What makes a memoir memorable

Writing a memoir that connects with an audience is not about telling your story. Great memoir relies on the tools of the story teller and is reflective rather than reportorial. The author looks at who she was and who she has become. A winning narrative usually focuses on examining a critical formative moment or experience. It is always about self-discovery. This book is part memoir, part collection of essays. The subtitle tells exactly what the book talks about: her apprenticeship work as both a shepherd and a Buddhist.

They are the destination, and the journey. They are home. In the new memoir Wild , Cheryl Strayed takes the reader on her hike of the Pacific Crest Trail and her interior journey overcoming the death of her mother and the end of her marriage.

Great memoirs use details to carry the story. They have a clear sense of place—because the physical landscape is also a reflection of the internal landscape. These images also enhance the atmosphere of the piece. Use your voice. You know voice when you read it. An author with a great voice can hold your attention even when she is talking about purchasing toilet paper.

Oh, I could go on and on. Now I want to hear from you: what makes a memoir great? I love reading memoirs, biographies, autobiographies. I love it when a memoirist writes about the most simple, mundane things and turns them into beautiful episodes of life, a la Zinsser and Abigail Thomas.

In the hands of a good writer, every small act becomes worthy of notice. In a sense, it is an exercise in mindfulness. Thank you!

This is a wonderful post. I especially like your quotes and book examples. Glad to have discovered your blog. I think what makes a memoir great is truth. I love fiction. I love memoir more because the events really happened to a real person. Thanks for these insights, Rochelle. I was surprised that happy is boring. I want writing that shows me how to do it right. You might even pitch some essays and articles based on your memoir hook.

Hooks are memorable another reason viral essays often lead to book deals! It also makes it so much harder nigh impossible to write a manuscript if you have no structure. What goes into the beginning? What goes into the middle? How do you ensure a strong and memorable finish? The structure will help most of all when you get to the revision stage.

I hope that makes sense. By writing the draft and loosely considering each stage as you work through your OWN experiences and story, you gain a much richer understanding of your own personal evolution. Without conflict, there is no story. Whether your story is happy or sad, this conflict needs to be exposed and explored, but most writers only identify the superficial conflict in their story.

So this creates a unique problem when it comes to writing a compelling story and keeping the reader invested in turning the pages. The only way to resolve this is to identify the two conflicting desires at the heart of your story. My first book was rejected until i identified the second desire and exposed it in a certain part of the second Act.

The reader wants to know about the one you never admitted to, until you achieved the thing you thought you wanted.