How did you approach your story

Bluegate · Dec 22, 2009

I was just wondering how some of you approached your stories. Did you mainly see them as memoir which is its own breed or did you see them as novels in whatever genre? Did you plot them out as novels, outlining and story boarding etc. or did you simply start writing? I mean after all, you were there so you pretty much knew the story and characters already.

I am also wondering that if you did consider your memoir as a “novel” then what genre or mix of genres did it most closely resemble.

So how did you do it? Start collecting your memories/info and then start writing it down or plot and layer like genre novel?

Red Bird · Dec 22, 2009

Bluegate,

I just started writing. I was fortunate to have a mentor from the beginning. She pointed out areas that she thought needed more detail as I wrote. To her, the best way to go about it was to get the story down on paper. I then had to go back and rearrange things in a more chronological order. Next, I had to research dates, events, and such. I visited some of the places where I grew up and photographed the homes, yards, neighbors. After that process, I did some serious editing. It was like clearing the forest so I could see the trees more clearly. Each time I rearranged things I had to go back in and transition/edit/polish. Now, I'm cutting redundancies and forming sharper chapter focus. What's written has been edited three times, which I thought was a lot, but I'm starting to realize that's just a drop in the bucket.

For me, there wasn't any other way I could have done it. I relived the material the first time I put it on paper, which made for some descriptive scenes, but also some narrative that sounded like journaling. I learned along the way that being too close to some material doesn't allow for the greatest prose.

Is anyone else sick of the Christmas scene yet?

Bluegate · Dec 22, 2009

I am on tinsel overload quite frankly and if I have to wish one more person a Happy Winter Solstice or Non Demdenominational Fricking Friday I'm going to choke a reindeer.
Why do you ask?
hehe

I started the writing it down method and very quickly found out that I had way to much dramatic stuff that could carry a chapter on its own. I had to find a different way to go about it or you'd need a forklift to read the darn thing.

Red Bird, I'm curious, had you "relived" it prior to writing it or was the writing part of the process?

Bluegate · Dec 22, 2009

Red Bird said:
Bluegate,
After that process, I did some serious editing. It was like clearing the forest so I could see the trees more clearly. Each time I rearranged things I had to go back in and transition/edit/polish. Now, I'm cutting redundancies and forming sharper chapter focus. What's written has been edited three times, which I thought was a lot, but I'm starting to realize that's just a drop in the bucket.

For me, there wasn't any other way I could have done it. I relived the material the first time I put it on paper, which made for some descriptive scenes, but also some narrative that sounded like journaling. I learned along the way that being too close to some material doesn't allow for the greatest prose.

I keep rereading your comment here and finding new things that pique my interest. After editing these three times are you completely sick of your own story? I think I can understand finding new ways to continue liking a fictional story even through several edits but I expect that I will get pretty darn tired of myself after it’s all said and done. So, I was just wondering how you’re doing with it.

I also found that a little distance is healthy for both of us, me and the material that is. I don't use real names when I am writing because it draws me in too much and I start reliving instead of writing.

Red Bird · Dec 22, 2009

Bluegate,
Yep, I mean, can we get this party started for real. I've never seen so much fuss and prep for one day in my life. Shit. The world is distracting me with all of their glee.

Yes, I had relived it and relived it prior to writing. I wasn't able to stop reliving it until I put it on paper. I relived it on the way to the mailbox, too. I relived it while I was aware that someone else was reading it (my mentor). I relived it while I read her critiques and while I edited it the first and second time. By the third edit, I was able to emotionally detach from the material and focus on craft. My life finally made sense to me and my goals had shifted to wanting to write well. Now, I'm not satisfied with writing well, I want the thing to sing. And, eventually, it will.

For me, by the time I got sick of my story, I was focusing on so many other issues: craft, dialogue, query letter, synopsis...that I was no longer reading the story as if it was about me. Now, it's a book with a life of its own that I want to make as good as I can.

