Reflections on Writing Memoirs
I think a big problem a lot of memoir writers sometimes face is remembering the exact thoughts and ideas that went through their brain during any specific event. Depending on what event the author is writing about, it can be hard to remember what actually happened because of when it took place. I think that the author could then either ask someone who was there what happened, or they can lie. Lying may not seem like the best option, but I think it allows the author a chance to be more creative. They can make up their own thoughts and add things into their story that make it more interesting. I think that a challenge I will face when I am writing my own memoir will be whether or not I should use the real names of the people there. Sometimes it can add more to the story if you actually know the person's name because then it gives you more information about the character so you can picture them better. But the author then faces the issue of invading that person's privacy. Another problem I think I might face is how to tell a story and have there be a theme that the reader can understand without the theme being cheesy. I think that some of the common themes in literature can be kind of cheesy because they are so obvious and we can easily tell what the theme of a story is going to be early on. I want to be able to write a memoir or personal narrative that is interesting and has a good life lesson in it, but have it so that the theme isn't too clear and that it is an interesting theme. One last problem I think I will face is what event of my life to write about. There are lots of good parts of my life, but the challenge will be picking the one that is the most interesting and one where I learned something important that will help me throughout the rest of my life.
YES! This was very well written, good job. By the way, I agree that the challenge would be in picking which parts of your life to talk about. Some things you may want to keep personal but would really create more of a story and a background. Memoirs are honestly hard to write because of the many factors, some of which you stated, including revisiting events that you may want to push aside but are very important to the story.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you talked about how many times if you are writing about an exciting or stressful situation you were in, you may not remember all the details and have to make up some parts. I totally agree with this. Also, I agree that it is hard to figure out what to write about in your life. Many people think their life is boring, or they have nothing exciting enough for people to enjoy reading it, but in reality, everyone's life is worthy of a memoir.
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