Tag: character arc
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Memoir as a Hero’s Journey: Character Arc and Homecoming
Heroes often return home at the end of the story. Ulysses famously returns to his home in Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan War, and Dorothy returns home at the end of Wizard of Oz. The return home at the end of an adventure is so important there’s a Greek name for it: Nostoi. With…
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In your memoir, how does your character grow?
That requirement for closure at the end of a story often stymies aspiring writers, who can’t at first visualize the satisfying ending that occurred during their own lives. They are afraid that if they report the events that actually happened, the reader will not feel particularly informed or uplifted. This question leads to the heart…
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Identity moves too in Doreen Orion’s travel memoir
Look across decades, and see how your roles evolved. By staying open to the various ways people see you and you see yourself, you will portray your identity not as a static thing, but a thing in motion.
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Doreen Orion’s brilliant memoir about last year’s midlife crisis
by Jerry Waxler When Doreen Orion’s husband noticed they were getting older, he suggested they buy a recreational vehicle, take a year off from work and drive across the country. She fought the idea at first. (What’s a story without some sort of conflict?) It sounded cramped, and she would only be able to take…
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Memoir writing lessons from the heart
by Jerry Waxler, author of Memoir Revolution: Write Your Story, Change the World Perry Foster was an ordinary business man until he found himself on the wrong end of a cardiology exam. Now he bears a scar on his torso that looks like it was zipped shut, which makes him a member of the zipper…
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Fame, laughter, and self discovery: a review of the memoir The Sound of No Hands Clapping
by Jerry Waxler, author of Memoir Revolution: Write Your Story, Change the World After the success of Toby Young’s first memoir, “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People” he received a call from a Hollywood producer who was impressed by Young’s knack for transforming a jerk into a lovable character. In a sense, Young was…
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The Character Arc in a Celebrity Memoir – Sydney Sheldon’s “Other Side of Me”
I think he added the afterward precisely because he or someone sensed there was no closure. In the afterward, Sheldon said he had no more need to keep writing best sellers. And I felt that in a sense, he was finally able to put down the sword and relax. Thank God! After all the pressure,…
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