The Memoir Revolution

Tag: structure

March 6, 2013

Telling a Memoir’s Backstory by Seesawing in Time

How-to

backstory, examples, flashbacks, memoir, structure, technique

How the story falls together in the reader’s mind will depend on these questions of structure. Take your time. It’s your life, and if you want to turn it into a great story, don’t be surprised if you have to work at it with the same creative obsession that you expect from the authors of…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
January 15, 2013

Should You Use Flashbacks in Your Memoir?

How-to, Literary Non-fiction

flashback, How-to, memoir, memoir examples, structure

Story reading is very different than memory, and so, a big part of the memoir writer’s job is to sort the raw material of memory back into the chronology of actual events. Gradually you will tease apart the causes and sequences of things, and present them in the most compelling possible manner. Good writers work…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
July 11, 2011

A Memoir Author Comments on His Beginning and End

David W. Berner

Author Interview, craft, David W. Berner, memoir, motivation, structure

I hope the reader would finish the book with the belief that although our past may be gone through the passage of time, it has left an indelible mark, a branding on all of us. And we should not dismiss it even when it’s painful or troubling; we should embrace it, use it to our…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
February 4, 2011

A Memoirist Talks About the Backstory of His Memoir

Author Interview, Rick Skwiot

Author Interview, backstory, essay, expatriate, Journaling, memoir, Mexico, Rick Skwiot, structure

I don’t think I consciously crafted a self-portrait here. I was just trying to report on this guy who went to Mexico and found himself, and how that came about. For most any memoirist, there are two first-person characters: the author/narrator who is writing it and the historical character who experienced the events in the…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
January 28, 2011

Turning Journals and Notebooks Into a Memoir

Author Interview, Journaling, Rick Skwiot

Author Interview, essay, expatriate, Journaling, memoir, Mexico, notebooks, Rick Skwiot, structure

Rick Skwiot: My journals were crucial in my development as a writer. Not only did I record events of my life, but I also, as you suggest, wrote fictional scenes there, experimented with writing styles, penned criticism on the books I was reading, recorded my dreams and more. It was a mishmash of fact and…

Written by

Jerry Waxler
July 20, 2010

Stephen Markley Interview Part 4: Structure of a Memoir

Author Interview

author, career, courage, interview, memoir, meta, parody, Publish, risk, satire, Stephen Markley, structure

by Jerry Waxler The first thing that caught my attention when I picked up Stephen Markley’s “Publish this Book” was that it was a parody of itself, a memoir about “writing this very book.” This trick of self-conscious awareness, or “meta” as it has come to be called, played a big role in my thought…

Written by

Jerry Waxler