Tag: dramatic conflict
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Conflict with Parent Fleshes in Authentic Character
One of the most common complaints I hear in a memoir workshop is about the difficulty of writing honest feelings about parents. I encourage writers to push through their reluctance. Writing about them will reveal the relationships in new ways. Even if this material does not appear within the frame of your proposed story, you…
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This celebrity has flaws. How about you?
Agassi became the best tennis player in the world, but it was never enough. Even with his money, his fame, and his supermodel wife, his dissatisfaction always left him sour. Talk about ungrateful! This guy was beginning to sound like a real jerk.
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The Protagonist of a Memoir Must have a Goal and Obstacles
One of the fundamental elements in every story is the reader’s identification with the protagonist. This protagonist doesn’t just stand there. He or she wants something, and then moves toward it, while we readers turn pages to overcome the obstacles. In Andre Agassi’s “Open” the pressure to push against obstacles generates enormous tension that makes…
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When is a memoir by a celebrity not a celebrity memoir?
Andre Agassi was one of the greatest tennis players of all time, and he was married to supermodel Brooke Shields. So it would be natural to expect his memoir, “Open,” to be just another celebrity memoir, taking a free ride on his household name. But Agassi’s memoir was not a vapid look at the privileged…
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