After my memoir students read their work, they sometimes say "true story!"
I say, "tell me your truth, but shape it in a way that takes us from the doldrums and startles us into a new grasp of our strange and remarkable lives."
In other words, turn real life into art. The author must establish right away a reason for the reader to be attentive at all. Structure your experience; be concrete and vivid. Fill your work with sensory details, metaphors and lively rhythm. Then the reader will feel the personal story along with you. By experiencing it, the reader begins to care about it, because your experience has now become his/her own.
Observe your life from every angle, then fashion what you see through a voice that is yours alone. You should be active, authentic and consistent.
catherine@catherinealexander.net
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