This was a "How To" book I could not put down. I have worked on a memoir for years and made many starts and stops. I must confess that Brooke and I worked on getting my story down on paper over the last year, and I took several memoir workshops from Brooke and Linda Joy Myers. I learned so much in their workshops, but it wasn't until I read "Breaking Ground on Your Memoir" that all the missing pieces fell into place.
Chapter 1 helped me remember that although I am writing about memories, they actually took place somewhere...and that place needs to be described so the reader can picture the scene.
Chapter two offers many options of how to "frame" your memoir. It could be linear, or be framed. In a framed memoir you still move through time in a linear fashion but use flashback and memory to move the reader through your history.
Chapter three helps you understand your role as, not only the author of the memoir, but also the protagonist, and how to get your reader to understand your place in the story as well as the place of the other characters you write about.
In Chapter four, Brooke and Linda discuss the craft of writing the memoir...the writing of scenes. One thing I did not understand until I took their workshops and especially as I read this book was how the characters in my story need to develop as the memoir unfolds. I am not just including them as props for my own story...they change and grow as we all do in life. Chapter five was one of my favorites. Brooke and Linda discuss how, once your first draft is complete (which is what I worked on with Brooke as a writing coach) it is now time to go back and add "extra nuances," such as sensual details, honing your craft by transcribing what great writers have written, using dialogue, metaphor, simile, and analogy, and the use of "through threads." It was a relief to realize that now that I had the bones down I could go back and really make my memoir shine. Thanks Brooke and Linda! This is my favorite book on writing.
No comments:
Post a Comment