Go ahead,
Wish me a Merry F****** Christmas.
Ha. I am looking forward to the presents and ham.

Bluegate · Dec 22, 2009

Red Bird said:
Bluegate,
Yep, I mean, can we get this party started for real. I've never seen so much fuss and prep for one day in my life. Shit. The world is distracting me with all of their glee.

Go ahead,
Wish me a Merry F****** Christmas.
Ha. I am looking forward to the presents and ham.

You're killing me here!

I have been trying to work out as much of the plotting and structuring craft as I can before the writing-writing part of it because I figure I will go through a lot of what you described. I have come up with little tricks to keep me from slipping in too deep with reliving. I am trying to stay focused on what I need to recall for the book to make it work. I have already gone through all that shit and the recovery aspects of it but it will always be there. Digging around in those old chests you can't help getting a wiff of some old perfume and swept away into those times.

By the way, I have been eagerly awaiting your next installment. How is the work going?

Red Bird · Dec 23, 2009

Installment? As in synopsis? I'm trimming down my chapter focus and rethinking the synopsis format. So far I've narrowed my problem with it to the dual dimension of the book itself, which I like. I think part of my problem is that my book is actually non-fiction when related to my work and memoir when it travels back to my life. It's making the structure of the synopsis difficult. I get that since 90% of the book is about my lifem, it should play a heavier part in the synopsis, but without the patient portion the structure isn't shown. I can't reveal the structure without patient/skin introduction and that takes a few sentences. Uses my sentences to describe them leaves me little room for what was revealed to me about my life through them. It's giving me a headache.

So, I'm researching synopsis requirements and trying to form an idea of how I want to approach it before I proceed. The only other book I know of that used an event to reveal the characters was As I Lay Dying and that's not really what I've done either. I've used characters to reveal my life.

Bluegate · Dec 23, 2009

hehe. Yeah, installment as in synopsis. I will freely admit that I was learning and being very motivated by you and Chrisla as well as everyone else who was posting so regularly. It was like having our own little workshop going on. Of course I never thought of your rough drafts being so exposed as they turned out to be. Ouch.

I think I can understand your problem. It must be very difficult trying to figure out how to put this into a synopsis format. There is very little squeeze room in the synopsis for both stories though they lean/support one another. I am rooting for you and I know you will come up with a solid solution.

Red Bird · Dec 23, 2009

Thanks, Bluegate.

I'm kicking around some ideas. One thought is to start the synopsis by setting me in the Heaven or Hell Motel. Use detail to describe the first patient and then follow it with a detailed account of my place in life at the time. I could use most of my space to reveal the beginning, middle, and end and "cheat" on details for the remainder of the patients.

Another thought is to use a sort of prologue for the first paragraph and follow it with a comment or two about each patient and go heavy with detail about that time in my life.

I'm probably going to rough draft it both ways and see what works best. I'd like to post it, with a disclaimer on the roughness, for opinions. Right now, I'm struggling to balance my writing time with the time my boyfriend wants to spend with me. As a student, he understood that I had obligations, but now that I've graduated he wants all of my free time. Well, you didn't ask for all of that information, but it frustrates me that people think writing isn't a real job.

jerrywaxler · Dec 23, 2009

Two kinds of memoir writers?

I suspect there are two kinds of memoir writers in this world, those who have written prior novels and those who have not. Oh, okay, maybe I'm oversimplifying. But I think many people come to the memoir writing challenge without having much background in telling stories. I'm way over in that camp. When I started, I had never even composed a short story.

So when I began my memoir writing, I had to learn how to form a story. This latter project has turned out to be one of the most invigorating of my life. (Dull life?)

So there were several interwoven tasks. Learn story telling. Research how other people turned life into stories. Gather my own memories, and start sorting them out. Look for the story. I'm still at it, but getting there.

