“Anyone who believes you can’t change history has never tried to write his memoirs.”    David Ben-Gurion
 
Memoir vs. Journal Writing
 
A question I often get asked by someone writing their first memoir is, “How does a memoir differ from what I write in my journal?” That’s a really good question. A good distinction between journal writing and writing a memoir is that when writing in a journal, most people write for themselves praying no one else will ever lay eyes on a single page. When writing a memoir, though you are still writing about your experiences, you do so with your reader in mind.
 
I won’t mention names, but a memoir written by a famous Hollywood personality was published a few years back. I love reading memoirs and purchased it as soon as it came out even though I usually wait till it comes out in paperback. After reading the first couple of chapters, I returned it. I was sure that if this person had been anyone other than whom she was, the book would never have been picked up by a publisher nor made it to the shelves of major booksellers.  Reading it, I would hear my mind say, “Who cares?” I was also embarrassed for her. True, books enjoyed by some are often rejected by others, but this one was a doozy. I believe most of us would refer to it as, ‘TMI.’
 
When writing a memoir, you wind up deleting a lot of the details in your journal that would be considered filler and start detailing the major experiences, feelings, and events that make your life unique and interesting to read about. This of course goes for one you wish to publish. If you’re writing it for yourself, friends, or your children and grandchildren, you might still want to eliminate overly personal material, but you have much more leeway. My suggestion would be to read a few memoirs. See how they are written. See what grabs you and what puts you to sleep. Check out a few from the library. You don’t even have to read the whole book. Browse the table of contents and read bits and pieces of a few of the chapters. One I highly recommend highly is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. It was also made into a film. She was not a celebrity who automatically got published just because of her name.
 
Preparing to write a memoir can seem daunting. There are many ways to start. William Zinsser, the author of How to Write a Memoir, suggests that you go to your desk on Monday morning and write about some event that’s still vivid in your memory. What you write doesn’t have to be long — three pages, five pages — but it should have a beginning and an end. Do the same thing Tuesday morning. Tuesday’s episode doesn’t have to be related to Monday’s episode. Take whatever memory comes calling; your subconscious mind, having been put to work, will start delivering your past. Do this for as long as it takes to collect the particular parts of your life you’d like to write about.
 
If you are planning to write about your life from your birth to the present time, Author Cathy Fulton suggests creating lists. Here are a few of her ideas.
   1. Keep an ongoing list of the crucial events that took place in each era of your life.
       (Births, deaths, marriages, adventures, milestones, etc.)
   2. List the friends and enemies you had during each era. Note the special relationships you had.
   3. List all the jobs you held.
   4. List your educational experiences from each era. (Life experiences count as education)
   5. List the historical events and trends that shaped each era and the impact those events had on you.
   6. Include all the geographical areas where you lived.
   7. Your goals, aspirations, and dreams in each era.
   8. The painful things that happened. Broken relationships hope dashed, abuse, fears.
   9. List your accomplishments in each era. Writing about how you achieved each one is a story.
 
Let her list be a stimulus for creating one of your own. If you have a hard time remembering events, take a walk down memory lane with your photo albums. Those old photos will surely be a substantive catalyst. And you can always give yourself creative license where memory fails.
 
How many pages constitute a memoir? That is hard to judge. Again, you want to determine if it’s for your family or the public eye. The majority of published books are between 200 and 300 pages. Consider what you want to include, who it’s for, and then start to write. If you have more than you need for your first book, then you’ll be ahead of the game for your second volume.
 
Feel free to email Jasmyne with any questions or comments.
 
This article was first published in Jasmyne’s bi-weekly column “Consider This… in the Maui Weekly, on April 23, 2008.

Enjoy!