When you are writing a memoir, blog, or other autobiographical material, treat it like a work of fiction inasmuch as the prose matters. Don’t equate basic honesty with detailed accuracy. While the former is admirable and even desirable, the latter could cause you to lose your readers.
Consider, for example, that you wish to relate the story of a pet pig that follows his human companion around the house, calling her Maa-maa. Does the reader really need to know that this vocal little pig belongs to your uncle’s ex-wife’s sister-in-law’s niece Rhonda, a person you met briefly only once and who will never again be mentioned in your memoir? Probably not. So why bore your readers by beginning your charming little story with “My uncle’s ex-wife’s sister-in-law’s niece Rhonda once had a little pig…”?
Since the point of the story is the unusual behavior of this pig, that is what you need to be honest about. Your relationship to the human involved is of no real significance, so here you may take literary license for the sake of brevity, smoother prose, and preservation of the reader’s sanity. Simply begin your story with “A friend of mine once had a little pig….”
Was Rhonda truly your friend? Since you only met her once, and briefly at that, probably not. Does it really matter? In relation to the telling of this story, not a bit.
Likewise, if you have always used the parking brake when parking your car on a hill except for one time when you forgot, must you include that snippet of factual information when making the point that you “always” use your parking brake in such situations? Only if your story involves the one time that you forgot and what comic or tragic occurrences resulted from that momentary lapse of memory. Otherwise, it is of no importance.
There is no need to clutter your prose with unnecessary details of events merely for the sake of “honesty” in autobiographical works. My high school chemistry teacher told the class that if we ever saw the words always or never on a true/false question on a chemistry test, just mark it “false” because there is no such thing as “always” or “never” when it comes to chemistry.
Your readers probably never knew my chemistry teacher and your memoir is most likely not about chemistry, but I think it is reasonable to assume that our readers realize that “always” and “never” statements are common exaggerations that fall under the umbrella of normal storytelling techniques and therefore should be considered acceptable even if they do skirt the truth just a bit.
Is the moon just a big gray rock in the sky orbiting our planet? Basically, yes. Is that what you think about when you look up at night and see a luminous, creamy-looking orb shining forth from a dark, velvety sky sprinkled with tiny sparkling lights? I hope not!
Sure, we read for facts and insights, but we also read for pleasure and entertainment. Try not to let strict adherence to the former spoil the latter for your readers. Go for the most direct route to the heart of your story — and whenever possible, go for the romance.
© 2024 Ann Henry, all rights reserved.
Photo: Go for the Romance © 2011 Jim Henry, all rights reserved.