Memoir Authors discussion

Hi everyone. I've been lurking in this group for a while as I played around with my first unwritten memoir on anxiety. Since putting that on the back burner for the time being, I'm beginning to focus more on my eight years as a teacher. Everyone likes some crazy stories about the youth of America, right? Anyway, I'm finding that, as I'm writing, I am embellishing a little when it comes to direct quotes. That's logical, yes? Does anyone else struggle with this? Also, as I am writing, I'm second-guessing myself and thinking, "Well maybe that wasn't as funny/scary/annoying/ridiculous as I originally thought." This is a scary journey, but I'm three chapters in so I guess I've made some progress!

Jenny wrote: "Hi everyone. I've been lurking in this group for a while as I played around with my first unwritten memoir on anxiety. Since putting that on the back burner for the time being, I'm beginning to foc..."

Hi, Jenny, I've written a memoir on depression and anxiety and getting on Prozac. I'm currently editing and revising the first draft. I too have embellished some direct quotes, knowing they may not be exactly as I remember. I feel it's close enough.

Jenny wrote: "Hi everyone. I've been lurking in this group for a while as I played around with my first unwritten memoir on anxiety. Since putting that on the back burner for the time being, I'm beginning to foc..."

Hi Jenny,

I see this was from May so I don't know if you're still looking for input, but a couple of things came to mind. First, the exact wording isn't as important as long as it doesn't change the meaning or intent. Secondly, if you have doubts about whether something is funny/scary/annoying/ridiculous as you originally thought, you will likely edit it out when the time comes.

Because of some odd abuse issues, I have some serious differences with my family on what happened. I have to go to books that show different people's perception on what happened (whether memoir or not); one of my favorites is Robbe-Grillet's Jealousy, where he recreates the same situations with subtle differences to highlight changes in perspective. I have said at one point that these are my memories, and others may remember things differently. I am using a pseudonym and changing all names.
I've wondered about this before, and read to create my philosophy. Others say to check your memory with others. This won't work with many abuse situations for obvious reasons.
I've also worked on anxiety issues, too. Sorry you had to go through that, too. My memoir is "non-positive" meaning I'm not putting in a lot of "light at the end of the tunnel" crap when things like anxiety can be never ending, and it's time to be honest about that.

Interesting discussion! My thoughts are that I need to go with the story as I remember it, without regard to others' memories. The inevitable exception to that is when someone else's memory shakes a memory of my own loose, or when the event really belongs to the other person.

I hope you won't mind my asking, Michele, how things have come in the past 6 months? I know it's busy as a teacher, and summer's probably the best time to write. I taught in Eastern Europe and teaching stories are the best!!! Can't wait to see what you come up with, and hear how it is coming together, especially how you marry memory and memoir.

I've had a very productive year, partly because for about six months I got up a few hours before I had to be at work and wrote for an hour or two. I hope to get back into that pattern soon.

It was also a good year in terms of publishing, with a Kindle Singles memoir that came out in July, and several memoir-based essays that came out in literary and general interest journals. My website has links to all that stuff. The essays can be read for free - they are about my experience as an adoptee reuniting with my birth family. The Kindle Singles memoir is about surviving domestic violence as a teenager. Happy 2017, and best of luck to all of us for a creative, successful year!

Michele wrote: "It was also a good year in terms of publishing, with a Kindle Singles memoir that came out in July, and several memoir-based essays that came out in literary and general interest journals..."

Hi Michele,
Could you share how you published a Kindle Singles memoir and what exactly that is? I think it will be beneficial to all of us.
Thanks!
Leila

I too faced the challenge of wondering if my memories were accurate when writing my narrative, non-fiction memoir.
The following book explains how to write a true story in a narrative style: [book:The Elements of Narrative Nonfiction: How to Write and Sell the Novel of True Events|5905808 - How to join journalistic research with riveting, character-driven prose to create narrative nonfiction.
I used this statemen in my book: 'To the best of her ability, the author has re-created events, locales and conversations from her memories of them is a way that evokes the feeling and meaning of the true events.'
Diane Dweller author Mom, Mania, and Me