Major Genre Problem (some type of memoir?)

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mkmacy

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Sorry in advance if this isn't the right forum for this. I didn't find one that suited this question exactly.

Right now I'm helping an older man query his novel, as well as type it from it's paper and ink format. I'm about finished helping him polish it, and so next comes the query letter.

The first part reads like a novel, non-linear, but all taking place as the MC goes back to his home country, Israel, for the summer. He's just come back from finishing his degree in the States in the novel, and is in Israel visiting his family. This whole part is about his hometown, his relationships, the conflict of where he belongs, and his upcoming marriage to a French woman. There is a good mix of dialogue and prose.

The second part is later in his life, he's ill and his marriage (to the previously mentioned French woman) is falling apart, but it is written more like a stream of consciousness because of the illness and the despair of his marriage's end and his kids leaving the nest. This portion takes place in France, where he currently lives, and is more contemplative. He talks a lot about France, Israel, Romania (his birth country) and the States, as well as where he fits into all of this. This part deviates from the novel-format a little more. Some of it seem like non-fiction essays, in fact. He also uses excerpts from the history of Nathanya, Israel where he spent most of his life at the beginning of each chapter (he has permissions).

Then there's the third part, his marriage has ended and he is in the twilight of his life (the writer is in his early eighties), and they are letters to his grandson (who is three at this time). Now at an even more mature part of his life, he offers advice, tells stories, and ties everything together from parts one and two. The themes are very consistent throughout: the idea of place, culture, identity, history and how an individual navigates through all of it.

So, it's all written in the first person, approximately 70,000 words, but he has changed a handful of details: details about his parents, which University he attended, names, small details about his time at war. I'm as lost as the writer is at coming up with genre and really need help. I'm curious if any of this is automatically screams something. I've been helping with this work for some time now and may be too close to it to see a genre.

I appreciate any help!
 

cornflake

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Sorry in advance if this isn't the right forum for this. I didn't find one that suited this question exactly.

Right now I'm helping an older man query his novel, as well as type it from it's paper and ink format. I'm about finished helping him polish it, and so next comes the query letter.

The first part reads like a novel, non-linear, but all taking place as the MC goes back to his home country, Israel, for the summer. He's just come back from finishing his degree in the States in the novel, and is in Israel visiting his family. This whole part is about his hometown, his relationships, the conflict of where he belongs, and his upcoming marriage to a French woman. There is a good mix of dialogue and prose.

The second part is later in his life, he's ill and his marriage (to the previously mentioned French woman) is falling apart, but it is written more like a stream of consciousness because of the illness and the despair of his marriage's end and his kids leaving the nest. This portion takes place in France, where he currently lives, and is more contemplative. He talks a lot about France, Israel, Romania (his birth country) and the States, as well as where he fits into all of this. This part deviates from the novel-format a little more. Some of it seem like non-fiction essays, in fact. He also uses excerpts from the history of Nathanya, Israel where he spent most of his life at the beginning of each chapter (he has permissions).

Then there's the third part, his marriage has ended and he is in the twilight of his life (the writer is in his early eighties), and they are letters to his grandson (who is three at this time). Now at an even more mature part of his life, he offers advice, tells stories, and ties everything together from parts one and two. The themes are very consistent throughout: the idea of place, culture, identity, history and how an individual navigates through all of it.

So, it's all written in the first person, approximately 70,000 words, but he has changed a handful of details: details about his parents, which University he attended, names, small details about his time at war. I'm as lost as the writer is at coming up with genre and really need help. I'm curious if any of this is automatically screams something. I've been helping with this work for some time now and may be too close to it to see a genre.

I appreciate any help!

Novel isn't a format.

If it's a novel, it's fiction.

If it's a memoir, it's not.
 

Fictionalizer

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Also there are different types of autobiographies, memoirs or fiction. I researched this thoroughly when I tried to decided whether to go with a fictionalization or a memoir or something else.

Here's a partial list:
Autobiography
Memoir
Fictional Memoir
Fictional Autobiography
Fictional Biography
Semi-Autobiographical Novel
Biographical Novel
Nonfiction Novel
Roman a Clef

Somewhere on the www there's a site which helps one decide whether to write a memoir or a fictionalized novel. I think it's titled something like Memoir or Novel.

Another deciding factor for a memoir: memoir is a slice of life not an entire life story.
 

gettingby

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Also there are different types of autobiographies, memoirs or fiction. I researched this thoroughly when I tried to decided whether to go with a fictionalization or a memoir or something else.

Here's a partial list:
Autobiography
Memoir
Fictional Memoir
Fictional Autobiography
Fictional Biography
Semi-Autobiographical Novel
Biographical Novel
Nonfiction Novel
Roman a Clef

Somewhere on the www there's a site which helps one decide whether to write a memoir or a fictionalized novel. I think it's titled something like Memoir or Novel.

Another deciding factor for a memoir: memoir is a slice of life not an entire life story.

I don't tend to think of memoirs as just "slice of life" pieces of writing. Yes, they are not an entire life story, but there should still be a story there.
 

Fictionalizer

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I don't tend to think of memoirs as just "slice of life" pieces of writing. Yes, they are not an entire life story, but there should still be a story there.

Slice of life means not telling every part of your life as you would in an autobiography. It means taking an incident or a person and developing a whole story. The best example I've read recently is a book called The Olive Picker: A Memoir. It basically centers around one incident and how that changed the person's life.
 

gettingby

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Slice of life means not telling every part of your life as you would in an autobiography. It means taking an incident or a person and developing a whole story. The best example I've read recently is a book called The Olive Picker: A Memoir. It basically centers around one incident and how that changed the person's life.

In literary fiction, slice of life pieces are often without plot or very much story. I get that a memoir is a portion of life. It's just that the term "slice of life" means something different to me because of how I have seen it used.
 
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