There is nothing quite like capturing and writing another’s story. It is a little more complicated than writing your own story, but I think it is much more rewarding.
In a way, writing the story of another is easier than writing fiction. You don’t have to create a plot. You don’t have to create characters. You don’t have to create scenes. But of course you do have to elicit and capture someone else’s rendering of these. And then, as with all writing, you have to produce a clear, cogent and compelling written work. So if that is the part of writing you like – the writing part – maybe you should consider giving this genre a try. After all, when you produce another’s story in text, you become the story teller. Hooking and holding the reader is totally up to you. It’s your writing craft alone that will carry the day. That’s the main challenge in writing, and if you are like me, that’s whey you write in the first place.
Writing memoirs of others has several other benefits as well. First, you will definitely gain what almost every writer wants: a reading audience. Apart from your writing partner herself, these are those who have know that person and who are interested in learning more. Friends. Family. Think about it. Wouldn’t you eagerly read the stories of people in you own life, if you they existed? Curiosity about others in our lives is really a bottomless well. Why are they like that? How did they get through that? Why did they do that? We’re all voyeurs about family and friends, and our questions go on and on and on. And for someone whose memoir you write, you give that sought after window into another’s life, so you will definitely have people eager to read what you’ve written. You’ll get a sure and certain audience.
Then, too, you’re going to gain a lot of insight. No one doubts that we’re all different, but I believe you will marvel at just how different our live could be – have been. You’re going to appreciate a lot of approaches to life’s living that you have not yourself considered, if your experiences are like mine. You’re going to learn new ways of being as experienced by real people, not pontifications in some self-help book. You’ll soon see that discovery in others can lead to discovery within yourself in a way not easily predictable. Writing for and about others is as much a journey of self discovery as of discovery of others.
If’ you’ve a mind to give it a try, you can find some help in the Writing Resources section of this site. And you can join this discussion blog, too. All questions, concerns, and opinions are welcome. Let’s build a community here.
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