I stumbled across this video of Mary Karr and wanted to share, especially for all my fellow creative nonfiction writers. This is an excerpt from her keynote at the 2010 Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. (p.s. I promise to share authors other than Mary Karr. Or this that a trick? Happy Halloween.)
In the comments of my recent post Writing Reading Retreat: Memoir, a reader asked about the difference between memoir and autobiography, noting that the lines often seem blurred. Thanks, Leah, for inspiring this post.
One of my favorite creative nonfiction writing instructors defined it this way: “A memoir is a slice of life.” A memoir can be about a specific time, event or theme, which is why one person can write multiple memoirs. It’s also why memoirists don’t have to be famous.
An example of one author with multiple memoirs is Mary Karr, who wrote The Liar’s Club (her childhood), Cherry (coming of age) and Lit (her battle with alcoholism). Although there is some overlap, the three books cover very distinct themes and events. Another example is Janice Erlbaum, who wrote the memoir Girlbomb about her time as a “halfway homeless” teen and then followed that up with Have You Found Her, a gripping story about a teen Erlbaum meets when she volunteers at the shelter she wrote about in her first memoir.
Although the recent glut of memoirs “written” by celebs doesn’t help with differentiating the two genres (or sub-genres), autobiographies are usually reserved for celebrities and high-profile politicians. An autobiography usually covers the person’s life, from birth to death or some stopping point between the two. In her craft book Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir, Sue William Silverman devotes an appendix to the sub-genres of creative nonfiction, which she dubs “The Meandering River.”
Silverman defines autobiography as celebrity-oriented and “based on the subject’s ‘life of action,’ and thus told more historically then impressionistically.” She also adds, “the contract with the reader in the case of autobiography is that the historical facts, at least, are true” and that there’s little room for reflection. (more…)
For almost three weeks prior to Aspen Summer Words 2011, I had my nose in a book. When I arrived at the writing retreat, many of my fellow students compared it to college days: reading during meals, toting along a book to read in any spare moment, finishing one memoir and immediately starting another. While it was intense, it was an interesting way to prepare for a writing workshop.
A few of you asked which memoir of the required list was my favorite. Not counting Mary Karr, who I’ve long claimed as a favorite author, I really loved Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes. I had avoided the book because everyone said it was so depressing. While the subject is intense and heavy, McCourt wrote it with beautifully sparse language, letting much of the story unfold at its own pace and speak for itself. It’s a lovely example of the writer getting out of the way of the story and characters.
This was the first time I was in a writing workshop where writers had been required to read the same books. It was helpful to have common reference points and texts that could be used as specific examples when asking technique or subject-related questions. While our reading list leaned towards alcoholism and recovery, it was interesting to dissect the different styles, such as the use of quotation marks vs. no quotation marks and creating scenes vs. summarizing. (more…)
An interesting NPR piece on memoirs, looking at the genre through one family with three different memoirs: One Family, Three Memoirs, Many Competing Truths
Now that fall is here, how’s your writing? This is my favorite season and there’s nothing better than a walk through the changing leaves to help me find inspiration or work through a challenging scene. Even with a full copywriting project load, I’ve already noticed an uptick in my personal writing output. (That doesn’t include the blog post I didn’t get done this week.) What about you? How do the falling leaves affect your ability to get words on the page?
From writing through distress to truth in memoir and contests to platforms to parents’ reactions to their writer children…there are words here for you.
Your turn. Any opinions, blog posts or articles on writing and/or freelancing you’d like to share? Post away in the comments below. Thanks!
If you’re lucky, you’ve already shut off the laptop and jumped into your long weekend. If you’re me, you’re racing to a deadline and already have a packed Tuesday waiting for you. I thought copywriting projects would pick up after the Labor Day holiday. Well, I’m here to say I was very wrong. It’s been a busy summer in general and the last few weeks have been a little over the top. I’m not complaining, though. I love that I get to work with words all day, every day.
Enjoy your weekend and don’t miss these four great posts.
Your turn. Any opinions, blog posts or articles on writing and/or freelancing you’d like to share? Post away in the comments below. Thanks!
As I mentioned earlier, I am taking a brief blogging break in August. But I still plan to share great resources as time allows. With such fantastic reading this week, I had to get these links in front of you. Happy reading!
Your turn. Any opinions, blog posts or articles on writing you’d like to share? Post away in the comments below. Thanks!
Not all of these posts were published this week, but I did find them all in the last several days. Maybe it’s because my memoir workshop from Aspen Summer Words is still occupying the bulk of my brain that I noticed these posts. Or maybe they found me. Anyway, I’m sharing them with you.
Your turn. Have you read anything on memoir or writing that stood out to you this week? Please share in the comments below. Thanks!
