Detail of Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait 1889, oil on canvas
Writing a memoir, like creating any work of art, requires thousands of choices along the way. They may not feel like monumental choices—using a nickname instead of a formal name, say, or whether to include that little story from college—but each one is, in fact, a brushstroke in the portrait of you. It follows that there is no one true memoir of your life, but millions of possible versions dependent on your decisions. Ideally, this is a liberating realization for a memoir writer, but it can also induce some anxiety. Out of an entire life’s worth of stories, how do you begin to decide what to include and what to omit? What to emphasize and what to downplay? How to balance storytelling with documentation? Questions such as these are often what motivate writers to turn to our staff for guidance and support.
“No matter what you write, a compelling narrative will rise out of your reflections.”
First, there’s no need to worry, as structural or developmental editing is one of the earliest and most critical parts of the editorial process. When Modern Memoirs’ editors review your manuscript, they will point out places where your readers might like more details, and help you connect themes across the entire work. That’s one of the magic tricks of memoirs: no matter what you write, a compelling narrative will rise out of your reflections. Our editors will help you ensure that your memoir portrays your life’s story clearly and creatively.
Second, while many writers prefer a chronological structure, there are ways to write a compelling and thorough memoir that don’t follow a linear sequence from birth to the present day. Instead, you may find interest in one of the alternative approaches listed at the bottom of this article. Freeing yourself from a conventional structure might help you loosen up and discover intriguing repetitions and connections in your life.
I first began thinking about unconventional memoir structure after being introduced to Modern Memoirs client Harold Hirshman’s book sketches from memory, a compilation of essays on disparate memories written across the author’s life. Hirshman recently returned to reprint his book with updated content, and as I reviewed the project I discovered that though his “sketches” are short, they each pack a potent emotional punch. A few favorite chapter titles of mine are, “a psalm to golf and drycleaning,” “I Have Visited Cleveland More Often in My Life than Any Other City on Earth,” “I Did Something I Wanted to Do,” and “What Is Not in The New Yorker.” These titles alone give me a great sense of the author’s witty personality and what his life might be like. I can tell that the writer was following what interested him at the moment—and as a reader, that interests me.
Then I noticed that the last two commercially published memoirs I read, In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado and Passing for Human by Liana Finck, both employ unconventional structures, as well. In the Dream House is a memoir about a yearlong abusive romantic relationship. Instead of walking the reader through the story step-by-step, the author chose to write short, surreal vignettes that each explore the relationship through a different narrative archetype. In this way the situation is examined at hundreds of different angles, exploring its every facet: the love, the joy, the anger, the betrayal, the horror, and more. Its chapters are titled along the lines of “Dream House as Bildungsroman” (a coming-of-age story archetype); “Dream House as Creature Feature” (a horror movie archetype), or “Dream House as a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure.” The collective impact of these diverse angles gave me so much pleasure in reading this book, despite its, at times, harrowing content. Not only is it a bold and honest piece of writing, it is profoundly creative. I closed Machado’s memoir with appreciation for how its very structure highlights the fact that within each of our stories are a hundred different versions, all of which, on some level, are true.
Passing for Human by The New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck also plays with the audience’s expectations. Each chapter is an exploration of a different potential root of the author’s personality (her mother, her father, and her childhood are all culprits). She weaves together the romantic problems she encounters in the present with these childhood stories in order to draw connections. In addition, Finck frequently portrays her personal narrative with symbolism from well-known stories that hold importance for her, like the book of Genesis in the Bible, which also serves to highlight her perspective and background as a Jewish author.
Drawing on these examples, here are five ideas for structuring a memoir in an unconventional way. Following one of these unique paths during your writing process may expose connections and themes in your story that you hadn’t expected to find.
1. Writing as Play (or a stream-of-consciousness start)
Write everything that comes into your mind, without restricting yourself, for 30 minutes or an hour. See what emerges and how it shows your unique personality and writing approach. If you need a prompt, choose one of these:
“It’s hard to know where to begin to tell my story, and so I will begin in the middle. When I was [insert half the age you are now] I…”
“I was born in [year], a time when this country was…”
“When I was a child I loved to…”
2. Follow a Feeling
Sometimes, I try to think back on times I’ve experienced a particularly strong emotion (disappointment, anxiety, or gratitude, for instance). It’s amazing how many more personal stories I can remember by tracing that emotion. This also gives you the chance to easily give your memoir a theme. If you need a prompt, just start with: “I was [disappointed/worried/thankful] when…”
3. Zero In
Choose a few strong stories that help exemplify what you want to say about something or someone important in your past, such as the way you grew up sharing meals with your family, or how your mother was a perfectionist. Start with, “There is no way for me to write this memoir without first sharing that I…”
4. Mythify your Life
Like Machado and Finck, you can compare your story to famous stories, myths, and archetypes, which may reveal some interesting similarities and differences. Start with something like, “Have you heard the story of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ [or another such story]? Here’s my account of how I strayed off the path and lived to tell the tale…”
5. Listen to the Music
If a topic gives you joy and passion but is not conventionally included in a memoir as a focus for your career—for instance, your creative hobby, or favorite genre of music—include it anyway. Writing about your passions is a fantastic way to show your individuality, and it will likely lead you to remember and want to write down more life stories. For example, if you love a particular singer, start there. “I have always loved listening to [name the artist] because…”
Once you get started on one of these five paths to writing your memoir, you may find it hard to stop writing, and that’s a good thing. Just let the words keep flowing, and then reach out to Modern Memoirs if you’d like help bringing them to print.
Emma Solis is publishing associate for Modern Memoirs, Inc.