What Is a Memoir, and Should You Write One? (Part One)

Hello, class, and welcome to Memoirs for Beginners.

During this first session, we’ll talk about what a memoir is and why you should write one. But first, some preliminaries…

Those of you who are here to write the story of your life, please raise your hands.

Thank you.

Please gather your belongings and leave.

As for the rest of you- we’re not here to discuss the story of your life, as fascinating as that must be. We want to discuss memoirs.

Now, a show of hands from all of you who are here to complete your autobiographies…

Thank you.

You can also leave.

For those students who are still here, will one of you please explain why I just booted some of your potential classmates?

Since no one seems to know, I’ll offer an answer.

An autobiography recounts the events in one’s life, from birth to death. It may take the form of several books, such that three-volume doorstop by Mark Twain. Sure, it probably contains some nice stories about Twain, but it’s not a memoir. And I say “probably” because, aside from stories, it’s so boring that I couldn’t get through even half of Volume One.

And why are autobios so tough to get through?

Take a look at any newspaper. Newspapers contain a lot of information: articles, ads, classifieds, comics, sports, op-ed pages and the like. Articles can be classified as either “straight” news or “feature” articles.

Straight news covers the who, what, where, when and sometimes how, and as such, are not as long as feature stories; also, the former are linear, following a chronological order of events.

Straight new articles sound like they’re written by a robot. And why? All a straight news story is supposed to do is inform the reader- not make them think too much. After all, readers can only handle so much information at one sitting- especially if it’s “just the facts,” as Officer Friday used to say.

Feature articles cover the who, what, where, when and how, as well, but they also include the why. They discuss feelings and motivation. They dig into the psychology behind their subject’s actions and behavior. They may even contain humor and drama. Feature articles read like a story, which is why they’re more interesting.

So, what does this have to do with autobiographies and memoirs?

Autobios are similar to straight news stories- the former filled with facts, figures, personalities, events, character sketches, vignettes, and the occasional opinion or rant thrown in, for good measure.

Memoirs are similar to feature articles. They talk about why things happened the way they did, and may even cover events leading up to the main one, or what the aftermath was; in that way they aren’t always linear. Memoirs may even jump around a lot, timewise, like Joan Didion’s book “The Year of Magical Thinking.”

Though I’ve tried to summarize what a memoir is, some of you are still confused. Well, millions of other writers have the same problem. As a result, there are a lot of published life stories out there that are half autobiography and half memoir- as if the writer knows instinctively that for a book to sell, actual stories must be included.

So, the writer starts with his or her early years, but at some point, runs out of mental gas or page space and reverts to storytelling. This gives said writer an excuse to come up with several more stories about his or her life- books that end up being story collections instead of chronological accounts.

Well, that’s all for now. Hopefully, you now have a better idea of what a memoir is and what it is not.

Comments and questions are required welcomed. Ask me anything about memoirs, journaling or personal histories.