Everyday Canvas

Life Stories, Autobiographies, and Memoirs

Prompt: Everyone has a story. Are you brave enough to write yours and have it published?’’

------

This depends on what the story is. If the story is fiction, something I invented off the top of my head, sure. Why not?

If it’s my life story, however, no way. My life is mine; it is a no-go for anyone else. In the first place, I don’t see the reason why it would be important to me to write it. Besides, can anyone know a person’s entire story from all angles? I guess not. In some cases, even the person himself or herself is unaware of everything about it.

Someone I know well enough who is a VIP in her own right had her memoirs/biography published during the last few months. While I read it, I found so many holes, so many factual mistakes, and so many self-aggrandizing passages in it that even I felt embarrassed on her account. Her redeeming part in this is that someone else wrote the book, even though with her blessings and under her directions.

Yet, there are autobiographies I have loved reading. The latest one is by Anna Quindlen, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. In fact, I listened to the audio version of the book rather than reading it. I loved the way the author looked at her life through different times and at various aspects of it. Her examination of life, her values, her love of solitude and many other things I found very close to my heart. Better yet, she made me believe in the truth of her every word. I found no self-applause or self-abasement. Although the reviews of it by others are not so positive, (Could it be jealousy, since those reviews are by her journalist peers/friends?) I think Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake is one of the sincerest autobiographies ever written.

Another good book I have read during the last couple of years is Old Friend from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg. Here, the author’s private memories somehow ended up becoming universal, but then this is Natalie Goldberg, and possibly she can do no wrong, at least the way I look at her work.

Writing an autobiography or one’s memoirs is a monumental task. It is practically impossible to squeeze an entire life in a volume or even several volumes. Yet, the ethical rule of it is to be truthful as much as one can, regardless of the length. The next thing has to be choosing and organizing the topics. Many writing coaches give lists suggesting chronological factors and ideas to would-be memoirists. Plus, there are several books on the market for those who are thinking of such a venture. Then, there is the http://thememoirnetwork.com.

Here are the few books I know that are in the market, which might help if anyone in WdC would be interested:


Memoir Writing for Dummies, by Ryan G. Van Cleave, PhD
Teach Yourself How to Write Your Life Story, by Ann Gawthorpe
How to Write Your Life Story, by Ralph Fletcher
Writing Life Stories, by Bill Roorbach
Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art, by Judith Barrington
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
Your Life as Story by Tristine Rainer
Writing About Your Life by William Zinsser
Inventing the Truth by William Zinsser