How to Write a Memoir that Someone Other than Your Mom will Want to Read

How to Write aHow to Write a
Memoir that
Someone OtherSomeone Other
than Your Mom
Will W t t R dWill Want to Read
Using Storytelling Principles to Strengthen
Your Work and Broaden Your Audience
Melanie Rigney
Writing Your Personal History SymposiumWriting Your Personal History Symposium
May 12, 2011

What A e Yo Goals?What Are Your Goals?
 Why am I writing this?
 Who do I want to read this?
 What do I want the reader to feel/know
that he or she didn’t before picking up my
memoir?
 What makes my experience special?
Prepared for the Writing Your Personal History Symposium. Please do not copy or
redistribute without permission: info@editorforyou.com 2

P inciples of Memoi W itingPrinciples of Memoir Writing
Memoir writing is the nonfiction form closest
to novel writing
 Memoirs must have a beginning, middle, and end.
 They must tell a compelling story about a life-
changing time if they are to be commerciallychanging time if they are to be commercially
successful.
 Because their benefit is somewhat intangible, the
experience or the writing must be
earthshattering to be commercially
successful.
successful.

Sta t ith the ActionStart with the Action
As with novel writing, you must begin with as t o e t g, you ust beg t a
problem; watch the tendency to give too
much background. Let the story unfold from
the point of crisisthe point of crisis.
Every scene must move the story along to its
logical, satisfying conclusion. Watch thelogical, satisfying conclusion. Watch the
tendency to include everything that
happened.
Show, don’t tell. Write in the
moment.

M bl O i P hMemorable Opening Paragraphs
“I was sitting in a taxi wondering if I hadI was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had
overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the
window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster.
It was just after dark A blustery March wind whippedIt was just after dark. A blustery March wind whipped
the stream coming out of the manholes, and people
hurried along the sidewalks with their collars turned
up I was stuck in traffic two blocks from the partyup. I was stuck in traffic two blocks from the party
where I was heading.”
“I wake to the drone of an airplane engine and the
f li f thi d i i d hi ”feeling of something warm dripping down my chin.”
“My father and mother should have stayed in New
York where they met and married and where I was
y
born.”

Q ick Tips to a St onge BookQuick Tips to a Stronger Book
The Basics
 There is no such thing as a publishable first draft
 That said, finish that first draft before you start editing in a serious way!
 Consider setting up a time line on paper or on your wall or in Excel to track
your plot and characters.
 Look at other memoirs. How long are they? Do they include pictures? What
do the interiors look like? If you’re self-publishing, go look around thedo the interiors look like? If you re self publishing, go look around the
bookstore on at Amazon for cover treatments.
 Know your limits. Writing quality work is almost impossible to do more than
an hour at a time.
Remember the golden rule of storytelling: Something happens somebody Remember the golden rule of storytelling: Something happens, somebody
changes.

Q ick Tips to a St onge BookQuick Tips to a Stronger Book
Self-Editing
 Know the rules of grammar before you break them.
 Keep an eye on the length of your sentences, paragraphs and chapters. It’s
good to vary them somewhat, but that doesn’t give you license for 200-
word sentences, 10-sentence paragraphs and 80-page chapters.
 Is each scene/anecdote/sentence essential to move the story to its
ultimate, satisfying ending?, y g g
 Does your dialogue sing? Is it consistent and distinctive?
 “Said” or “asked” is all the attribution you’ll ever need.
 Do run spell-check. Just don’t rely on it exclusively.
 Cross out all the adverbs, then think about adding them back. Judiciously.
 Where are you showing instead of telling?

Truth in Memoir WritingTruth in Memoir Writing
Novelists have an advantage overg
memoirists: they don’t have to worry
as much about including real people in
their storiestheir stories.
Libel/defamation hold people up to public
ridicule. And generally, especially for public
ffi i l if i ’ bl i iofficials, if it’s provably true—conviction, arrest
record, and the like—you’re safe.
You cannot libel a dead person But in someYou cannot libel a dead person. But in some
circumstances, their estates or survivors may sue
you if your work opens them, not the dead
person up to ridicule
person, up to ridicule.

What Is T th in Memoi ?What Is Truth in Memoir?
What if what you remember is hurtful
to other people?
When you write about private citizens,
you are also open to the possibility ofyou a e a so ope to t e poss b ty o
invasion of privacy suits, even if what
you write is true.you te s t ue

What Is T th in Memoi ?What Is Truth in Memoir?
What if you’re just writing it to let off
steam?
What if you turn it into fiction?
 changing someone’s name or not being a best-g g g
seller doesn’t protect you from litigation.
 You need to be sure the person is so different
from real life as to not be recognizable to peoplefrom real life as to not be recognizable to people
who would know him or her.
Prepared for the Bridge to Publication Conference, November 2009. Please do not copy
or redistribute without permission: info@editorforyou.com 10

What Is YOUR T th?What Is YOUR Truth?
An exercise from real life
The takeaway: As Shakespeare wrote:The takeaway: As Shakespeare wrote:
This above all:
To thine own self be trueTo thine own self be true,
For it must follow as dost the night the
dday,
That canst not then be false to any man.

Q estions?Questions?
Thanks for coming!
Melanie Rigney
Editor@editorforyou comEditor@editorforyou.com

How to Write a Memoir that Someone Other than Your Mom will Want to Read

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How to Write a Memoir that Someone Other than Your Mom will Want to Read