YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY
When I began writing memoir, I was surprised to find how much these true stories needed to read like novels or short stories told in the first person. Just like fiction, there need to be scenes with action and dialogue. Settings have to be vividly rendered with concrete, physical details. There also has to be a clear storyline with an inciting action, rising conflict and a satisfying conclusion, complete with some meaningful change occurring within the protagonist.
What there cannot be, however, are villains. There are no villains in memoir.
To be clear, memoirs, like life, are often filled with characters doing villainous things. There are cheating spouses, alcoholic parents, schoolyard bullies and predatory priests. I worked with a client whose father murdered her mother, and another who escaped the thrall of a religious cult. The world is filled with people doing awful things to other people, and the ones who survive those awful things often want to tell their stories. Sometimes they must tell their stories just to make sense of their lives. Most of the stories we read or watch in books and movies have had villains. Surely our stories can as well.
Yet ours Why did the killer kill? What was their motivation?
