Writing a Memoir or Autobiography

Newell G. Bringhurst gave us some great insight about crafting an autobiography or memoir. He said that both words were used interchangeably about book written about one's own life. Generally an autobiography is written in chronological order and written in first person.

Memoir is written by the author and is more a kind of remembrance, certain aspects of his or her life--an emotional experience that stand out. It will contain some autobiographical elements..

Bringhurst feels that all biographies and even fiction, contain some relationship to the author's life.
He used biographies he wrote as examples:
Brigham Young, Fawn McKay Brodie, and The Mormon Quest for the Presidency.

He's told bits and pieces of his life story through essays.

He recommended reading autobiographies including the following:
Narrative of Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Eldridge Cleaver, and also the Memoir--Hillbilly by Vance.

He suggested the following book for directions:

Breathe Life into Your Life Story by Dawn and Morris Thurston. Some of the suggestions contained in it:

• Show a vivid picture for the reader to see, hear and smell what you're describing.
• Avoid expository writing.
• Zoom in on a specific dramatic incident from your past--sad, healing, poignant, etc.
• Use dialogue. Recall conversations, take literary license.
• Use dramatic tension to move the story along. Write it like fiction.

Ways to jog your memory:

• Draw a floor plan of your home.
• Draw a map of your home town
• List 5-10 life changing events, turning points
• Radio and TVE programs you enjoyed

As a group we discussed local writers who have written memoirs and autobiographies.