Memoir Writing: Is it Procrastination or Fear of Awakening the Dead?
When writing fiction I see the story unfold in my head and I write. Now what’s entertaining to me may not be to the next reader, but at least words are forming on the page. And, I’m enjoying myself.
Memoir writing however, is another story. Aside from finding voice, developing character, remembering the details that create a scene, you have the challenge of shedding light on those dark memories.
You know those ones that you’ve buried soundly in the back of your mind. Skeletons! Yep, grab the shovel and start digging. Why? It’s those very memories that will make for great reading.
It happened around chapter eight for me. There I was sitting at my computer typing away. With Benny and the Jets playing in the background: I’m bobbin my head, in the zone, writing as if it happened to someone else.
A week later I had an editor friend of mine look at my work for feedback. “It’s boring! The reader needs to know how you feel. Where’s the emotion?” she says.
While writing, I totally detached from that chapter. When it came time to revisit the emotions attached to the memory my mind shut down. Writers block my butt! I just didn’t want to stirrup those old feelings. All of sudden I had a million and one things to do. Oh, I got to get dinner ready. Oh, shoot, I better put gas in the car before tomorrow. Oh, better call Mom; I’ve been putting it off all week.
What I was really putting off was having to deal with the emotions of that memory. Those haunting emotions…Augh! Eventually I had to force myself to sit and write.
Was it worth it?
Yes I know the market for memoirs is saturated. And in most cases you have to be famous to even get a publishing deal. But…do you know how much I’d pay to read a personal narrative written by one of my grandparents or great grandparents? Lots. So when it comes to a memoir you have to want to write for more than just fame and fortune, you have to write for love.
So dig deep! Go back to those moments: relive the emotions, claim the experience, “show” the reader and remember the lesson you’ve learned from it. Keep in mind, one of the best things that come out of writing personal narrative is GROWTH.
What a wonderful and timely message for me today! Thank you and I wish you the best in your writing career.
I’m sorry, I need to come back…It was absolutely necessary for me to read that message for the content of the post, but beyond that, your desk looks like it could be mine…I have the very same mug, I am extremely fond of that mug…it was a gift from my baby sister, she was visiting her friend in Seattle…Wonderfully wow…Perhaps you have much more inspiration to pass on to me…I’ll be back for it. Excellent work…
Tashe
I appreciate your honesty and openness. Quality characteristics and necessary for your venture! It’s amazing how many other things need to get done when we are presented with looking at self and feeling those feelings. Keep walking and writing with that gift of Courage. Peace.
I can totally relate. Completing my memoir I tell folks was the 3rd hardest thing I ever had to DO in my life. My first and second are giving birth to my two daughters!
I managed to cry through and painfully revisit and most importantly document the learned lessons from the painful memories for my children and their children on down. They are only 6 and 7 and are so anxious to be able to read what I have crafted. So I have to say, “It was well worth all 3 struggles in the end!”
Memoir writing will teach you things about yourself in the most unique way. As you write, you think you are remembering something in a certain way, but, suddenly, you see something else or learn something that you didn’t know . . . until you started writing. You will have that “aha” moment when things become crystal clear. Especially when you struggle with the difficult parts of your past.
It will change you.