“Memoiring” Through Life
Most people think of memoir as singular — one full-length book.
When you add an “s” and make it plural, memoirs can be a whole variety of recollections of your life. They can be published together in one volume or published separately as essays, blog posts, or even as more than one book.
Francois Gilot’s Memoir About the Artist Pablo Picasso - ITravel/WithArt
In fact, when I’m teaching memoir, I often tell participants to write scenes or memories separately without thought to how they fit together. Later, they can arrange them in an order that makes sense. Some memoir writers are not interested in publishing but rather approach these vignettes as personal records that help bring order to their memories.
I encourage balance when setting a goal in memoir writing. Both personal record and publication are valid. If you’re unsure of which way you’re headed, why not start with creating your personal record but write “as if” you’re going to publish? Wherever you land, you’ll have a document that holds the truth as you understand it that is readable and engaging, even if the reader is just you.
When I look at memoir in this way, I realize I’ve been memoiring my way through life. Every journal entry is the raw material of memoir. Every scribble on the back of an envelope holds potential. Every poem written out of angst may become a polished jewel.
The same is true for you, too. Don’t throw away your journals; treat them with care. Gradually, over time, those entries which led to healing may transform into entries that lead to a cohesive story of your life.
Each year, I teach a class called Memoir 101 where we cover all the basics of memoir writing. Because any memoir is a longterm endeavor, some folks have taken the class more than one time. I also hold a Memoir Alum group for people who have taken the class and want more exposure to others who are doing the same.
This year, I’m excited to have Bonnie R. Armstrong co-teach with me. Last year, Bonnie published her powerful memoir, An Apparently Normal Person, so she’ll have a lot to share with both new participants and those who’ve taken the class before. If you’re interested, you can learn more and register for Memoir 101 either by clicking here or going to Memoir on the Dissociative Writers Heartbeat sidebar.
In the meantime, I suspect you’re memoiring through life, just like me. Keep writing as a part of your healing process, then watch as it transforms into more!
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Secrets, Silence, & Shame
Writers must encircle and defeat this triumvirate if they are to are themselves to write what must be written, if they are to act as witnesses to and historians of the lives they have lived and the insights they want to share.
~ Linda Joy Myers and Brooke Warner in The Magic of Memoir
Lyn