Jerry

Bluegate · Dec 24, 2009

jerrywaxler said:
I suspect there are two kinds of memoir writers in this world, those who have written prior novels and those who have not. Oh, okay, maybe I'm oversimplifying. But I think many people come to the memoir writing challenge without having much background in telling stories. I'm way over in that camp. When I started, I had never even composed a short story.

So when I began my memoir writing, I had to learn how to form a story. This latter project has turned out to be one of the most invigorating of my life. (Dull life?)

So there were several interwoven tasks. Learn story telling. Research how other people turned life into stories. Gather my own memories, and start sorting them out. Look for the story. I'm still at it, but getting there.

Jerry

Jerry I fall into the inexperienced writers camp. I haven’t written more than a postcard let alone a story so I have some catching up to do. I suppose that is why I asked this question. Memoir is kind of its own little animal as I know you have discovered in all your research. I think we could use perhaps a little more info on this site about it. Just watching Chrisla and Red Bird struggle with the unique query/synopsis requirements was quite enlightening.

Red Bird, I have been wondering if there was a way you could post your rough work here without compromising yourself too much. Would a disclaimer at the beginning of each post work for you? I really found it helpful and can only hope that you did also. Like I said to Jerry, I think this forum would benefit from more info and exploration of the special issues in writing memoir.

AryaT92 · Dec 24, 2009

I just wrote from memory.

Bluegate · Dec 24, 2009

AryaT92 said:
I just wrote from memory.

Arya did you write it chronologically? Perhaps I should also ask where you started from and what period of time it covered?

Red Bird · Dec 24, 2009

Bluegate,
I will be posting my drafts in the SYW forum because it's password protected. I just don't want it going out over the net with google searches.

I'm going to do some more research and give thought to different approaches before I attempt drafting it again.

Yes, I have found it helpful to post my attempts. If I had continued with the original draft, I would have wasted a lot of time.

After Christmas!
RB

Bluegate · Dec 24, 2009

Red Bird said:
Bluegate,
I will be posting my drafts in the SYW forum because it's password protected. I just don't want it going out over the net with google searches.

I'm going to do some more research and give thought to different approaches before I attempt drafting it again.

Yes, I have found it helpful to post my attempts. If I had continued with the original draft, I would have wasted a lot of time.

After Christmas!
RB

Red Bird I just noticed that the LSW Challenge Room is password protected. Is that the same as Share Your Work? I was just wondering if that might be a halfway option for those rough drafts we all need to work out before we open it up to the other forum. Just a thought. ??

AryaT92 · Dec 25, 2009

Bluegate said:
Arya did you write it chronologically? Perhaps I should also ask where you started from and what period of time it covered?

Chronologically, from the beginning of Freshmen year to Senior year in high school. 4 years.

I am currently a Senior. Basically, I wrote everything throughout just to have a full rough ms, then edited later. I found that if I would write and edit that bit of writing I would never make any progress.

Bushrat · Dec 25, 2009

I did an outline with all the topics and scenes I wanted to include and then pretty much started writing. Somewhere along the lines it dawned on me that it's pretty plotless, other than "this is what I dreamed of doing, and now I'm doing it".
Then I agonized for weeks about the bloody plot - where, oh where to get a central conflict from when there is none?! Because I never wasted a thought on it, the MS was pretty much just a collection of different scenes - this happened, and then that.
I still haven't really resolved that issue, my current take is that I'll elaborate a bit more on the backstory ("we dreamed of living out in the bush and imagined life would be such-and-such") and then highlight the difference to reality here and there.

So my MS seems to be evolving into a bit of a novel-memoir-hybrid right now. It would be in the adventure/travel genre, with an undertone of psychology (what does it do to people's psyche when they live remotely and only see other people a few times a year).

God, it still sounds confused....

AryaT92 · Dec 25, 2009

I did in outline in the sense that I wrote the key topics of what I wanted to talk about and named the memories in m head so I would be organized in the chronological order of things.

I made several mental notes and notes on Word every now and then but no major outlining / plotting.

