Writing Memoir: Author, Narrator, Protagonist Memoir has become nearly as popular a genre as fiction. It’s the stuff of which movies are made. Almost everyone I meet thinks they have a story worth telling.  And today nearly everyone thinks they can publish their memoir. Brooke Warner, publisher of She Writes Press, recently suggested in The Huffington Post the pursuit of publication is a birthright. Finding a traditional publisher, however, is not. If you write a poem it does not make you a poet. This is not to suggest the only value found in writing poetry is in getting paid for it. The same is true for memoir. There are many reasons to write. Publishing is only one of them. A memoir intended to be sold as a book requires a writer collapse three roles into one: author, narrator, and protagonist. As an author, you write for an audience, for your readers. It means going public. Your personal life goes under review and readers judge you. Writing your story and publishing your story are two very different things. You need to write first before you can publish. But writing your story for the public may involve rewriting when you consider the ramifications of your words on those you write about and the effect it has on readers. As the narrator of the story, you write from your first-person point-of-view. The readers, however, judge a narrator on a variety of qualities, including how reliable you are.  The narrator’s style and voice may…

Sitting down to start one’s memoir is a daunting task. Remember memoir is a slice of life, not your entire biography. But where to begin? It’s not always obvious where to start. So finding a way to slip into your story might be easier if you find a side entrance. These memoir prompts are intended to stir up your memories and get you to set them down in words on paper. Focusing on the prompts gives you the distance and perspective to let you find your story. Write two pages drawing upon your memories for each of these prompts. Recall a time when you wore the wrong shoes for the occasion. Describe the occasion, your apparel, and the resulting mismatch. Do you remember someone who told you a secret? Did you keep it or not? What was the secret? Why was it a secret? And what did you do with the secret? What is one thing you lost and have never found? What are you afraid of that you don’t want others to know you fear? How do you keep this phobia undercover? Imagine you are listening to live music. What songs do you hear? Where are you? With whom? When? Remember the last time you knew you were in real deep trouble?  When did you apologize for something you did not do? Describe the situation and your decision to accept blame. Describe your most embarrassing moment. What do you always have close at hand? What is the one physical…

It can be intimidating to think about writing your life story. Relax. Memoir isn’t your entire life story. It’s a slice of life, not birth to death. Don’t confuse memoir with autobiography. Today the only autobiographies which find publishers are those written by presidential candidates, retired statesmen, and superstars. And typically written by authors who don’t trust biographers to paint their portrait in a flattering light. The classical forms of autobiography are called apologia, oration, and confession. Apologia are written as self-justifications for one’s actions. Orations are written to document one’s literary talents in description of one’s successes. And confessions are written about racy events or radical ideas with self-criticism like Augustine and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. First-person accounts which serve to protect ego, flaunt id, or appease superego misses the mark of the memoir genre. Gore Vidal described memoir as how one remembers one’s own life experiences. It is not fiction even though the genre employs many of the same literary conventions and devices. If you want to start writing a memoir, start by closing your eyes and draw upon those crystal clear recollections from your lifespan. Moments you can’t forget. The ones that a smell can invoke. Memories jogged by the weather, or how a garment feels, or the taste of a seasonal dish. Engage your senses in the recollection. Begin here. With one snapshot moment from the past. Lisa Dale Norton calls these moments “shimmering images.” Those lucid memories that you can bring into the palm of your hand and can…