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| My inspiration in many ways |
When writing memoir, the author
needs to remember that while she can see the cast of characters and the settings
in a scene, the reader cannot.
I didn’t think about this before as
I was trying to make word count for the month.
Memoir needs to be populated with three dimensional characters. Each scene needs to be fully developed. Memoir needs to be story. And the reader needs to be immersed in it.
To interest a reader in fact or
fiction, there needs to be a strong storyline.
A problem with an outcome. An
exciting journey. A protagonist and an
antagonist—even if the antagonist is a concept; like in my memoir, time or
educational understanding.
While I’m moving ahead with my
memoir, another 12,000 plus words for February, I need to remember to go back
and flesh out specific details and description for the most important cast of
characters in the memoir—my family. I
know my husband had a touch of gray in his curly hair, a moustache, and
glasses, but the reader doesn’t. For
that matter, the reader doesn’t know that my hair was dark brown and shoulder
length when I was attending college.
But where do you stick in telling
details and description in the story? You
don’t want to bog down the flow of a passage with pages of description. The best place is to tuck in bits of
description within the action of the story.
In my memoir, I supply the details
of the chemistry lab classroom as I’m immersed in an experiment with my
classmates or fretting over a final presentation for class. Use the senses when describing place. I needed to allow the reader to see, hear,
and smell the classroom. And in story,
allow the reader to suffer along with the protagonist. Get inside her head, feel the heart pumping
and the head pounding. Don’t forget to
show why the characters feel this way.
Do you have another suggestion to
tuck in telling details while keeping the story moving forward? Please share it with us.
A story is a living breathing
creation. Make sure your readers feel
the same way about your creation.