Embellishing Memoirs: Do or Don't?

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Anne Bernard Becker

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I try to tell the truth all the time. Family members have questioned my version of the truth on occasion in my first memoir, even though I wrote it in a child's voice, looking back on an episode and acknowledging it was my version of things, but I am absolutely committed to only writing incidents that really happened in my own memory, and never making them up for the sake of the story. I recognize that memory plays tricks on us, and so I build this recognition into my story quite a lot, playing with my memories, letting my stream of consciousness run with the details, but never outright fabricating. My memoir is based on psychoanalysis, so I let myself have full rein with body-memories and dreams and other things, playing with them, but in my mind they are deeply true.
 
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CMBright

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I try to tell the truth all the time. Family members have questioned my version of the truth on occasion in my first memoir, even though I wrote it in a child's voice, looking back on an episode and acknowledging it was my version of things, but I am absolutely committed to only writing incidents that really happened in my own memory, and never making them up for the sake of the story. I recognize that memory plays tricks on us, and so I build this recognition into my story quite a lot, playing with my memories, letting my stream of consciousness run with the details, but never outright fabricating. My memoir is based on psychoanalysis, so I let myself have full rein with body-memories and dreams and other things, playing with them, but in my mind they are deeply true.

I tend to use the New Posts button to find what people are actively talking about. The last post here was around 4 years ago. Alternately, look at the date of the last post. In this case, 2019, it is now 2023. Most threads are considered dead after 6m-1y of inactivity. For SYW threads, it's considered closer to 1-3 months, unless the OP is keeping the thread alive.

Exceptions are pinned threads and threads in Beware, Recommendations and Background checks.

Again, not in trouble for reviving a "dead" thread, just a heads up to be a bit more aware.

As for embelishing? I would try not to do so, with the caveat that memory is notoriously prone to corruption, in the computer memory file sense of the word.
 

Maryn

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(This thread's last reply was in 2019. Please, people, let's not necro theads.)
 
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