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A memoir transforms fragments of your memory into what your life means. In
memoir, you are handed a real-life plot (your own); characters (your parents,
spouse, children, friends); historical events (wars, world tragedies,
assassinations); and settings (where you have lived, where you grew up, where you
live now) and you must use all these elements to fashion a story that is your
life. Memoirs have become increasingly popular – just think of some of our
best-selling authors – Maya Angelou, Frank McCourt, Dave Eggers, Mitch Albom –
who have explored aspects of their lives and sold millions of copies of their
books to devoted readers. But this art form is not just for the professional
writer but also for anyone looking for ways to tap into the emotional content of
their life, to find their own voice through writing, and to discover meaning and
patterns in their life.
Unlike an autobiography where everything is told – where the writer becomes a
slave to every name, date, and place – the memoir writer searches for those
dramatic moments in their life, the moments that have the greatest emotional
significance to them; these are the moments that will hold the reader’s
interest.
Memoir writing can also be self-revelatory; the memoirist is asked to interpret
the meaning of an event from the vantage point of today as well as from the
point of view of where they were in their life at the time that the event
occurred. It is as if the writer is wearing bi-focals and can see both near and
far. It is this enhanced sight that give memoir writing its depth and
fascination. You, as the writer, are both the seven-year old child reliving an
incident in your life, and the adult who brings the wisdom of age and time to
that incident and defines its significance to the person that you are today.
Writing can also become a form of healing. In writing a life story, a person can
come to terms with tragedy. Writing will not erase the tragedy, but it can
diffuse the impact and bring some closure to an event by allowing the writer to
greet the tragedy head and heart on.
The greatest challenge for anyone writing his or her life story is to keep in
mind what the writer Annie Dillard says in her essay, “To Fashion a Text”:
You have to take pains in a memoir not to hang on to the reader’s arm like a
drunk and say, “And then I did this and it was so interesting…” On the other
hand, I dig deeply into the exuberant heart of the child and the restless,
violent heart of the adolescent – and I was that child and I was that adolescent.
Writing your life story is an opportunity to revisit your life’s journey, which
can bring many surprises, sadness, joy and revelations.
There is great value in writing your life story not only for you but also for
others who are privileged to find their way into your world. You will leave a
legacy for others; give your children and grandchildren insight into your
experiences; and come to an understanding of the times that you lived in in a
way that no other book can illuminate for you. The lessons of your life may be
useful to others who now walk in your path. By sharing your triumphs and tragedies, you will give your reader solace and strength and even hope so that
they too can go on, no matter how great the challenge they face.
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