Memoir Writing I: The Pitch

Welcome to MEMOIR WEEK!

I'm in the process of writing mine, and it terrifies me. The first day I started, I got about ten pages in, cried hysterically....then...closed my computer and stopped. At AWP, I met a woman writing her memoir about her mother's disappearance when she was 13. It turned out, that her father had murdered her mother, and until there was proof, she was forced to live with him.When she told me this, I stared for a second so I could regain composure. This was an unGodly difficult topic to discuss. I was torn between wanting to hug her, and asking if I could beta for her.

This is me and my sister, in real life. We found a fish head...
And decided to take it home. Weird? Yes. Make sense? No.

Memoir is a hard thing to get into. As I said in a panel question; real life sucks. It's messy, it's complicated, and it rarely makes sense. It's why we're so fascinated with it. Someone else said that Fiction is difficult to write because it has to make sense (inferring that real life does not make sense. Ever.)

The first thing you need to know about memoir, is that it's handle like fiction. That does not mean WRITE fiction and claim it as memoir. That means that:

*Your memoir must be written and polished. That's right; we no longer get to hide in the clouds of fiction. Our beta readers are going to see us at out lowest times in life, and they're going to still tell you that your writing is weak here, and that there is some sentence structure issues. But this time, it's your life they're going to be editing. Cringe now.
*You still send a QUERY letter. That means something like this,
My memoir, INSERT TITLE HERE, is about XXXX.
Or...
Read the backs of any other memoirs to get help with your query. What did you go through? How did it change and affect you? Why are you writing this?
*Oh, and it can't be like everything else out there. So:
Why is your memoir different?

Thus comes your PITCH.
These notes are from PNWA this last summer. Even still, I feel like they'll help. Even if you're a FICTION writer (which I am, also) :)

I was just so excited about the
bag of knowledge :)

1) Be precise about your book and where it fits into the market. "Fans of Sarah Dessen's Lock and Key may enjoy this memoir/novel." It shows that you know the market, and you know the audience you're aiming for.
2) Do NOT tell the story step by step. DO tell the SET UP, CONFLICT, and RESOLUTION.
3) Do NOT talk about your book at arms length. Immerse us in your book, make us feel for your character in that one pitch. Think about what pulls you into a novel, into a memoir. Now do the same with your pitch, pull us in.
4) Write in the voice of the narrative. So, if it's funny, be humorous. If it's sad, be a bit of a debbie downer.
5) Since you CAN'T include plot lines, choose ONE thread and make it sing. What is your novel about, ignore the sub plots, the jealous ex lovers. Who are we focused on; what happens to him/her?
6) What big concepts does your book address? Love, loss, hope?
7) End with concept in an active sentence.


Tomorrow's blog will talk about:
The Memoir First Aid Kit: Things You Need Handy When Writing Memoir