I can relate to the OP.
I started working on a memoir years ago and I did actually make databases of all my thoughts, ideas, vignettes, tidbits, etc.
It's extremely hard fleshing those out into an actual story rather than just a bunch of information. The poster above me is right. I have tried to learn more about fiction and all the elements of a storytelling like conflict, tension, climax, falling action, rising action, etc. and all the other conventions that supposedly make reading a story satisfying.
It's tough. I'm in your boat. I have a bevy of facts, great lines, punch lines, quirky anecdotes, etc. I think I have a decent ability in turning a clever phrase, but creating a larger body of work, a narrative arc, is something that I'm still learning. I'm so early in the learning process in fact that I'm still skeptical as to why it's important, other than because everyone says so.
If you can figure out a way to arrange your memoir material into a traditional fiction novel format, you are very very lucky.
I think a lot of us memoirists come to writing from a very different angle. We're not novelists, yet we're not journalists. We're part of this ill-defined "memoir" cohort. It's really tough but if you're like me, you're fiercely determine for some inexplicable reason to get your voice our there and your stories hear. All the people who immediately say "no one cares, you're not famous" are irrelevant. Those who say "what's the point of your story?" are rude, but at least they raise an important question.
I'm still really stuck with my project. I'm trying to conform to a conventional novel style. But part of me feels like I'm hammering a square peg into a circular hole. And that I need to just envision an alternative way for my stories to unfold that have structure and purpose.
I find myself writing a lot of exposition. I could describe this or that for days. But I struggle with structuring things according to conflict, climax, falling action, and resolution. Perhaps because we're writing about real life, and real life doesn't always conform to that.
Another trap I fall into is that I feel like my writing is merely a list of anecdotes. This happens, then this happens, and this happens, and one time this happened, and I remember this time that…blah blah blah. I think what I need to develop here is a better sense for cause and effect in relating and transitioning my anecdotes and connecting them from one to another to created a coherent and deliberate story arc.
Memoir is tough! Good luck.