Memoir Writing
I read an article in The Writer last night about writing memoirs. The author had gotten his sister and brother to look at his and now hasn’t followed up on getting them published, so I decided to post this. I didn’t agree with him giving them a sneak peek. This is my thoughts on the subject.
When putting your memories on paper, it is good to remember that they are your memories. Of
course the rules of writing still apply, and the memories do have to be made into interesting
tidbits of information like other writings do. Letting other family members have a sneak peek
probably is not a good idea. You may think, “I just want to verify that I remember what
happened correctly.” It doesn’t really matter if you remember it right or if they do. When they
decide to write their memoirs, they get to write them the way they remember a person being or
an event happening. More than likely the way your parent, sibling or friend will not remember
events the same way that you do. Their memory might even be the way something actually
happened; however, your memory might be the correct one, and likely it will be a combination
of the two. Remember you are writing your memoirs–not theirs.
Your main requirement is to be honest about what you remember. Don’t sugar coat things for
someone else, and don’t speak harshly of someone that your feelings may have changed about
since the time that an event took place. When I wrote mine, I wasn’t sure about this until one of
my brothers commented that, it was my memories and no one could argue with what I remember, because they don’t know unless I tell them. They might tell me that I don’t remember it right, but they can’t say that isn’t how I remember it.
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November 9th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Interesting article. I really enjoyed reading it.
November 9th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Another thing about writing memoir – especially for men – is to remember to add how they FEEL! Good article and very helpful.
November 9th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I agree with you about we and our family remember a thing.
November 10th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Hi Darla,
Thank you for your nice comment on Memoir Writing.
Damon
November 10th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Hello Kaz,
Thank you for your kind comment. I agree with you 100%. I think that it is a good idea to say how you whether man or woman to feel about the different events.
Thanks again.
Damon
November 10th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Hi Eunice,
Thanks for commenting and absolutely I think that is right, because I don’t believe any two people will remember the same event in exactly the same way.
Thank you once more.
Damon
January 17th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
It is always good to write memories down, it is what keeps memories ALIVE! Good article, Johnny.
January 18th, 2009 at 1:53 am
Thanks Carolyn for the nice comment. I wrote a book about my life cotaining onl memories, but I never planned on being a writer so they were onl in my head until I wrote the book. Still the most of them were right. I verified them wth family after they were written–Not Before!
Thanks again!
Johnny Yuma