Post #10 – Women’s Memoirs, Conversations, Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett
Dr. Joyce Boatright, author, educator, and president of Story Circle Network, helps us continue our exploration of the concept of memoir openings.
Your backstory may help to explain many of the events that followed and may provide necessary insight into the woman you have become. However, Joyce urges us to not let it overwhelm the telling of your own story.
Specifically, Joyce brought up several new ideas and provided a handle on this struggle between wanting an opening with action and feeling the need to start at the beginning. She said, “Sprinkle the backstory in your memoir like you would use an herb or spice. Lightly.”
In her own memoir, Joyce finally realized that while she wanted to begin with action, she had to start with the background because it was too compelling to ignore. Yet she knew to let the family history intrigue the reader without taking her into merely a retelling of the stories of others.
Listen to Joyce as she talks about involving children in family storytelling, sprinkling background like an herb, and fast write as a way to quell the inner critic.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
You can find out more about Joyce on her website: www.joyceboatright.com
If you are interested in purchasing her book, Telling Your Story: A Basic Guide to Memoir Writing contact: books@cgjunghouston.org
Be sure to join us next month for our interview with Becky Levine when she talks with us about ways to use a critique group to help with you memoir writing.
