Pubspeaks

Memoir Writing

By Nicci Yang, WIW Membership and Program Manager

Award-winning feature, op-ed and ad writer Cathleen O’Connor Schoultz wrote and edited for 30 years before realizing what type of writer she wants to be. She made that decision several years ago, after attending a workshop at The George Washington University. The flyer was for the Jenny McKean Moore Community Workshop that is held twice a year in various genres; that year it was on memoir writing. At the workshop, Schoultz realized she is a memoirist at heart. Now working on her own memoir, Cafeteria Style, she shared her experience and expertise with WIW members and friends at a recent December 7 Pubspeak.

Why Write a Memoir?

All writers, at one time or another, ask themselves the question, “Why do I write?”

What we write may vary from facts and figures to stories and poems. As we write each piece, we draw from our experiences. Each of us has our own reasons for writing, but, at our core, we write because we’re drawn to it. The urge to write often propels us to search for stories, looking for intrigue everywhere other than within ourselves. Schoultz quoted author Betsy Lerner, writer of Forest for the Trees, an inspirational book for writers, “It never ceases to amaze me how many fail to see the hay that may be gold.” Instead of looking for material around you, Schoultz suggested that writers look within themselves. Write a memoir and see what you learn about yourself, your world and your craft.

Start With a Memory

Throughout her career, Schoultz has always been drawn to writing about feelings. However, feelings by themselves cannot create a memoir. “A memoir’s key element is memory,” said Schoultz. A memory and the feelings it reawakens are the beginning of memoir writing. Start with what you remember. Ask yourself what makes a particular moment memorable. From there, examine the world around you at that moment. What was happening in your life? What songs were you hearing on the radio? Make a list and print it out. What fads were in vogue? Visualize them. Find pictures if you can. Where were you going? Where were you before? Look for memorabilia. Always ask what draws you back to that memory. Probing questions like these will force you to look within yourself said Schoultz. Memoir writing is a journey into the self. Only self-examination can propel a memoir into motion.

Focus on the Lessons

Armed with your memory and your feelings, focus on the lessons. Write about what you’ve learned and how you’ve changed. “I wanted to write about hot dogs,” Schoultz proclaimed about her own memoir, Cafeteria Style, which is about her first job as a Hot Shoppes girl at Montgomery Mall in Maryland. The memory of a hot dog brought back a barrel of emotions because it represented a year of change for her. Her environment, a mall, was rich with details and her experiences of many firsts—the first time she had a job, the first time she was exposed to many different kinds of people. Take time to reflect on your memory and write about how you've been affected by past experiences. Reflections are raw material for the creation of a memoir. The goal is to show the moment of your own reawakening.

Play with the Structure

As you write a memoir, keep in mind that you're free to play with its structure. Unlike the confines of other genres, memoirs aren't restricted to stringent rules. For instance, autobiographies and biographies are committed to facts and figures starting from point A to point B. With memoirs “you do not have to hit all the right points,” said Schoultz. “Any structure can work for you.”

Her own memoir does not follow a narrative timeline. Each chapter is dedicated to different people, places and even some objects in Montgomery Mall. For example, Schoultz wrote an entire chapter on a hairnet. Don’t stray too far, though. “A memoir is not a work of fiction,” said Schoultz. “Everything must be authentic. Whether you’re writing about a hairnet or talking about a coworker, you must always return the story back to yourself, your feelings and who you were at that moment in time.

Find Your Voice.

Sometimes the most difficult thing about writing is finding one’s voice. Don’t let that stop you from memoir writing. To find your voice, you must “learn from the voices of others,” said Schoultz. She finds inspiration in books such as Art of the Personal Essay by Philip Lopate, Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion and Architect of Desire by Susannah Lessard. Be open to what a fellow writer can teach you. What do you learn from the words of others? How does it make you feel about yourself? Your voice is there somewhere. What you must do is distinguish it from the many voices waiting to be discovered.

Exercise! Exercise! Exercise!

Schoultz concluded the evening with a writing exercise. She asked everyone to write about a gift he or she received as a child and write about it through the eyes of a child. Pens and pencils scribbled away and soon the room was bursting with stories—stories about a child’s first gift, the absence of a gift, a gift from a daughter to her mother, a son’s first Christmas gift and so many more. Through this exercise, Schoultz showed that to keep the pen flowing, one must continue to delve into one’s self repeatedly for the stories that lie within. An exercise like this one could be the beginning of a great memoir.

For information about the 2005 Jenny McKean Moore Community Workshop, which focuses on fiction writing, e-mail info@washwriter.org.

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