Before starting my memoir, I was pretty clear on the difference between memoir and autobiography, mainly thanks to information I’ve absorbed from writer friends working in the genre. But these reminder images don’t hurt, especially since I found that, while writing my memoir, I had a tendency to ‘tell’ (vs. show) more than I do in fiction. In places, I felt like a post-modern narrator commenting from outside the story. I’m not sure this is always wrong for this particular book, but ‘showing’ is usually more powerful.
- I’m less rigid now about the need for memorists to stick to the literal truth. It’s so hard to remember the details when you weren’t taking notes.
That I can learn from these image bytes makes me realize I have a lot to learn about writing memoir.
Next week’s post: Memoir vs. Fiction
