I'm following a prompt to write a short-story memoir, and I've written a little bit about this one period of time (two weeks) that totally sucked. I'm not even sure why I want to write about it as I've suppressed a lot of those memories, but right now some similarly sucky stuff is going on so that's probably got something to do with it.
Anyway, I'm having trouble figuring out how to make a story out of these incidents in The Time That Sucked, or figuring out what the point of the story is. I've never attempted memoir before and understand that in real life incidents there isn't always a clear beginning, middle, or end. So I'd appreciate any suggestions or tips y'all may have.
Thanks!
First you say you have a distinct period in mind. Then you say "that in real life incidents there isn't always a clear beginning, middle, or end." I'm not sure the two can work together. I guess you could either limit your writing to the actual events from that period, making them into clear stories (which would have beginnings, middles and ends), or tell the stories and give some perspective on how they shaped the person you are today (which would be an ongoing thing), rendering the whole collection in a sort of indefinite, open-ended structure.
Well, I was going for a short story and not necessarily a collection. I'm inclined to tell the events as they happened, I'm just trying to figure out how to arrange them so that they have a point. I feel like no one really wants to read about a series of incidents, but rather a story with a cohesive message. And I have no idea how to determine what that message is. It's tricky when it's two weeks out of your own life; tricky to know where to begin, where to end, or what's the point.
Right, J.Y.
Another piece of advice I have for you is to read the shit out of essays by writers who have tackled such incidents - aka, "The Time That Sucked" as you call it, and see how they deconstruct and then reassemble the story into something that does not read like a pity party, table for one.
One of my favourite craft elements in this genre is when an author is able to link two otherwise unrelated events/conceits together and come up with something that makes the reader go, "hmmm..."
GREAT examples are Cheryl Strayed's The Love of My Life essay that originally appeared in the Sun, link here http://thesunmagazine.org/archives/2192 and Roxane Gay's What We Hunger For here: http://therumpus.net/2012/04/what-we-hunger-for/ and my friend Wendy C. Ortiz's essay http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/fashion/newly-wed-and-quickly-unraveling-modern-love.html?_r=0 and lastly, this article on the importance of transformation of the author within such writing here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theo-pauline-nestor/memoir-writing-_b_849260.html
Hope this is helpful. One of my fave quotes goes something like, "You get no credit for the living..." meaning, what did you learn?
Good luck and if you're writing scared, you're on the right track.
Short version: What happened? How would you tell me if we just talked in person? Whatever you started with, start with that.
Longer version that will sound like I'm being flip when I'm not: I'm convinced coherent stories are somewhat formulaic. Many reject that, but I've seen no exceptions. I tired treating it like one, and I've had some luck with treating it like a math problem.
Example:
In the land of __________, during __________, X attempts Y because __________. This meets with (success, no success, or mixed results) because __________. Z reacts by __________/No one (else) reacted. (Repeat with Z Beta, Z Gamma, etc. as needed)
Subplot: (Also/Meanwhile/Some such phrase), in the land of __________, during __________, X2 attempts as Y2 because __________. This meet/met with (success, no success, mixed results, or similar phrase) because __________. Z2 reacts by __________/No one (else) reacted. (Repeat Subplot2, Subplot3, etc. as needed. The phrase during may need to be removed.)
Theme: This is all complicated and/or simplified by __________. (Repeat Theme2, Theme3, etc. as needed.)
This helped with my fiction and my own memoir about my relationship with my Dad/his death. Once I knew the basic story it was much easier to write.
In Kentucky, during summer 2010, I attempted to arrange Dad's funeral because I felt it was my duty. This met with disaster because he'd treated everyone else he'd met beside me so poorly they wouldn't attend. People who hadn't meet him reacted in disbelief, I reacted with disappointment that I sort of agreed, and my friends reacted with shock while attempting to provide support.
Meanwhile, in Michigan, my cousin with the same name as Dad attempted to prove he was a different person because he didn't want to be arrested for Dad's crimes again. This met with success because they had different social security numbers. No one reacted.
This was all complicated by the fact I kept finding evidence of crimes Dad had committed in his belongings.
I'm aware this method feels odd to some, but I think it is freeing to be aware of the story you are telling.
Very, very helpful comments. Thank you both!
Well, I was going for a short story and not necessarily a collection.
Oh. Based on "short-story memoir" I was thinking a whole book.
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I know where you're coming from with the "specific period of time" mixed with the "no clear beginning or end." No life story has a clear beginning or end. It's why I liked Middlesex enough to buy it, because it basically starts with "To tell you my life story, I have to start as far back as my grandparents' young adulthood."
To make it even harder, you aren't telling the story of a life, but of events. I noticed that, when trying to write memoirs, I had so much trouble figuring out what the actual story was. How do I explain X without explaining Y? When Y crosses into Z, which doesn't have to do with X, do I still explain it? Things like that can get in the way.
Just write X. Don't write the backstory or the aftermath, just X. Then, see if it's a full story. Pull one tiny string out and use it.
PS I've been writing a lot of stories about three weeks, That Terrible Time in my Life, and it's been getting easier as I go along. Build up to what you want to write about. Start small. I started with a car ride.
Drea is right on the low pity in the work. Maybe black comedy or happy it is over?
