Tips on Writing Memoir/Personal Narratives Presented at a Faculty Forum for Saint Mary's Hall in San Antonio, Texas

1. The Art of Memoir
Discovering and Deepening Your Story
Presented by Tess Alfonsin
Ideas From...
The Writers’ League of Texas Summer Writing Retreat
and
Writing a Life: Teaching Memoir to Sharpen Insight,
Shape Meaning-and Triumph Over Tests
by Katherine Bomer
The Writers’ League of Texas Summer Writing Retreat and Writing a Life: Teaching Memoir to Sharpen Insight, Shape Meaning-
and Triumph over Tests by Katherine Bomer

2. Slideshare

3. Definition of Memoir
from French: memoire: memoria
meaning memory or reminiscence; a literary
nonfiction genre; a collection of memories
that an individual writes about moments or
events, both public or private that took place
in the subject’s life.
Not in sequential order!

4. Read, Read, Read...
“Reading is the inhale, writing is the exhale.”
List of memoirs

5. 1.Discovering Your Story

6. Make Time to Write---Every Day!

7. “What is left unresolved?”
*Brainstorm seeds

8. Prompts
1. Who I am and why
2. A made up scene that has some aspect of truth
3. A regret that echoes an older, deeper regret (tell what happened, as it
echoed something that happened a long time ago)
4. Return to a familiar place. How is it different now? How are you different
now? What do you see now that you wish you had seen then?
5. Something bad that happens that has no explanation/unresolvable
6. On behaving like a…
7. Why I am grown so wild

9. 2. Deepening Your Story

10. The Situation and the Story
the events that happened (the situation) and
the meaning the events have brought to your
life (the story) <--the “so-what”
*As time marches on, your story will change because how
you view life changes as you mature.
*Your story is what sets your memoir apart...it is unique,
like you! <--strong, entertaining prose (developed voice)
*Draws us closer to humanity <--emotional truth

11. The Intelligent Narrator
There should be a reflective voice in your tell.
Giving a rest to the “situation”, letting the story
breathe...showing your reader that you are on a
journey WITH them to get to the bottom of what
the story (the so-what) is all about. You
shouldn’t already KNOW where you are going
with the reflective portion=inauthentic.

12. The Two I’s/The Two Eyes
The I/Eye directly involved + the I/Eye telling the story=
who you were then + who you are now because of the event(s)
You are the unseen person in the corner of the room telling the yarn.
“It took three decades for that instant to unfreeze.”
Mary Karr’s The Liar’s Club begins with her as a child being questioned by a
doctor about how she sustained some injuries. Her recollection of his
moustache resembling two caterpillars and her eyelit nightgrown
shows one I/Eye. “It took three decades…” shows another I/Eye.

13. Author as Character
What is your persona?
-tastes -prejudices -style of expression/voice
-word choice -phrases
Where do you come from? Take aspects of
your childhood and let them come to the front.
Are you a kind, gentle speaker? Are you from a tough background speaking in the vernacular?
Example: Mary Karr has lived in a genteel circle of NYC for DECADES, but she still writes with a southern twang.

14. You as a Character, cont’d
The narrator (the flying I/eye) is a character.
Your younger self is a character. Your older self
is a character. It’s like a trinity of people.
Be honest about who you are=quirks/idiosyncrasies.
Let the reader see you for who you are.
Make them rely on your stability, then...

15. Your Character In Conflict
Let your reader see your psyche in conflict.
I love my father/I hate my father
I want revenge/I want peace
I need to be responsible/I want to have fun
What keeps circling around in your mind?
Show that to the reader=humanity

16. Word Choice Adds Tension
*Someone with a rough dialect speaking an
immensely poetic statement.
*Highly educated person thinking something
reprehensible.
*Omission-telling too much can damage our
story.
Read mentor text: The Year of Magical Thinking

17. What Writing Moves Did You See?
Joan Didian writes through omission…
How did her husband die?
Her daughter is simultaneously in the hospital
thousands of miles away.
Constructing a mystery can draw your reader
in. Nuance is your friend.
When someone whispers, everyone leans in.

18. Critique Groups
Revise/edit/revise/edit…
Advantages/disadvantages of peer groups
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
The SA Writer’s Meetup
SA Writers’ Guild

19. Getting Published
Being published in journals prior to submitting
query letters to publishers gives respectability.
1. Send your 5th or 6th draft (revise/edit/revise/edit…)
2. Submit in batches of 25 because you will be rejected
3. A handwritten note w/rejection=they like what they
read=try again!
4. Have a tracking system of who you contacted/when
-your own spreadsheet -Duotrop -Writer’s Relief

20. Stay Current with What is Being Published
Sign up for these newsletters, and stay abreast
of what is newly published/”hot”:
Literary Hub
The Millions

21. Ready to Publish?
Do you have a collection of stories and an
agent? Try smaller presses. They tend to do
higher quality of writing than bigger publishing
houses.
Graywolf Press
Tin House
various university presses

22. Thank You For Coming!
I’d love to read what you are writing and to
share my own writing with you if you are
interested…
“Write in recollection and amazement for yourself.”
-Jack Kerouac