I have a novel that is well underway. Maybe you do, too. I have worked hard at fictionalizing my characters. But a bunch of you, my friends, are telling me to consider writing a memoir instead. Or maybe in addition.
Memoir scares the fuck out of me. I feel like writing a memoir is more egotistical than writing fiction. Why? In both instances, the writer is saying, "I've written something of universal value, something that will entertain you, and give you insight, and remind you of yourself - either by how different the characters are from you or how similar. And I want you to spend some time reading it." This is true of both fiction and nonfiction, right?
Why do I feel okay about blogging but not about memoir? Isn't blogging a form of memoir? It is, in this Wikipedia sense: In ancient Greece and Rome, memoirs were like "memos," pieces of unfinished and unpublished writing which a writer might use as a memory aid to make a more finished document later on.
In fiction, I create a couple of layers of protection against the accusing eye of imaginary readers. But I'm writing about my experience. Duh. When I fictionalize, I change names and locations and sometimes merge two or three people into one. I do that enough to say that I do it, so that imaginary readers will not be able to point fingers at me and say, "You are wrong about her/me!" If it's fiction, all you have to say is, "Yes, but it's fiction. I am allowed to be wrong."
And that imagined response has given me comfort and freedom. Would I be able to own that stance in writing a memoir? Could I say, "Yes, I may be wrong. But it is how I experienced you, or that event." I just don't know.
Writing fiction is harder than writing a blog. For me. To achieve an authentic voice in an imagined parallel universe is hard.
I guess I want to ask You: Should I finish my novel as a piece of third person fiction about love, marriage, and being a woman in the 21st century? Or should I write a memoir? The subject would be the same. Or should I write a novel in first person that blurs the line even further?
I can't promise that I'll take your advice, but I want to know: Which would you rather read, a novel or a memoir?
Memoir scares the fuck out of me. I feel like writing a memoir is more egotistical than writing fiction. Why? In both instances, the writer is saying, "I've written something of universal value, something that will entertain you, and give you insight, and remind you of yourself - either by how different the characters are from you or how similar. And I want you to spend some time reading it." This is true of both fiction and nonfiction, right?
Why do I feel okay about blogging but not about memoir? Isn't blogging a form of memoir? It is, in this Wikipedia sense: In ancient Greece and Rome, memoirs were like "memos," pieces of unfinished and unpublished writing which a writer might use as a memory aid to make a more finished document later on.
In fiction, I create a couple of layers of protection against the accusing eye of imaginary readers. But I'm writing about my experience. Duh. When I fictionalize, I change names and locations and sometimes merge two or three people into one. I do that enough to say that I do it, so that imaginary readers will not be able to point fingers at me and say, "You are wrong about her/me!" If it's fiction, all you have to say is, "Yes, but it's fiction. I am allowed to be wrong."
And that imagined response has given me comfort and freedom. Would I be able to own that stance in writing a memoir? Could I say, "Yes, I may be wrong. But it is how I experienced you, or that event." I just don't know.
Writing fiction is harder than writing a blog. For me. To achieve an authentic voice in an imagined parallel universe is hard.
I guess I want to ask You: Should I finish my novel as a piece of third person fiction about love, marriage, and being a woman in the 21st century? Or should I write a memoir? The subject would be the same. Or should I write a novel in first person that blurs the line even further?
I can't promise that I'll take your advice, but I want to know: Which would you rather read, a novel or a memoir?
novel all the way! memoirs are for the soon to be dead. :-)
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