Post #117 – Memoir Writing – Matilda Butler
Women’s Memoirs: I’m especially pleased to have Viga Boland join me today. Viga is the editor and publisher of Memoirabilia, a new magazine designed for memoir writers. Viga is also the award-winning author of two memoirs — No Tears for My Father (available in print and multiple digital formats) and Learning to Love Myself.
Congratulations Viga on all that you have done. Your memoirs have helped many of your readers. And I’m so delighted that you are also reaching out to those who want to tell their own life stories with a different kind of publication. I’ve now devoured your first issue of Memoirabilia, and found it delicious. In your magazine for memoir writers, each article has something new and important for readers to consider. If I weren’t a vegan, I’d say there is a lot of meat between the covers.
I hope that someday we can talk about your memoirs — about the situation that led you to write your story — about the process of working through your story on paper. And although I’d love to ask you about your memoirs, today I’m hoping you will share with our readers both the why and the how of creating your new magazine. In other words, what was the journey like to move from being a memoir author to becoming a memoir magazine editor and publisher?
Viga Boland: Matilda, thanks for inviting me to talk with your readers. My journey, or transition, from memoir writer to editor/publisher just seemed a very natural fit for me once I began facilitating memoir writing workshops in my own area. As word got around, both about my two memoirs and about the workshops, more and more people who couldn’t attend (because they don’t live nearby) began writing to me and asking for advice on how to write their memoirs. I decided that rather than write a book on the subject, already well covered by books like Writing Alchemy
Women’s Memoirs: You make it all sound so simple. Yet, major undertakings never are — like writing a memoir or publishing a new magazine. I wonder what you think are the greatest challenges that await memoir writers. And in a related question, I’d like to know how you envision your magazine helping memoirists meet those challenges?
Viga Boland: From facilitating workshops, I’m seeing the greatest challenge facing those who want to write memoirs is writing a memoir of interest to a broader audience than just friends and family. If they are writing memoir to leave a bit of themselves for the family, great. But if they really want to see themselves published, doing book talks, having book signings and selling lots of copies on Amazon, they need to realize how much marketing it will take. Well, marketing and money is what it takes to reach a broad audience. This is true if they are traditionally published or self published.
Obviously, the memoir will need to be of interest to more than just family and friends. And they need to know and understand that writing memoir is not simply a long narrative about events in our lives. A memoir needs to be written in such a way that readers pick it up and don’t want to put it down.
Memoirists need to keep in mind what makes any story great reading: good character development, showing not telling, using dialogue and not just non-stop narrative, creating tension, building to a climax, and giving the reader a satisfying ending. In short, a riveting memoir has all the appeal of great fiction with the bonus of being true life. And truth is stranger, often better, than fiction, if it’s written well.
I will touch on many of these aspects of memoir writing in Memoirabilia because deciding to write your memoir is a long way from writing an interesting memoir.
Women’s Memoirs: Viga, I love the way that you both sympathize with all that a memoir writer needs to do while also challenging the writer to live up to his or her potential. And speaking of challenges, what has been your greatest challenge in creating the magazine?
Viga Boland: Now that’s a loaded question LOL! Initially, I found organizing the magazine and laying it out was very time-consuming. I use software offered by Blurb.com and it’s excellent, but the editing is very hard on my eyes and when you’re putting together a magazine designed to help and instruct others, you better make sure you don’t have any typos or bad grammar either! Other writers and editors will be reading this magazine and not just readers who’ll forgive an author for the odd mistake.
A second challenge has been in the area of submissions by writers. Everyone wants to see their submission in Memoirabilia but not every piece is good enough to be included. I know what rejection feels like and I hate rejecting.
And the third and single biggest challenge has been the cost of the printed version of Memoirabilia. Setting aside my time, the digital version is inexpensive to produce. But the printed version, which is very high quality (i.e. not cheap pulp), costs me so much that I end up selling it to readers for what it costs me. So for people who purchase the print version, I receive no pay … a non-profit labour of love.
Women’s Memoirs: It was a great privilege to write an editorial for your premier issue of Memoirabilia. I hope you’ll let me contribute an editorial when you celebrate your first decade of the magazine. I imagine that some WomensMemoirs readers may hope to have a memoir vignette published in your magazine. Are there submission guidelines?
Viga Boland: Matilda, I was honored and delighted when you agreed to be my first guest editor and I hope to have you back again and again. After all, at 69, I may not have a decade of Memoirabilia left in me LOL.
As for submissions from readers of Womens Memoirs, I welcome them eagerly. Submission guidelines for “Your Life Tales, Your Way” segment are simple: pieces should be 750 words or less, but if the piece is truly excellent, I’ll find a way to include a longer story. Submissions to “Slices of Life” are 100 word snippets. In both cases, pieces need to be spell-checked and gramatically close to perfect. I don’t have time to edit submissions BUT, if necessary, will touch up a piece that is too brilliant to exclude. I hope to have a “special edition” in the fall, which will be all submissions, no articles. Submissions are welcomed anytime. Just send them on, with your name, email address, and website if applicable, to editor@memoirabilia.ca Watch the spelling of “memoirabilia” or it may get lost in cyberspace.
Women’s Memoirs: And now for practical matters. I understand that you have a preview mode of Memoirabilia. That seems like a great way for our readers to get a hint of what you are doing. How can our readers get a peek at your first issue?
Viga Boland: Readers can get a peek at both issues #1 and #2 by clicking HERE. Just click on the “preview” to enlarge it to full screen.
Issue #1 contains articles on obstacles to memoir writing, one of the biggest being your own ‘inner critic’ and what you should do about that. Issue #2 looks at “memoir as therapy…is it or isn’t it”…along with using dialogue and promoting your memoir by blogging. Both issues contain submissions and reviews of some great memoirs and books on memoir writing.
Women’s Memoirs: Viga, I want to thank you for sharing information about your new publication. You’ve accumulated a lot of experience both with writing and publishing two memoirs and now with editing and publishing a magazine. Based on what you have learned to date, what advice would you offer memoir writers if you could only mention one point?
Viga Boland:The pleasure’s all mine Matilda and I thank you for the opportunity to discuss Memoirabilia.
If I could mention only one bit of advice on writing memoir, it would be:
If you want to write memoir, read memoirs and then write with your heart.
Women’s Memoirs:
CLICK HERE to Order: Memoirabilia.
CLICK HERE to Order: No Tears for My Father
CLICK HERE to Order: Learning to Love Myself
