Episode 24: Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

In these memoir deep dives I highlight my takeaways from the book and how I can apply what I learn to writing my own memoir. Here's what I learned from Greenlights: - Coin a term for the title of your book. - Open with a powerful, visual scene. - "The choices we make write the chapters." - Take creative liberties: experiment with more dialogue! - Repeat themes/ideas you want the reader to remember. - Make your book unique: McConaughey had little poems written throughout; I want to write fantastic Acknowledgments. - The midpoint of your book should be an up or a down for the "protagonist" (ie me). This is similar to feature length screenplays. The midpoint of Greenlights is the moment McConaughey becomes famous. - Write a chapter on how you met the person you chose to spend the rest of your life with (obviously... because this is the most important decision of your life). - Endings are hard, but it might just write itself. Write the bulk of the book, and then think about the ending. I don't need to start with the ending in mind.