Why should I be concerned with plot in my memoir? I’m just writing my experiences as they happened and when I’m done I’ll just type the end after the last period and then send off my query letters to agents.
Not so fast, dear writer.
Plot may be the most difficult aspect for a novice working on memoir. Part of this is because most people experience a tempting urge to throw the kitchen sink (and perhaps the entire kitchen) into their story. It can be difficult to tease out the plot, the important stuff, from the junk in the cabinet under the sink.
Other novice writers will hold back important stuff from the story. Often, it’s a case of what I call “vivid memory syndrome.” This is when a writer remembers a scene or time so vividly that he or she fails to let the reader in on the experience. The reader is not a mind reader. The more vividly you remember a scene, the more vividly it should appear on the page.
What do I mean by important stuff? Your memoir should contain scenes/stories and exposition that will serve to further your character’s desire, conflict, and resolution. In memoir, you are the main character. Today’s memoirs are often praised as “reading like fiction.” So, learning some of the tenets of fiction can’t hurt. Click READ MORE below for more on plot . . .
Not so fast, dear writer.
Plot may be the most difficult aspect for a novice working on memoir. Part of this is because most people experience a tempting urge to throw the kitchen sink (and perhaps the entire kitchen) into their story. It can be difficult to tease out the plot, the important stuff, from the junk in the cabinet under the sink.
Other novice writers will hold back important stuff from the story. Often, it’s a case of what I call “vivid memory syndrome.” This is when a writer remembers a scene or time so vividly that he or she fails to let the reader in on the experience. The reader is not a mind reader. The more vividly you remember a scene, the more vividly it should appear on the page.
What do I mean by important stuff? Your memoir should contain scenes/stories and exposition that will serve to further your character’s desire, conflict, and resolution. In memoir, you are the main character. Today’s memoirs are often praised as “reading like fiction.” So, learning some of the tenets of fiction can’t hurt. Click READ MORE below for more on plot . . .
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