http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/improve-my-writing/walls-1
In this interview with Jeanette Walls, the author of The Glass Castle, she discusses questions about her writing process. They give insight on what the author was thinking while writing her memoir, and some of her opinions I completely agree with. One main point I agree with is writing a memoir is a way to discover the truth. When writing your own memoir, your personal opinions and experiences have to be printed on paper, revised, and you have to think really deeply about it. I think that you have to be truly honest with yourself if you want it to written well. The truth is what interests people and plus, you don't really want to lie in your own memoir. Telling the truth, no matter how hard, can also help you in a way to accept your life. Walls stated that writing the memoir helped her forgive herself, and this could also be true for other memoir authors. I think that telling the truth in memoirs could also help readers, who can learn valuable lessons from memoirs. For example, in The Glass Castle, I learned more about how hard people have it in life and that I should not take for granted my own life. When I write my own memoir, I want to make sure I tell the truth and maybe it will help me become more introspective. I will also try to include a message or theme in my writing since I think that is a huge part of the purpose of memoirs. Walls makes other points in her interview as well, such as how important and difficult it is to keep your own voice in your writing. It's very easy to accidentally start writing in another author's voice if you admire their writing or have recently read their story. But keeping your own voice is vital since it is your own memoir. It is a part of telling the truth.
I completely agree, especially with the part about truth telling and using your own voice. I know when I am reading a book I start to write with that style and, depending on how long the series is, I'll even start talking more like the book. For example, if the book uses a word like rather(ex: I feel rather uncomfortable)a lot, then I may start using just because I've heard it so much. As humans we are very impressionable which makes it hard to define yourself. I also agree with the part about truth telling and how it can be difficult because even if your life was hard and you accept that it's hard to let other people see your hardships and imperfects. It's also hard to own up to mistakes you may have made of things you said that you probably shouldn't have.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, especially with the part about truth telling and using your own voice. I know when I am reading a book I start to write with that style and, depending on how long the series is, I'll even start talking more like the book. For example, if the book uses a word like rather(ex: I feel rather uncomfortable)a lot, then I may start using just because I've heard it so much. As humans we are very impressionable which makes it hard to define yourself. I also agree with the part about truth telling and how it can be difficult because even if your life was hard and you accept that it's hard to let other people see your hardships and imperfects. It's also hard to own up to mistakes you may have made of things you said that you probably shouldn't have.
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ReplyDeleteYes! Writing from the heart about stuff that we care about can feel a little bit scary but doing so makes our writing feel honest. I also find that writing about the hard stuff makes writing easier. If I have strong feelings about something then I have plenty to say about it.
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