In times gone by, memoirs were the sole domain of the famous (or infamous) after the denouement of their notoriety. Whether to maintain a portion of the spotlight or to immortalize their side of the story, memoirists were a specific kind of author.
They rarely physically wrote the book. Rather, they hired a writer to transcribe their experiences or to collate journal entries into a readable book format. Today, memoirs are very different.
Like Me
(c) Disney-Pixar
Memoirs about experiences other people share are becoming more popular. Groups of memiorists find one another through books about similar topics. Widows/Widowers, religious pilgrims and fans who encounter their objects are examples of like-experienced memoirists who congregate.
One of the most exploited examples are those who write about alien abduction. Although many people scoff at the subject, the number of authors whose books sell well make the argument communities are built around and supported by shared experiences and perceptions.
Not Like Me
The extraordinary experiences which make each of us unique is another kind of memoir. Recounting of singular stories of survival inspire the awe and admiration of those who could never be in a position to experience or have the fortitude to survive. Ranging from fantastic feats of athletic aptitude to heart-wrenching recollection of war survival, memoirs remind us of the inner strength of the author.
Meme
A different flavor of the Life and Times of Being Famous, meme memoirs are on the rise. Fueled by an insatiable appetite for pop culture, those of anomalous celebrity contract writers to pen memoirs about everyday events which otherwise would be of no interest. The flip side is the memoir consisting of the life created by instant celebrity. These often double in the next category.
Tattletale
Creating ones own celebrity is the main purpose for the tattletale memoir. Revealing the author’s side of a publicized event or issue is instantly derisive. Like it or not, arguing will lead to sales from the opposing camp. By design, this memoir tells a very different tale than the one accepted by the populace at large.
Posthumous
Increasingly, memoirs are published after the death of the author. This group is split between autobiographical memoirs and biographical memoirs.
Autobiographical memoirs contain the previously unpublished personal writings of the subject. Occasionally, they are raw journal transcriptions. More often, instead of being a strict autobiography, they are augmented by friends’, relatives’ and colleagues’ reactions to the entries or the death of the subject.
Authors construct biographical memoirs from the collected writings, correspondence and interviews of the subject. The more explosive the nature of the collection, the higher the chance the book will fall into the next category.
Unauthorized
The tabloid version of memoir is the unauthorized biography which is based on the subject’s writing or interviews. These books flash brightly as long as there is mainstream or community interest in the subject. They create buzz by baring a part of the subject’s persona or life experience which was protected from public consumption.
Inevitably, the veracity of such books are at issue because had the subject been amenable to supporting the contents, another author’s name would not be on the cover. Most subjects refute having ever written the contents of the memoirs.
What about me?
When deciding to write a memoir, answering a few questions will help you determine where you will fall in the spectrum.
1. Which type of memoir are you writing?
Like Me authors need to investigate the market saturation to decide if their experiences (and hence memoir) are memorable enough to shine in the sea of others like it.
Unlike Me authors will need to create an audience for their books. Although the experience is not one the author shares with many, creating an audience is more than picking a point of view. Who will be interested in reading about the experience?
2. Which point of view are you using?
POV can make or break a memoir. First-person, simple past is the most common point of view for memoir. The less common choice of first-person, present is beginning to take hold, as readers find themselves more willing to inject themselves into the events as they unfold. By giving readers the opportunity to be in the midst of the story, they are more likely to reflect on how they would have acted in the given situation.
Rather uncommon is third-person, omniscient. The out-of-body delivery allows readers to be an onlooker as well. It opens the door for both author and reader to pass judgment on the actions of the subject. This perspective can exhibit shame or diffuse what would otherwise convey as conceit.
3. Will this end your career?
Tattletale memoirs are often the last successful book authors pen. Due in large part to the animosity conjured by opposing the accepted, these authors are subsequently dismissed as attention-seekers. Even when subsequent research and books uphold the tattletale’s version of the story, the damage is already done.
Although today’s memoir landscape is different, many readers still cling to the ideal memoirs should not be an ongoing income stream. Typically, Life and Times memoirs are about the entire life of the subject; ergo, once a memoir is written, the author’s life in the public limelight (should read important enough to draw a reader’s interest) is at a close.
4. Does it pass the sniff test?
As with fiction, a riveting story is a must. Remember our oatmeal eater? Did you put the eclectic contents of your blog into a book to make money? Does your book offer some value (humorous presentation, ethical lesson, philosophy for better living)? Is it a cohesive story or a rambling collection of tall tales someone found interesting and commented You should write a book!?
5. What do you want your memoir to accomplish?
This tricky question may need to be the first. If the main purpose of writing your memoir is to tell someone, it will fall into only one category:
A. Writing a memoir is cheaper than psychotherapy.
B. Someone can benefit from what I write.
If your answer is A, consider a diary or a blog. If your answer is B, you might just be a memoirist.
Have you ever considered writing a memoir? Have you read a memoir? Which type do you like the best?
Hashtags: #AtoZChallenge #memoirs #amwriting
Thank you for sharing The M3 Blog with hashtags.
el Guapo
/ April 15, 2013I just finished reading Buddy Guy’s memoir/autobiography, and loved it. As opposed to Gene Simmons (someone lent it to me) that was crap.
Didn’t Bieber put out a memoir? Because if he did, that should be the death knell for the form.
el Guapo recently posted..Birthday Drinks: The NutMegan Highland
Red
/ April 15, 2013I would have to wonder, if he did (get someone to) write one (for him because, really?), how much of that big head would actually fit on the cover? You are not the first one who told me Simmons’ was not all of that and a shot. Boring was how it was described to me… and from a diehard KISS fan.
