Research & Memoir Writing

October is going to be a busy month for the blogmaster and other regular contributors as we prepare for the 2016 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference on November 12. So we will take advantage of the blog archives and reprint several previous posts about writing memoirs and preserving family memories.

We start with the May 1, 2013 post by Sandra J. Nantais titled “Research & Memoir Writing.”

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A common misconception about writing a memoir or life essay is that the writer must write expressly from memory.  If that were so, that would make for a fairly flat and boring snippet of life tale.

Example 1: Summer!  Yea! It’s summer!  It’s the late 60s and summer means shorter pants, bare feet, Kool-Aid and the dunes!  The weekend arrives, sandwiches are made, Kool-Aid is in the metal jug and, with towels over our shoulders, we run out the door to the silver car.   

Upon opening the car’s back door, we all turn and run to the porch yelling Eeeeeuuuuu!

Example 2:  Summer!  Yea! It’s summer in the late 1960s and this means plaid knee-knockers, bare feet, sandwiches and the dunes!  It means waking to the sun shining and Mom packing sandwiches into a brown paper grocery bag (peanut butter or bologna on Wonder Bread of course).  The cherry Kool-Aid was already in the red and white metal picnic jug waiting for two trays of ice to be dumped in before having the lid screwed on.

Us kids would bound out of the house with a towel over our shoulder towards the shiny silver 1966 Dodge Coronet 440.  Whoever was quickest would open the back door, only to release the strong smell of spoiled milk.  Eeeeeuuuuu!! We’d yell and run back to the house and gather on the steps pinching our noses closed.

By adding a few vivid and specific details from that era, the reader is there along with the writer, in that moment.

Other then the memory of the car being silver with four doors and a black interior, I have no idea of the make or model.  My eldest brother is twelve years older and a lifelong car buff, so I asked him about the silver car, which is how we all still refer to it.

Why not just write it that way?  Just describing the car as ‘the silver car’?  Because by adding the make, year and model of the car, I can create more emotion or familiarity within a reader.

The same is true with the drink cooler.

I vividly remember the drink cooler and that it was metal.  Yet, I still researched vintage 1960 water coolers to keep with the time frame introduced.  If by the 1960’s the metal were replaced with plastic I would have left that detail out.

Is this wrong?  Does it make the memoir fiction?  Does it change a memoir from being my memory?  Not at all.   It is just facts about objects that were present.

With memoir writing the author is endeavoring to restore a memory as truthfully as possible.  Memories are deficient, and checking minor facts for accuracy shows that the author cares.  Verifying with someone what color something actually was or which beach you were at doesn’t change what you felt.

So go ahead and ask a sibling or research details.  It will only help immerse the reader into the moment right alongside of you as if they had experienced the same sadness or joy or laughter with you.

Yours, Mine, Ours: Is it a memoir?

by

Sandra J Nantais

 

Fuzzy details?  Fading colors? Forgotten dates?  All these concerns plague a memoir writer along, as does the bigger question: “Can I ask someone and still make it my own?”

Unless you have an incredible memory, you will have to do research or interviews to nudge recollections and sketch them out.  It is still your story.

I had wanted to write a slice of my childhood about a circus that set up around the block from us one year.  I had started thinking it was an imagined childhood fiction because I couldn’t find anyone who remembered it, nor could I find the photograph of me that I remembered my dad taking.  Thanks to social media, I finally discovered this was not a dream. 

Not only did I find truth in my memory, but I also discovered the name of the circus.   Using this tidbit of information doesn’t mean I have to give credit to the person who provided it, nor does it mean the memoir isn’t mine because someone else filled in the minor details.

Here’s another example. For years I had two memorial events stuck in the second grade years of my life.  I remember picking up my oldest brother from the airport when I was in the second grade and that I was a flower girl in my sister’s wedding.   But now as my oldest sister’s 60^th birthday looms, I realize there was no way she married when I was seven years old.  She was still in high school.

Verbally I could keep holding on to my story, but once ink hits the paper it becomes set and an eagle eye reader (or my own sister!) could catch this error.  I would lose credibility.

From mentioning a candy bar to a television show, you need to make sure they existed in the time frame you are using. 

Timelines also can be sketchy, but taking a few moments to get dates in a sensible chronological order will help with the flow of your memoir.

You can also use other resources to fact check.  Photographs, public records, letters, school year books, and the Internet all can assist with details and add accurate facts to you memoir.

Not every detail needs to be exact.  If you remember the local park having patchy grass and dented slides, but your brother remembers it being a lush green with shiny, slick slides, it’s okay to describe how you perceived it.

Remember, you will run into some difficulty remembering exactly what happened and possibly when.  Whether you ask a sibling about a detail you deem important or enlist records to secure correct dates, the memoir is still your story.



Research & Memoir Writing

by

Sandra J Nantais

A common misconception about writing a memoir or life essay is that the writer must write expressly from memory. If that were so, that would make for a fairly flat and boring snippet of life tale.

Example 1: Summer! Yea! It's summer! It's the late 60s and summer means shorter pants, bare feet, Kool-Aid and the dunes! The weekend arrives, sandwiches are made, Kool-Aid is in the metal jug and, with towels over our shoulders, we run out the door to the silver car.

Upon opening the car's back door, we all turn and run to the porch yelling Eeeeeuuuuu!

Example 2: Summer! Yea! It's summer in the late 1960s and this means plaid knee-knockers, bare feet, sandwiches and the dunes! It means waking to the sun shining and Mom packing sandwiches into a brown paper grocery bag (peanut butter or bologna on Wonder Bread, of course). The cherry Kool-Aid was already in the red and white metal picnic jug waiting for two trays of ice to be dumped in before having the lid screwed on.

Us kids would bound out of the house with a towel over our shoulder towards the shiny silver 1966 Dodge Coronet 440. Whoever was quickest would open the back door, only to release the strong smell of spoiled milk. Eeeeeuuuuu! We'd yell and run back to the house and gather on the steps pinching our noses closed.

By adding a few vivid and specific details from that era, the reader is there along with the writer, in that moment.

Other than the memory of the car being silver with four doors and a black interior, I have no idea of the make or model. My eldest brother is twelve years older and a lifelong car buff, so I asked him about the silver car, which is how we all still refer to it.

Why not just write it that way? Just describing the car as 'the silver car'? Because by adding the make, year and model of the car, I can create more emotion or familiarity within a reader.

The same is true with the drink cooler. I vividly remember the drink cooler and that it was metal. Yet I still researched vintage 1960 water coolers to keep with the time frame introduced. If by the 1960s the metal were replace with plastic I would have left that detail out.

Is this wrong? Does it make the memoir fiction? Does it change a memoir from being my memory? Not at all. It is just facts about objects that were present.

With memoir writing the author is endeavoring to restore a memory as truthfully as possible. Memories are deficient, and checking minor facts for accuracy shows that the author cares. Verifying with someone what color something actually was or which beach you were at doesn't change what you felt.

So go ahead and ask a sibling or research details. It will only help immerse the reader into the moment right alongside you as if they had experienced the same sadness or joy or laughter with you.