Bluegate · Dec 25, 2009

AryaT92 said:
Chronologically, from the beginning of Freshmen year to Senior year in high school. 4 years.

I am currently a Senior. Basically, I wrote everything throughout just to have a full rough ms, then edited later. I found that if I would write and edit that bit of writing I would never make any progress.

That's cool that you wrote this when it was actually still very fresh so it will have the true voice of the time. I have to wonder what mine would look like had I been able to do that. Just a little envy going on here . heheh
I think you are very right about editing afterward. Getting it down fresh is a good idea. I bet that editing the whole work at once kept the voice and energy of the story intact much better than doing it piece-meal.

Bluegate · Dec 25, 2009

Bushrat said:
I did an outline with all the topics and scenes I wanted to include and then pretty much started writing. Somewhere along the lines it dawned on me that it's pretty plotless, other than "this is what I dreamed of doing, and now I'm doing it".
Then I agonized for weeks about the bloody plot - where, oh where to get a central conflict from when there is none?! Because I never wasted a thought on it, the MS was pretty much just a collection of different scenes - this happened, and then that.
I still haven't really resolved that issue, my current take is that I'll elaborate a bit more on the backstory ("we dreamed of living out in the bush and imagined life would be such-and-such") and then highlight the difference to reality here and there.

So my MS seems to be evolving into a bit of a novel-memoir-hybrid right now. It would be in the adventure/travel genre, with an undertone of psychology (what does it do to people's psyche when they live remotely and only see other people a few times a year).

God, it still sounds confused....

That's interesting Bushrat. I think you hit on a point about memoir that I was noticing as I began to put things down on paper. How or even do you, structure your story like a well structured story? For me I found I had a lot of material and tons of dramatic conflict but that still left me with trying to figure out what scenes were going to best tell the story I wanted to tell. For that I had to, as Jerry said, learn how to tell a story.
Yep, still working on that learning thing. At least now I have some story boarding going with all the elements that I need in a three part structure etc. At least I feel like I have a direction now and that is a big help.

I like the idea of the hybrid memoir. I can imagine that while you were/are very happy with the change in your life there must have been a bit of internal conflict as you adjusted to all those changes. We moved to a much more rural area than we had ever been in before and it posed a lot of new challenges in how we lived. They were mostly good ones but they were challenging. I can see you taking that angle for sure.

Bluegate · Dec 25, 2009

AryaT92 said:
I did in outline in the sense that I wrote the key topics of what I wanted to talk about and named the memories in m head so I would be organized in the chronological order of things.

I made several mental notes and notes on Word every now and then but no major outlining / plotting.

I think making notes on the key topics you wanted to talk about is a darn good idea. I can see how that would help keep focus and make sure that you were able to get your point/purpose of the memoir across. I am looking at mine almost as a film project in that I am also looking at layering in scene sets, symbolism, colors, etc. I want it to play like a film in my reader's head. having those elements laid out scene by scene tells me what elements to focus on. For instance, it may be a pool party scene but if my MC/me feels like she is drowning then I know to focus on the pool more and less on the Tiki torches.

These are my theories and like all theories they are pretty and promising. I'll just have to wait and see how they do on the open road though.

How did you approach your story

Bluegate

Clearly has too much time on hand.

Red Bird

Has a routine

Bluegate

Clearly has too much time on hand.

Bluegate

Clearly has too much time on hand.

Red Bird

Has a routine

Bluegate

Clearly has too much time on hand.

Red Bird

Has a routine

Bluegate

Clearly has too much time on hand.

Red Bird

Has a routine

jerrywaxler

Bluegate

Clearly has too much time on hand.

AryaT92

Bluegate

Clearly has too much time on hand.

Red Bird

Has a routine

Bluegate

Clearly has too much time on hand.

AryaT92

Bushrat

reaching for the sun

AryaT92

Bluegate

Clearly has too much time on hand.

Bluegate

Clearly has too much time on hand.

Bluegate

Clearly has too much time on hand.