BuddhaKat
/ April 15, 2013My first experience was GIL and KUS. And I am duly impressed by both. Certainly each relates an experience/situation probably unique from most. Both were exceedingly well told, and did not get caught up in any self promotional vortex.
I have also read a few biographies, perhaps a sibling genre to memoirs. None that were that notable to me.
My theory is if I am interested in a field of interest or the specific output of certain individuals, I may not want/need to get their whole story. So I am selective and picky about whom I choose to read memoirs or bios of.
many hugs and such…
🙂
BuddhaKat recently posted..M is for… Mozambique
Red
/ April 16, 2013GIL is an excellent memoir. KUS is actually a self-help book, but has memoir elements. When I wrote it, I was opposed to putting them in because I in no way wanted to write a memoir. It really is not my Earl Grey. xxx
SpilledInkGuy
/ April 15, 2013Even if I was skilled enough to write a book I’m afraid my memoir might not exactly be… um… well… a ‘page-turner’…
“First I sat on the couch. Which was nice. But we also had several chairs in our living room, so I thought I should try those out as well. So, after a few hours on the couch, I got up and sat in the first chair…”
🙂
SpilledInkGuy recently posted..Contrasty Dandelions
Red
/ April 16, 2013LOL! Wait, you were Goldilocks in another life?
Carrie-Anne
/ April 15, 2013For quite a long time, I wanted to publish my journals someday. Partly for that reason, I’ve usually referred to people by fake names in my journals. Eventually I decided not to do that, though I’m still toying with the idea of selectively editing the journals and publishing them. I have a certain condition that didn’t have a name while I was growing up, and it might be worth pursuing to publish an account of what it was like to come of age in that pre-diagnosis era.
Carrie-Anne recently posted..Meet Ammiel and Micah (MS Sans Serif)
Red
/ April 16, 2013Health memoirs are gaining popularity, especially given the number of diseases and disorders which have either been named or cured in the last two generations.
raymond alexander kukkee
/ April 15, 2013I’m with SpilledInkGuy. His life is pretty exciting. Although there are moments in my own that may inspire, a three-page memoir that includes a dedication, acknowledgements, forward, and biography would be short and event-free indeed. There may be enough room for “I had lunch and the snooze in the corner office was really exciting. “:)
raymond alexander kukkee recently posted..A to Z Challenge: M is for Motivation
Red
/ April 16, 2013This is why I have no interest in writing a memoir. My events make halfway decent blog posts on good days.
Binky
/ April 15, 2013When I make it to the moon, maybe. I used to like biographies, long ago, when I actually read books.
Binky recently posted..Toothpaste Bath
Red
/ April 16, 2013I still do, but I am showing less and less interest in my fellow Earthlings. I want to go to the moon with you.
Binky
/ April 16, 2013It would be good to establish a lunar colony away from the earthly lunatics (ha!).
Binky recently posted..Toothpaste Bath
Red
/ April 16, 2013See, and I was just discussing a commune with someone this afternoon!
Carl D'Agostino
/ April 15, 2013MY LIFE by William Clinton. I’ve always wanted to interview him in front of a huge TV audience. This is the most pedestrian title imaginable(or unimaginable). My first question would be “So Bill, what’s the book about ?”
Red
/ April 16, 2013Was the jackback at least a little revealing? I can imagine large portions of his life which would not interest me or could be described in less than a paragraph.
Enchanted Seashells, Confessions of a Tugboat Captains Wife
/ April 15, 2013I’m in possession of all the materials to write my aunt’s memoirs. She had started it herself (she had a degree in journalism from Berkeley) and then died, and I have all her journals from when she was young in the 30s up to her death in 2003. I have a title even. I think it would be a well received book, but I have no self confidence and I hate rejection. So…nothing. I’ve been playing with the story of Princess Rosebud and her Tugboat Man, but there’s that old rejection thing. Sigh.
Enchanted Seashells, Confessions of a Tugboat Captains Wife recently posted..Holla! to Pinterest
Red
/ April 16, 2013We seriously need to talk. Seriously.
Enchanted Seashells, Confessions of a Tugboat Captains Wife
/ April 16, 2013If I can say this without coming across as bitter and jealous (OK maybe a
little) I read A LOT and I’ve read poorly written (and proofed) books, and they obvs acquired agents and publishers and I don’t want to
compete with that. I mean, if I were rejected and they weren’t, what does
that say? I would love to talk more with you, too. LOL I spent my whole
life telling my son he could do anything he wanted to and his aspirations
were limitless and he had a neverending capacity to learn–he listened to
me and is a total success, but I don’t take my own advice. ha ha, she said
bitterly.
Enchanted Seashells, Confessions of a Tugboat Captains Wife recently posted..Holla! to Pinterest
Red
/ April 16, 2013Over the last few years, that has been my biggest hangup with the traditional publishing industry and what ultimately led me to open my own publishing house. Click on anything in the slideshow up top and press the contact us button. Email pitch it to me. Seriously, let’s talk about it.
tess kann
/ April 15, 2013Memoirs and biographies are interesting to read if the person about whom they are written interest me. What I find intriguing are stories of self-made rags to riches types.
I’ve written a memoir or two but I don’t think I’m that interesting. Ha ha.
tess kann recently posted..A woman of inspiration. A read of struggled beauty.
Red
/ April 16, 2013My life is exciting in person, but I think it would suffer being committed to two dimensions. xxx
Vashti Quiroz-Vega
/ April 15, 2013Great post. I’m a fiction writer, but I hope to one day write my father’s memoir. Thank you for the information.
Vashti Quiroz-Vega recently posted..He thought of days he had handed over to a bottle.
Red
/ April 16, 2013Welcome, Vashti. You should put a link to your blog in The Green Room (up top). I hope you do well with it!