Memoir writing how to#
Memoir writing free#

For instance, dream sequences or flashbacks might be written in present tense in a memoir thatвЂ™s otherwise written entirely in the past tense. DonвЂ™t make it harder on yourself just because you think a linear storyline is too easy. While this is okay, itвЂ™s also important to understand that a linear story is a satisfying one, and you can tell a linear tale and still pop out of the current time line using memory and flashback. Many first-time memoirists try to be ambitious in their sequencing by telling a story out of linear order. Your scenes may well be the most important piece of how your story unfolds, and they plays out within the container of your memoirвЂ™s scope. Sequencing is the order in which you piece your story together. You want to create these bookends around what youвЂ™re writing as early as possible. Most memoirists bite off more than they can chew for a single memoir, and have to end up paring back and creating a tighter container around their story. You donвЂ™t have to have a perfect sense of what comes in between, as long as you know where you want to end up. Knowing the scope of your story means knowing where it starts and where it ends. If you can hold this list in your mind as you write your memoir, youвЂ™ll have a leg up at least, and maybe even experience what we call вЂњmemoir magic.вЂќ Writing the memoir is not a simple Q & A with yourself rather, the complicated process of trying to seek the answers is what makes the memoir engaging to write, and read.As Linda Joy Myers and I gear up to host some new fall classes and prepare for our next six-month course, IвЂ™ve been fully immersed in memoir land-one of my favorite places to be.

While the memoir tries to make sense of experience, it also shares something in common with the personal essay - the exploration of the question, and the process of trying to arrive at an answer, is at least as important as the answer or resolution you may arrive at. The potential questions Moore asks in this exercise are meant to be answered in the memoir. Once you have the list (and this list should be private - donвЂ™t share it with others - and donвЂ™t hold back because you think someone else will be looking), pick one of the questions on the list that you are willing to explore.вЂњ Mine your own life for the events and circumstances that still raise questions in your mind. вЂњMake a list of six to ten events or circumstances in your own life, or the lives of those very close to you, that still provoke your curiosity. MooreвЂ™s memoir exercise from The Truth of the Matter: Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction is useful in both beginning and intermediate courses: The questions that are left unanswered in Wole SoyinkaвЂ™s essay from the personal essay resource, Why do I Fast? are answered in the memoir. The memoir seeks to make sense of an individual life. In this sense, the memoir is heavier than the personal essay, and it mines the past to shed light on the present. Why was this event of particular significance?.The memoir continually asks the following questions:

Memoir writing free#

Where the personal essay explores, free from any need to interpret, the memoir interprets, analyzes, and seeks the deeper meaning beneath the surface experience of particular events. The personal essay can be a relatively light reflection about whatвЂ™s going on in your life right now. Memoir is similar to the personal essay, except that the memoir tends to focus more on striking or life-changing events. While the personal essay can be about almost anything, the memoir tends to discuss past events. However, if the instructor takes the time to explain and introduce the memoir form, it can be adapted for introductory courses.Дifference Between the Personal Essay and the Memoir An intermediate level course is a good place to introduce the memoir. A sample assignment sheet is also provided for instructors.Д«ecause the personal memoir is more demanding than the personal essay, for both writer and reader, it doesnвЂ™t fit into introductory courses as well as the personal essay.

Memoir writing how to#

The distinction between beginning and intermediate writing is provided for both students and instructors, and numerous sources are listed for more information about creative nonfiction tools and how to use them. These resources discuss some terms and techniques that are useful to the beginning and intermediate creative nonfiction writer, and to instructors who are teaching creative nonfiction at these levels.