Jeffrey Rasley's Blog - Posts Tagged "memoir-writing"
Memoir Writing Back in 2012
Continuing a review of podcast interviews and guest blogs I did back in 2012, once again, I discovered several of the podcasters and bloggers that hosted me have "gone off the air." The blog I wrote for Novel Spaces in July 2012 is still up at https://novelspaces.blogspot.com/sear...
It is a blog about memoir writing based on the course I taught at the Indiana Writers Center. The key point I make in the blog and course was this:
"Essential to making a memoir interesting and worthy of publication is to have a central theme that carries the narrative forward. Without a thematic narrative, we are back to mere observation or a random collection of insights without a guiding light. The narrative must include factual details to make it interesting. Without interesting, quirky or astonishing factual details, a personal essay is boring. A point made in the abstract is likely to be forgotten as soon as the reading device is turned off."
Another topic I covered in the blog and course, that was always interesting to novice memoir writers, is:
"Finally, the memoirist should have a fine tuned sense of personal ethics. The last point I cover when teaching a class about memoir writing is to consider carefully whether to identify or to change the identity of individuals, organizations or companies referred to in the piece. Friendships can be damaged and libel/defamation suits can be filed. It is easy enough to disguise an identity with a fake name and to attribute some intentionally misleading characteristics to protect the privacy or reputation of a person or organization. Consider the consequences and choose wisely."
The blog ends with a link to what was then my recently published "Monsters of the Midway 1969: Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll, and Football", but the link is to a no longer available 1st edition of the book. Darn!
[The 2d ed. is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7OTYQU
[book:Monsters of the Midway 1969: Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll, Viet Nam, Civil Rights, and Football|33986057]
Monsters of the Midway 1969: Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll, Viet Nam, Civil Rights, and Football
It is a blog about memoir writing based on the course I taught at the Indiana Writers Center. The key point I make in the blog and course was this:
"Essential to making a memoir interesting and worthy of publication is to have a central theme that carries the narrative forward. Without a thematic narrative, we are back to mere observation or a random collection of insights without a guiding light. The narrative must include factual details to make it interesting. Without interesting, quirky or astonishing factual details, a personal essay is boring. A point made in the abstract is likely to be forgotten as soon as the reading device is turned off."
Another topic I covered in the blog and course, that was always interesting to novice memoir writers, is:
"Finally, the memoirist should have a fine tuned sense of personal ethics. The last point I cover when teaching a class about memoir writing is to consider carefully whether to identify or to change the identity of individuals, organizations or companies referred to in the piece. Friendships can be damaged and libel/defamation suits can be filed. It is easy enough to disguise an identity with a fake name and to attribute some intentionally misleading characteristics to protect the privacy or reputation of a person or organization. Consider the consequences and choose wisely."
The blog ends with a link to what was then my recently published "Monsters of the Midway 1969: Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll, and Football", but the link is to a no longer available 1st edition of the book. Darn!
[The 2d ed. is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7OTYQU
[book:Monsters of the Midway 1969: Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll, Viet Nam, Civil Rights, and Football|33986057]
Monsters of the Midway 1969: Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll, Viet Nam, Civil Rights, and Football
