Writing the Memoir

Your memoir is about you (obviously) but it’s not just about you. In this episode we cover Judith Barrington’s chapter on how (and why) to bring events from the real world into your memoir. And in our writing exercise we try it out by remembering our own lives during a moment in history. Then it’s on to the penultimate chapter in Writing the Memoir where Barrington has some writer self-care advice. Who can disagree about self care? Well… Also in this episode Kim interviews a poet who left the Plain community about how she navigates revealing true details when writing about her experiences from that time.

Writing Workshop with Kim & ReneeWriting th Memoir Subscribe to our Newsletter The Writing Workshop Exercise Map your Novel according to Vogler’s The Hero Journey. For this week’s workshop episode, Renee wrote about the brief time she spent as a child in Pacific Grove, CA, taking care to identify specific streets and locations as recommended...

Judith Barrington’s Writing the MemoirChapter 8, 9, & Appendix Subscribe to our Newsletter Writing (and publishing) a memoir can be nerve wracking. What if the people you’re writing about don’t like your portrayal of them? What if they hate it? What if they decide to sue? In this episode we discuss the chapter (and appendix)...

Our Interview with Erik Harper Klass In this stand alone episode, we talk with Erik Klass, the entrepreneurial editor behind the submission service Submitit about what literary journals are looking for in short stories and creative non-fiction.  He also discusses how his company evaluates and chooses particular journals for their clients’ stories. Join us for...

Writing Workshop with Kim & ReneefromWriting the Memoir Subscribe to our Newsletter The Writing Workshop Exercise Find two or three short memoirs (short-story length as opposed to book length) and, for each one, create a time line. As you make the time line, list in your notebook the words or phrases the author uses to...

Memoirs are rarely straight chronological narratives, what with the musing we talked about last episode, and they almost always jump forwards and backwards in time. We discuss Judith Barrington take the mental Time Machine from her book Writing the Memoir, specifically the idea of the “Now” and how with a little signposting, readers can follow along. We also do a bit of grammar review (just a little) and how we use tenses in our own books. Then it’s onto the nearly ubiquitous chapter that every writing craft book has on sensory detail. We cover the difference between concrete and abstract detail and the best practices for describing characters. This week’s exercise is some text analysis where we pick apart a short memoir timeline. Time to get our literature geek on.

We’ve gotten to the part of Judith Barrington’s Writing the Memoir where she covers the actual writing of in a memoir, the words on the page. In addition to scenes, which we’ve covered in our fiction writing podcasts, Barrington says memoirs contain summaries and musings. In this episode, we discuss all three (with examples!) and talk about how they fit together. And if you’re still not clear about the musing, check out our writing exercise where Renee writes about an awful Great America experience, with and without musings.

Readers seek out memoirs because they want true stories. But the truth, according to Judith Barrington in her book Writing the Memoir, is more than using Google to fact check. There are also emotional truths, which are harder than factual truths due of our imperfect memories, because they might offend our friends, families and communities, and because they can be painful, both to write, and to read. All of these ideas made for a fascinating podcast conversation. Also in this episode, we interview Raime Liddle, whose on-the-road life adventures with her mother-in-law went viral and led to a her writing Driving Miss Norma. And then in our writing exercise, Kim recounts a harrowing bike accident she had as a teen. Want to hear more of our exercise workshop? We post the bonus podcast, SnarkNotes, and detailed write up of the exercises on our Words to Write by Patreon account.

Chronological, essays, skipping through time, interspersed non-fiction — there are so many forms that memoir can take. Judith Barrington covers several in her book, Writing the Memoir, and in this episode we discuss the options, and which one is best for your memoir. As a bonus, Renee shares an exercise she’s come up with for finding your memoir’s theme. Want to hear more of our exercise workshop? We post the bonus podcast, SnarkNotes, and detailed write up of the exercises on our Words to Write by Patreon account.

Baring one's soul in a memoir is hard work. Convincing others to care is one thing, but to engage in your life story? That's a whole other beast. In her book, Writing the Memoir, Judith Barrington says the first step is getting ourselves - and our readers - to care about our memoir. In this podcast we discuss both her philosophical reasoning and practical advice. In this week's writing exercise, Kim tries to come up with what her memoir should be about. Spoiler: it does not go well. Thankfully Renee is there to pep-talk Kim off the edge. Fun times!