"do I have to show other people my work before publishing it?"

For the love of God: No.

In the coming weeks leading to the publication of Permission: The New Memoirist and the Courage to Create, I will be sharing some thoughts on the memoir-writing process that come out of the many (many) questions I’ve received over the years from writers new and seasoned. These are all jumping-off points meant for discussion, rather than binary rules of the road; they are not excerpts (although I did release an excerpt for paid subscribers here.) I will never say Do this and this and this. I will always say Take into consideration this and this and this. Because each of us is in a different place in the writing process and in our lives, and what might work for you might not work for someone else. These posts on Permission are for paid subscribers, and will migrate over to my chat thread, where I hope that we can continue the discussion.