Creative Nonfiction: The Memoir

Creative nonfiction is a vast genre in the world of writing. It includes essays, autobiographies, and memoirs. Naturally, anything classified as creative nonfiction is based on facts – true events and personal accounts that are steeped in realism.

However, the writing in this genre is clearly creative in nature. Words are chosen with great care to give the writing resonance and presence. Language is stylistic rather than dry, and there is an effort to depict real events in colorful, compelling ways.

The memoir is one of the most popular forms in creative nonfiction. In recent years, memoirs have been dominant on bestseller lists and often occupy considerable space on shelves in bookstores. Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love, Augusten Burroughs’ Running with Scissors, and John Grogan’s Marley & Me have gained widespread popularity, and the latter two titles have already been made into successful motion pictures.

Introduction to the Memoir

Technically, the memoir is a type of autobiography. Today, the two terms are often used interchangeably and indeed both forms are usually written from the first person point of view. While a memoir is autobiographical, not all autobiographies can be classified as memoirs.

For starters, the structure of a memoir is unlike that of an autobiography. Most autobiographies cover the entire life span of the author whereas memoirs often focus on specific time periods or a particular experience. For example, Eat, Pray, Love examines one year in the life of the author – a year in which she is on a journey of self-discovery.

In his memoir Palimpsest, Gore Vidal defines a memoir as “how one remembers one’s own life, while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked.”

In modern times, the memoir may be written to preserve a family (or personal) history and can be used to offer an exposition of genealogy. Additional approaches to memoir include therapeutic and recreational writing.

Memoirs and Creative Nonfiction

A well-written memoir is often considered literary, meaning that the writing itself pays due diligence to craftsmanship in terms of word choice and language structure. In this sense, memoirs and creative nonfiction differ from other types of nonfiction in that they are a pleasure to read, not just for the content, but also for the presentation.

Dictionary.com gives one definition of literary as “characterized by an excessive or affected display of learning; stilted; pedantic.” It’s worthwhile to note that pedantic means “overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, esp. in teaching.”

Literary writing, then, is concerned with minute details – well-chosen words that flow smoothly, language that is as intriguing as the content or message that it conveys.

Writing a Memoir

Anyone can write a memoir. You might think your life story isn’t interesting enough that others would want to read about it, but surely in your life, you have had experiences worthy of sharing. Your memoir might be about an unusual trip you took that resulted in some kind of unexpected adventure, or it could simply recount a relationship that you experienced and that had a profound impact on you.

In a memoir, you tell your personal story – not necessarily your entire life story from birth to the present – but you share selected experiences, ones that readers will connect with, relate to, and find engaging.

Have you ever thought about writing a memoir? Do you write any other type of creative nonfiction? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.