Are you familiar with Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt? Love it or loathe it, chances are that you have at least heard of it. And, as cogently put by the writer Oscar Wilde, ‘there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about’. And you are thinking about publishing a book in Ireland, a memoir specifically? You have a story to tell. But wait, how do you go about it?
As an avid reader, I have been captivated by memoirs such as Angela’s Ashes by Irish author Frank McCourt and Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. As an editor, I would give the following 7 tips to those wishing to write a memoir.
Judge a book by its cover
The title of your memoir should grab the attention of potential readers from the very start. It should be catchy and memorable. A potential reader browsing books in a shop, library or even online, will base his/her judgment on the book title and design cover. Usually, a memorable title is followed by a more sober and explanatory subtitle. For instance, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, by Barack Obama, is a memoir with a title which follows this format.
‘We need a theme Timothy!’
A memoir should not contain every single episode from your life. An effective way of dividing your material is by choosing one or two themes and writing episodes which add to the theme. For instance, in the case of Angela’s Ashes, an Irish publishing sensation, the main themes are poverty and alcoholism.
Balance light & dark
Even when the themes are tragic, it is important to describe anecdotes which are funny and make people laugh. Real life is bittersweet: even a difficult life will feature entertaining times. Making your readers laugh, as well as cry, will make it more likely that they will continue reading your book.
Equally, should your memoir be about a light theme, try to introduce some serious or tear-jerking moment. In other words, your memoir should make people laugh while eliciting their sympathy.
Be authentic
Even more importantly, a memoir or autobiography should be authentic: it is the story of your journey. It takes courage to write a memoir, and even more courage to have it published: you are baring your soul by showing your vulnerability. Earn your readers’ trust.
Writers who fabricated stories in their memoirs, like James Frey and Alice Sebold, had to deal with backlash. They broke their readers’ trust. If you want to write about fabricated stories, write fiction rather than non-fiction. Although memory is not always trustworthy, deliberately fabricating stories, or distorting the truth to sell more books, won’t work in a memoir. Be candid and honest. Your readers will thank you for it.
Know your audience
Memoirs which sell well are either written by somebody in the public eye, such as former American president Barack Obama, or by somebody who knows their audience. For example, if you write about your battle with mental health, your target audience may be others who are struggling with mental health, as well as mental health professionals. Your title should reflect your target audience. Also, keep your target audience in mind at all times while writing. While memoirs contain some universal traits, they are also addressed to a particular readership. This is all the more so on account of recent changes in the publishing industry.
Kill your darlings
As put by the writer Stephen King, ‘kill your darlings’. No, he was not talking about murdering your relatives and friends! Once the first draft of your memoir is written, leave it for a while, to gain some distance. When you go back to it, focus on the essential sections and words only, and kill the rest. You can delete unnecessary parts or put stray words in a separate file.
Sometimes less is more. Remember, your entire memoir should relate to the themes that you have selected. A punchy prose is better than long-winded sentences with multiple adjectives. A good book is read effortlessly, but it takes a lot of effort to edit.
Get the beginning & the end right
The beginning should grab the readers’ attention, without giving too much away. The end should bring to the resolution of some of the tension or crises contained in the manuscript; or you could go for an open ending, since life is in a continuous state of flux anyway.
To sum up, select a few significant themes, know your audience, identify that special title that will grab readers, and edit ruthlessly. What’s next? Start writing now, and every time you have some ideas, write them down on paper, or record them in some way.
Professional editors & author mentors, like us in the JM Agency team, can coach you on how to get all these important elements right, working closely with you in refining and perfecting your memoir. Those seven memoir-essentials outlined above are among the most common issues to arise during editing and mentoring.
Writing a memoir or autobiography is not that easy, since you are probably emotionally attached to the events you are describing. After all, as put by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in The Little Prince, ‘It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.’
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