Post #227 – Memoir Writing Tiny Tip – Matilda Butler
Tiny Tips Just for You
This is the second in a new (irregular) series of short blog posts designed to get you to focus on just one small point. I call them Tiny Tips.
Scroll to the bottom if you are interested in how this series got started.
Case in point:
In interviews, song writer Sia Furler says that her wildly popular lyrics are “written from the perspective of an artist” who Time Magazines notes “likely wasn’t even in the room when she came up with them.” The Time article continues “Sia became a rare one-woman hit maker” writing songs for Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Adele, and others. “Sia is a talented imitator, incorporating other singers’ vocal styles into her writing…”
Here is your Tiny Tip based on an inspiration from the Time Magazine article.
Memoir Writers’ Tiny Tip #2
Memoir writers incorporate dialogue to help bring their characters to life, to share a person they know well with their readers, to capture another person’s voice. The problem is that a lot of dialogue sounds just like the author rather than the person who is speaking.
Next time you are writing dialogue think about Sia Furler. She writes lyrics that most people think were written by the singer Beyoncé, Rihanna, Britney, etc. Sia does this by examining their styles.
You too can become a “talented imitator.” That’s the best way to share the person speaking in your memoir. Listen to that voice, the style, the vocabulary if that person is still alive. If not, recall moments spent with that person and hear a conversation in your head. Really listen for the style, the cadence, the tone. Need help? Talk with family members who often heard that voice. You’ll find that you can re-create it in the dialogue you incorporate into your memoir.
And that’s what you need to do.
How This Tiny Tip Series Started
The idea for a series of short writing tips came to me while reading the program notes for a chamber music concert. I realized that many (well, ok, most) of my blog articles get to be long and often require you to do certain things — like write from prompts I’ve provided. And while I will continue with this type of longer article because I think they are of real value, I realized that sometimes as writers we just want a little bit of information or a small new idea or a thought stated differently. We don’t have a lot of time.
That’s the concept behind each Tiny Tip. Just a nugget to give you something to think about as you go through your busy day.
Enjoy.
