A memoir forces me to stop and remember carefully. It is an exercise in truth. In a memoir, I look at myself, my life, and the people I love the most in the mirror of the blank screen. In a memoir, feelings are more important than facts, and to write honestly, I have to confront my demons. Isabel Allende
(Quote posted at Brainy Quotes)
Memoir appears to be continuing its popular trend. Recently, I talked about writing and publishing short memoir pieces as well as the book length ones. Whether short or long, one part of the quote stood out for me and rings true for both.
It was the sentence 'In a memoir, feelings are more important than facts.' Ms. Allende is not saying that facts are not important. you and I both know they are mandatory in memoir. However, to write a memoir people will read, the author's reaction and feelings to whatever occurred are the choice nutmeat in the hard shell of truth.
Readers want to know what happened but also how the author felt, how he/she handled the situation. Was the author depressed, angry, elated, mournful? We want to know the problem but the problem alone is not what readers seek. Problems beg for solutions. Solutions to our lifetime troubles involve feelings. Our feelings lead us to the solution. Hopefully, it will be a satisfying one.
Readers are looking for the human side. They want to be able to relate to whatever happened to the memoir author.
We often mention that memoir can be a step in healing a deep hurt. What does that involve? Feelings.
All memoirs are not tragedies but a good many are. Even someone who writes a memoir about a blessed, happy life needs to include feelings. In this kind of book or short piece, the feelings will be of a different kind than in those that address a sad life or situation.
Whether we write fiction, personal essays, or memoir, it's our innermost feelings we must reveal to the reader, but perhaps most of all, to ourself.
I am often moved by your posts and with this one my feelings were aroused as usual. Most probably because I'm trying to open my emotions to get them into words to type on the pages of my memoir. I have wondered why this is so hard for me to do. The only thought I've had is that in order to survive the upheaval of my life after getting a brain injury 25 years ago, I buried my feelings about it very deep.
ReplyDeleteThat happens sometimes. I had an experience once. A movie I saw triggered feelings about a long buried situation so strongly that I hurried home and started writing a poem. The poem came fast and furiously, long buried feelings unleashed. Sometimes, we need a trigger even though we may have no idea what it might be.
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