Writing Memoir: The Art of Sharing Memories With Others

Notes from the Columbus Writer's Conference, presentation led by Paul Martin, author and professor at OSU

Why do we write about the past? Why would we want to relive it? Is it just for ourselves? Or is there something that we want to impart to our readers from our experiences?

Writing a memoir is about the artistic shaping of experience. The artistry of memoir creates insight for others, and furthers our understanding of ourselves. Memoirs are similar to fiction in their arc and structure. They provide a vivid dramatization of story, like a short story or novel.

Exercise: Close your eyes and think of three pairs of shoes that you wore during your childhood. What memories are attached to each pair of shoes? What was their significance in your life?

1.) Challenge of Selection:
The first thing that we must deal with is the matter of selection: "What memories belong in this book?" This is difficult, because with memoir, you have a huge canvas to work with. Where to begin, what to focus on, and what will contain it?

Think in terms of radical events: moments from our past that somehow shaped our personalities: Who was I? Who did I become? Which people from my past had the most dramatic effect on the person that I am today?

2.) Crafting Each Scene:
Memoir relies upon the basic element of scene, like in a play.

In those scenes, there are always at least two characters present: you as the character (past) and you as narrator (present). You are moving about in space and time, between the person you were then and the person that you are now.

Each scene exists for a purpose. There are reasons to make a scene: It needs to be a formative event. You are sharing what it opens up in the character telling the story. Something is unsettled within, and we need to tame it with narrative and story. The story turns at the moment that you have an emotional response that is layered and complicated.

Report: What happened
Evaluate: Make sense of the experience
Turn/Shift: The event opens up a new thing in us

3.) Recall of Sensory Details:
Readers form a stronger emotional connection to the story through concrete details. It's important to notice everything: how it looked, what it sounded like, what the texture was, how it smelled...

Precise, accurate detail will make the scene more vivid. So it's important to be a person who notices everything regarding sensory details, a person upon whom nothing is lost.

4.) Structuring the Story:
The story is really about the journey of the narrator. All the other characters in the book carry storylines of their own. What deserves to be a chapter? What deserves to be a scene?

Questions to ask yourself:
How did this make me who I am? What did it mean? Why does it matter? How did I make sense of it at the time, vs. now? Is there a common theme throughout my story that persists?

5.) Veracity in Telling the Story:
Some people stretch the truth in their memoirs, saying things like, "I'm not writing fact, I'm writing memory" or "Memory has its own story."

However, Paul Martin believes that there is an ethical line in the sand that exists, and that a writer will always know when they overstep it. He believes that it will prick their conscience. I am inclined to agree with him.

Book Recommendations: Writer's Room (Shelmutt), .,Why I Live At the P.O Writing Life Stories, and Living to Tell the Tale