When I think of "therapeutic writing," I picture long scrawled journal pages of unfiltered, uncensored feelings. When the word therapeutic is used in reference to my work, I feel a smidge patronized. However, there are a couple of problems with this objection.

When I shared that my mother banned me from her birthday after reading my memoir, friends piped up with variations of this sentiment: "That's why I'm waiting until my mother dies to write my memoir."As a result, I came up with seven reasons not to wait.

Truly collaborative writing? Until this year, it had eluded me so thoroughly that I nearly rejected the suggestion that I read the journals of Lt. Col. Mark Weber, who needed help to write a memoir for his three young sons, who would soon be without a father.

How can you make your memoir compelling? Find something unique about your narrative and focus the book around that instead of navel gazing about your first dog, your last lover, etc.

I had busied myself building my business and in many ways neglected building my family. I wondered what my young family would recall of me. What would they say my legacy had been to them as a husband and a father if I was to suffer another stroke or heart attack and pass away?

Unfortunately, many would-be memoirists stumble on the same writing hurdles: if only it wasn't so tough to begin, figure out a plot line, recreate conversations you had five months or five years ago, and keep it all interesting until arriving at "the end."