Natalie Goldberg

If you haven’t written your memoir yet, there’s a fair chance you’ve thought about it. It seems as though almost everyone has these days. And if not a full-scale book, maybe you’ve blogged about things from your past or chronicled the present on My Space.

Natalie Goldberg, who has inspired many a memoir writer, has led writing workshops for more than 30 years. In 1986 she wrote “Writing Down the Bones,” which arguably helped ignite the memoir craze. (Some might like to put it out, but that isn’t likely to happen.)

Goldberg will be in St. Louis at 7 p.m. Monday (Left Bank Books, 399 North Euclid Boulevard) to discuss her latest book, “Old Friend From Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir.”

We talked briefly by phone on Friday and she offered her 5 top tips for writing memoirs:

1. Go! Keep your hand moving. Feel free to write the worst junk in America.

2. Practice. Writing is an athletic activity. The more you practice the better you’ll get and the more comfortable you’ll be.

3. Be specific. (Don’t write “car,” write “Cadillac.” Not “tree,” but “sycamore.”)

4. Say what you really want to say, not what you think you should say. Write your mind’s truth.

5. Accept loss forever. (Quote from Jack Kerouac.) Loss continues all our lives: We can use that to say what was.