And Your Point Is…?
Lately, there seems to be some kind of obsession with telling one’s life story. Perhaps as we age, we come to feel that civilization is losing the values with which we were raised, and we want to pass those values on to a younger generation before it’s too late. Or maybe we’re just self-indulgent, and we love to talk about ourselves. I really don’t know. But if the plethora of memoir-writing classes at our local community colleges and arts centers is any indication, talking about ourselves is a hot commodity. Naturally, since I’m a freelance editor, many of these memoirs wind up in my lap. Some are deadly dull; most are at least interesting; many are really good. But just as novels have a point – a theme – the book of your life needs one too, and a lot of the memoirs I see seem to have missed that concept. Maybe your theme is “Even though I never graduated from eighth grade, I produced five college graduates – and here’s how.” If so, you don’t need to give me five pages about your Uncle Henry’s battle with gout. Maybe your theme is “Never say no to adventure.” That’s great – but then don’t spend half a chapter telling me about your grandmother’s home cooking.
It may be hard for you to pinpoint the theme of your own life. Sometimes your loved ones may have more insight into that than you do. More than once, I’ve been the one to tell my editing clients what the point of their life story seemed to be, because they honestly didn’t know. But once you figure out what it is, prune out the anecdotes that do not support that story at all. You don’t have to tell your readers every little memory you have. Carefully select the ones that most truly illustrate your theme, and let the rest go.
Comments? Questions? Feedback?