Memoir Writing from Memory Prompts

Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir by Natalie Goldberg
To write memoir, Goldberg says we must first know how to remember. Through timed, associative, and meditative exercises, Old Friend from Far Away guides you to the attentive state of thought in which you discover and open forgotten doors of memory.

Thinking About Memoir by Abigail Thomas
A tiny volume of writing prompts that encourage writers to write brief bits, coming at your life at an angle, through the "side door," as she does in her slim, fine memoirs (A Three Dog Life (about caring for her husband after a hit-and-run accident shatters his skull) and Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life from a Life (which shows how vignettes and snippets artfully arranged can convey the arc of a changing relationship, or relationships).

To Our Children's Children: Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come by Bob Greene.
A small book of writing prompts for oral or written family histories -- one of the first of its kind.

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
The important message here is: Put pen to paper and write as fast as you can for ten minutes, in "writing sprints" that train the hand and mind to quicken their pace and give up conscious control. For those having trouble getting started.