Memoir Arc

There are no absolutes in writing. But your aim is to keep the reader engaged and so eager to turn the pages that they are reluctant to put the book down. Therefore it helps to tell your story in a form that builds up with increasing urgency to a climax and then ends in a resolution.

for a non-famous person, it helps if a memoir is thought of as a novel. I personally am going for a double climax, Giraffe is right in saying that are no absolutes. so true

What do YOU like?

Do you read memoirs? If so, what are your favourite ones and do they have an arc?

I find that I'm most gripped by a memoir when it presents like a story, when it's going somewhere and I can see something about where it's going. That keeps me reading to find out what's going to happen.

Some good examples of memoirs with arcs that I think of now are Annie Lamott's Operating Instructions, Tim Moore's Frost on My Moustache, and Maria Finn's Hold Me Close and Tango Me Home.

Seems like the answer to your question that motivates you to write is the one that will serve you best.

Wishing you success,
Grace

Their needs to be a reason why someone would read it, and a reason why they would feel they got their money/time's worth. Very often this involves some kind of narrative structure.

Depends. I've also read memoirs structured by topics or themes instead of one major narrative thread. Personally, I find it reads better when you feel like the story is going somewhere. And also personally, I've been unable to achieve that in writing my memoir.

In a word...Yes. Just my opinion, of course. But I can't think of a memoir I've read, and I've read many, that didn't have an arc. I've been told that my own memoir, reads like a novel. I take that as a compliment.

I do presentations on life story writing. The participants do not intend to publish their memoirs. They are writing them for their family, usually. Even so, I always emphasize that each story should have an arc. A beginning, middle (problem presented), and end (resolution) is important in any kind of writing. If you want people to read your work, even if it's your kids, there has to be something that pulls them through the story, and that is the substance of an arc. ~Karen