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- Jan 19, 2014
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Hello,
I will be very thankful and happy for any thought about a subject, that I struggle to understand, and search for any advice that may help-
My curiosity is not only about writing a specific memoir, but also a general interest in learning and understanding the subject as profoundly as possible.
I have read many books about Memoir writing(about 100!), yet, there is one issue that is still not clear enough to me.
The issue is finding a strong, main, story to use, as the base for the entire narrative's arc.
I have already tried the "known" methods, that may help identifying that main story, such as: life's turning-points, significant events, random stories that eventually suggest a theme/narrative, and more. Also, there is always the search for the incident that creates the conflict, etc.
I look at it a bit differently- What if there isn't any incident that "forces" the conflict, which just "falls from the sky", but something that the protagonist creates deliberately?
One of the best examples is writing about a certain goal, that one is willing to reach- job-related, in private life etc.
Naturally, most people strive for something at any single moment, so I assume that it can be used as the base story for the memoir, yet for some reason that I don't understand, I wasn't able to find anyone mentioning that approach.
Let's say that I am looking to write a narrative-based memoir about the current time period. If I try to find a significant moment or turning-point one, it will be hard to find one(I have tried), yet, if I could ask myself what are some current important goals of mine, those goals may naturally suggest a journey that inherently has obstacles, suspense and narrative.
The approach above also allows a wide range of options, concerning the emotional depth revealed, as the story itself contains "built-in" drama.
I am extremely curious to know more about that specific approach, that I detailed above, not only by reading many relevant memoirs, but also via memoir writing guide books that mention that approach.
I will very happy and thankful for any guide book suggestion, that also includes that approach to identify good personal journey to write about, as well as generally, writing about a goal that one wants to reach and writes about the progress.
Many thanks.
I will be very thankful and happy for any thought about a subject, that I struggle to understand, and search for any advice that may help-
My curiosity is not only about writing a specific memoir, but also a general interest in learning and understanding the subject as profoundly as possible.
I have read many books about Memoir writing(about 100!), yet, there is one issue that is still not clear enough to me.
The issue is finding a strong, main, story to use, as the base for the entire narrative's arc.
I have already tried the "known" methods, that may help identifying that main story, such as: life's turning-points, significant events, random stories that eventually suggest a theme/narrative, and more. Also, there is always the search for the incident that creates the conflict, etc.
I look at it a bit differently- What if there isn't any incident that "forces" the conflict, which just "falls from the sky", but something that the protagonist creates deliberately?
One of the best examples is writing about a certain goal, that one is willing to reach- job-related, in private life etc.
Naturally, most people strive for something at any single moment, so I assume that it can be used as the base story for the memoir, yet for some reason that I don't understand, I wasn't able to find anyone mentioning that approach.
Let's say that I am looking to write a narrative-based memoir about the current time period. If I try to find a significant moment or turning-point one, it will be hard to find one(I have tried), yet, if I could ask myself what are some current important goals of mine, those goals may naturally suggest a journey that inherently has obstacles, suspense and narrative.
The approach above also allows a wide range of options, concerning the emotional depth revealed, as the story itself contains "built-in" drama.
I am extremely curious to know more about that specific approach, that I detailed above, not only by reading many relevant memoirs, but also via memoir writing guide books that mention that approach.
I will very happy and thankful for any guide book suggestion, that also includes that approach to identify good personal journey to write about, as well as generally, writing about a goal that one wants to reach and writes about the progress.
Many thanks.
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