Write a memoir II
Now that you have been persuaded—I hope—to start writing your memoir, the memoir only you can write, you might take a look at some memoirs by others to open your mind to ways you might go about your project.
Try to remember some memoir you have read that has left a lasting impression for you. If nothing comes to mind immediately, visit your local library and explore the shelves until you find one that catches your attention.
Start reading, but if you lose interest, drop it and try another book. Repeat until you find yourself engrossed, then take that book home. Do the same with two or three others.
Consider the basic elements and structure of these books. Do you see a theme, a thread, an obsession? Does the story evolve naturally? Is it told chronologically or in some other way? What is the framework? The time-frame? Perspective?
A long-ago friend who worked at the Main New York Public Library said: “I read only to steal.” He did not mean that he plagiarized. All great writers have been inspired by others, nobody is completely original, every idea has a predecessor. We absorb the thoughts of others, especially of kindred spirits, without realizing that’s what’s happening. A narrow-minded writer might think someone has stolen their idea, when in fact the idea was just out there, part of the zeitgeist. Let’s not be possessive. It’s more rewarding to be grateful that we are not alone. Perhaps you will pick up something in the memoirs you read that will be useful to you in telling your story.
Here are four memoirs I read of reread recently and highly recommend:
Trevor Noah’s Born A Crime. Racially mixed marriage was forbidden in the Union of South Africa during apartheid, and Noah was the child of a dark-skinned mother and pale-faced father, so his very existence was evidence of a crime. He grew up to be a brilliant humorist. This memoir of his childhood is hilarious, illuminating the absurdity of trying to separate so-called races.
Alex Navalny’s Patriot is a must-read. The author was a hero, the major opponent of Vladimir Putin. After surviving an attempt to poison him and recovering in a German hospital, he returned to Russia even though he knew he would be imprisoned and probably killed. He explained that he did so because he had promised people who supported him that he would never abandon them. He defeats brute force by never giving up the struggle for justice—even encouraging his prison guards to organize shortly before his death. As for Trevor Noah, one of Navalny’s strongest weapons is humor.
Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, not surprisingly, breaks many stereotypes in her account of growing up in the South, with strict and dignified grandparents to whom her parents abandoned her, and later with her fun-loving mother and, for a while, homeless with street kids in Los Angeles. Maya Angelou grew up to be one of our nation’s major poets.
David Sedaris’ Calypso – The author buys a beach house on an island off the coast of North Carolina where his family used to spend vacations when he was a child, and invites his five siblings, middle-aged now, to visit him and his partner Hugh. Sedaris is laugh-out-loud funny and any reader will recognize at least some of the family dynamics. Delightful all the way, this book, unlike the world news of the day, won’t keep you up at night.
I also greatly enjoyed David Sedaris’ “What is the What?” a novel based on the story of Valentino Achak Deng, who came to the U.S. as a child refugee. It’s an amazing eye-opener on the refugee experience in this country.
OK, now on to the next and last piece in this series on memoir: Clues on how to begin. Coming soon.
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