Target Audience
This lecture is intended for healthcare professionals (including doctors, nurses, allied health clinicians, psychologists, and healthcare leaders) who are interested in writing a memoir or personal narrative. It is particularly relevant for clinicians who want to translate their lived experiences of illness, injury, caregiving, or clinical practice into meaningful, ethical, and publishable long-form writing.
The session is suited to both first-time writers and those who have begun writing but feel stuck, uncertain, or overwhelmed by the emotional, ethical, or structural challenges of memoir.
Learning Objectives
By attending this lecture, participants will learn how to:
- Clarify the purpose of their memoir, including identifying the core message, audience, and “why” behind their story
- Distinguish memoir from autobiography, and understand how to shape personal experience into a compelling narrative arc
- Translate clinical and lived experience into story, without medical jargon and without losing authenticity or credibility
- Navigate ethical and professional boundaries, including confidentiality, consent, and writing about patients, colleagues, and family
- Structure a memoir for impact, using storytelling techniques such as scene, voice, tension, and reflection
- Manage emotional exposure and vulnerability, while protecting psychological wellbeing during the writing process
- Move from idea to manuscript, with practical guidance on starting, sustaining momentum, and avoiding common pitfalls that cause clinicians to abandon writing projects
