Use Fiction Techniques When Writing Memoirs

Make Stories Come to Life With These Simple, Effective Ideas

Oct 7, 2009

If a memoir is worth writing, it's worth doing well. Dip into the fiction writer's toolkit to keep make real people as intriguing as characters in a novel.

Novelists spend years honing their craft. They learn how to blend description into the narrative, how to write convincing dialogue, and how to present characters in a way that virtually makes them leap from the page.

Anyone writing a memoir will end up with a much more professional result if they use some of the same techniques. After all, the whole point of writing a memoir is that one day it's going to be read by others. (If not, there seems little point in writing a memoir at all – a daily journal would suffice!)

The following writing tips come straight from the novelist's toolkit. Apply these to any memoir, biography or family history, and people will be clamouring for a copy.

Tip One: Blend Description Into the Story

Memoirs re-visit the past. The author takes readers on a journey in which they re-create incidents, conversations, places and people. This necessarily involves describing not only what happened, but where and when it happened. At all costs, the writer has to avoid launching into long passages of description of houses, towns or people. The trick is to pick one or two details that set the mood and give a thumbnail sketch of the person or place. For example:

We were all exhausted when we finally reached Smithville, just before dark on a bleak winter afternoon. The condition of the house was even worse than I remembered; in the shadows cast by approaching nightfall it seemed almost menacing. Mark and Kelly looked at the house, and then at each other, and Kelly burst into tears.

This scene engages the reader because it focuses on the emotions of the people concerned, rather than a long description of the house. The reaction to their new home is much more important than a brick-by-brick description of a house. (If there is an accompanying photograph this will supply extra detail anyway.)

Rule of thumb: Show what places and people are like by the narrator's interpretation of them – and by the reactions of the people in the story, such as Mark and Kelly in the preceding example. Look for articles and books about creating characters; these will provide great insights into writing about real people, too.

Tip Two: Use the Five Senses

What prompts memories? Sometimes it's a photo. Sometimes it's a smell. Sometimes it's a song.

People associate memories with the five senses. Employ these in a memoir, and readers will make associations much more readily. The writer can help the reader imagine a scene so much more clearly by referring to how something felt or tasted, as well as how it looked. For example:

In some cases, it might also be appropriate to introduce a sixth sense about events.

Tip Three: Write Dialogue Rather Than Reporting What was Said

Novelists are often told to 'show, don't tell'. Writers of memoirs would do well to remember this, too. Instead of telling the reader that "Aunt Jane remarked to all those present that she wished she had stayed in London instead of moving to the other side of the world", let them"listen in" while Aunt Jane actually talks to someone, thereby showing how she feels. For example:

Aunt Jane was not impressed. Her lips set in a thin line, she wiped the perspiration from her forehead and set her bag down with a thump. "I wish I'd stayed in London," she said grimly. "What possessed me agreeing to move to the other side of the world?"

By introducing dialogue, the whole scene immediately seems more real. Readers of the memoir or biography are instantly in the scene, instead of hearing about it second-hand.

There are thousands of articles online about writing fiction. Anyone writing a memoir will find that learning to use some of the techniques in the fiction writer's toolkit is time is well spent.

The copyright of the article Use Fiction Techniques When Writing Memoirs in Writing Memoirs is owned by Marg McAlister. Permission to republish Use Fiction Techniques When Writing Memoirs in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.