5. Basic Six Word Memoir Template

6. Student Memoir Template

7. Memoir Paper Outline Template

8. Six Word Memoirs and Grading Template

9. Printable Memoir on Pauperism Template

10. Political Memoir Template

11. Sample Short Memoir Template

If you have noticed, memoirs look very much like the student essays that we used to write in school, where you were required to read aloud in front of the whole class. Writing a memoir is like writing a detailed essay about a certain point in life that is worth sharing. Great books are often memoirs of ordinary individuals who have lived extraordinary lives and made their existence significant.