3/16/2024 0 Comments Escapist 2 cattle prod craftingThen, too, a memoir cannot really be deemed a success unless readers find it entertaining, enlightening, or at the very least, interesting. While a chronological structure can work, not all human events start out scintillating depending upon the story, another structure might work better. “Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”Īs a memoirist and an editor who works regularly with same, I must disagree. “Where shall I begin, please, your Majesty?” he asked. Anything beyond that, presumably, is gravy.Īs to structure, that’s held to be self-evident. The writer’s platform and the inherent interest of the story, we’re told, are all that matter in a memoir. Why is that, when it is so very hard to write memoir well? All too often, the prevailing wisdom dictates that all a writer needs to produce a successful memoir is an exciting life, an ability to write clearly, and, if at all possible, celebrity in another field, so the writing will matter even less. Let’s just be grateful that not every memoirist’s extended family has the wherewithal to make credible $2 million dollar lawsuit threats.) While we writers talk endlessly amongst ourselves about craft and structure for fiction, it’s actually quite rare to stumble into a knot of literary conference attendees avidly discussing how to make a personal anecdote spring to life on the page. Memoir-writing and writing about reality as fiction has been much on my mind of late, and not merely because my memoir remains in publishing limbo. Queryfest will be every bit as useful next week. So let’s refresh ourselves by talking craft for a while. ![]() Today, I had planned to launch headlong into my annual foray into how to construct a graceful and effective query letter, campers, but frankly, didn’t we devote an awful lot of the summer to discussing how to pitch? After so many weeks on end of dealing with practicalities, I feel that the artist in each of us deserves a little holiday.
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