Posted on July 22, 2021 at 3:16 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
If you’re thinking about writing a memoir, contributors to Jane Friedman’s blog have shared some useful food for thought.
An excerpt from We Are the Words: The Master Memoir Class by Beth Kephart lays out a variety of memoir styles, to help you find your focus.
And to rewind even further, Kephart reflects on the power of moments and offers advice on how you might work — no matter what your current writing project — to commit significant ones to memory.
As Allison K. Williams notes in a different post for Friedman, some (or many) of these moments or events will be painful or traumatic.
That’s a perfectly natural source for memoir inspiration, but as you write, it’s key that you establish some sense of normalcy or depict the good (or not horrible) times, says Williams —otherwise, the bad experiences won’t carry as much impact for the reader.
It may be difficult to remember, so she also provides advice on how to recall everyday experiences to provide that contrast in your memoir.
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