By James Geddes
The art of writing memoir requires an understanding of the pitfalls of “going big.” When piecing together your pearls from the past the temptation is to “throw in the kitchen sink.” Stuffing as much as you can fit into your tale, often leaves the reader feeling lost or bored from those details that have meaning to you, but to the reader are not so fascinating. Knowing what to leave out becomes as important as what to leave in.
Marion Roach Smith elaborates on this idea in her book The Memoir Project where she tells us, “… think of memoir as laying out only a few cards from an entire deck, one at a time, each card moving forward the one story you choose to tell.” Memoir is compiling each story that stands on its own. To accomplish this, the idea is to make it small and rare. As a result you will create value for the reader.
In those small moments life is truly lived. Sifting through the stuff of your life will hopefully bring you to those rare times that illustrate truths that would become lost in the shuffle of broader sweeps of your past. Does that eliminate writing about the large life events like birth and death? Rather it involves illustrating those epic events through the lens of the smaller moment.
It’s in the small stuff, those rare collectibles where simplicity reins that the real tale can be told. When you clear away all the excess, what emerges are kernels of truth. Writing memoir that trades in going big for small and rare will do justice to your pearls from the past.
“Many people mistakenly believe that they have to write a formal memoir about their whole life, or that they need to have done exciting things, or that they need to be professional writers before their stories can be told.”
A memoir is not about one’s whole life. Rather it’s about writing a specific aspect of that life. And those aspects need not be “exciting” to pass muster. It’s been said that it’s in the small moments that life is truly lived. And many of those moments are precious, and reflect the true collectables where simplicity is the mark of the tale. True, the elderly need not be professional writers to tell their story, but for some, working with a professional writer provides the best option for creating a lasting record. People can and do paint their homes on their own. However, many hire painters to do the work for them. Individuals can write their own memoir with little or no help. However, working with a writer to create a memoir however short or long is a valid and appropriate service for the elderly.
JIm Geddes is an author and blogger living in San Diego
Neil Dickie Writing and Editing Services is happy to provide such a service for elders and others. The process is very personalized and takes into consideration the unique material of each client and how to best record those memories. To learn more drop me a line via my contact page.
The art of writing memoir requires an understanding of the pitfalls of “going big.” When piecing together your pearls from the past the temptation is to “throw in the kitchen sink.” Stuffing as much as you can fit into your tale, often leaves the reader feeling lost or bored from those details that have meaning to you, but to the reader are not so fascinating. Knowing what to leave out becomes as important as what to leave in.
Marion Roach Smith elaborates on this idea in her book The Memoir Project where she tells us, “… think of memoir as laying out only a few cards from an entire deck, one at a time, each card moving forward the one story you choose to tell.” Memoir is compiling each story that stands on its own. To accomplish this, the idea is to make it small and rare. As a result you will create value for the reader.
In those small moments life is truly lived. Sifting through the stuff of your life will hopefully bring you to those rare times that illustrate truths that would become lost in the shuffle of broader sweeps of your past. Does that eliminate writing about the large life events like birth and death? Rather it involves illustrating those epic events through the lens of the smaller moment.
It’s in the small stuff, those rare collectibles where simplicity reins that the real tale can be told. When you clear away all the excess, what emerges are kernels of truth. Writing memoir that trades in going big for small and rare will do justice to your pearls from the past.
“Many people mistakenly believe that they have to write a formal memoir about their whole life, or that they need to have done exciting things, or that they need to be professional writers before their stories can be told.”
A memoir is not about one’s whole life. Rather it’s about writing a specific aspect of that life. And those aspects need not be “exciting” to pass muster. It’s been said that it’s in the small moments that life is truly lived. And many of those moments are precious, and reflect the true collectables where simplicity is the mark of the tale. True, the elderly need not be professional writers to tell their story, but for some, working with a professional writer provides the best option for creating a lasting record. People can and do paint their homes on their own. However, many hire painters to do the work for them. Individuals can write their own memoir with little or no help. However, working with a writer to create a memoir however short or long is a valid and appropriate service for the elderly.
JIm Geddes is an author and blogger living in San Diego
Neil Dickie Writing and Editing Services is happy to provide such a service for elders and others. The process is very personalized and takes into consideration the unique material of each client and how to best record those memories. To learn more drop me a line via my contact page.
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