I is for I
Igloo, innocence, Ichabod Crane were some of the ‘I’s that
were thrown at me when I told people I was writing this piece. Although some of
these ideas were appealing, I’ve decided to write about a thoroughly different
‘I’, the personal pronoun ‘I’, as in “me, myself and…” Cue to start singing in
a silly voice.
I (can’t get away from it now) have just started writing
what I hope will turn into an autobiographical novel. You might think that
autobiography would be simple; you don’t have that pesky business of inventing
characters, plot lines or places. Why not just splurge it all down on the page?
You could even do it in chronological order - what could be easier? It even
fits with the old adage of “write what you know.”
I’m actually finding that it’s very difficult to know where
to start. I want to draw people in straight away, so I need to begin with some
of the big, important stuff. But then it’s important to move quickly into
telling the story in a linear fashion, to avoid confusing the reader. I want
other people to be interested in my story, so I’ve come up with a unifying
theme, or hook, that might appeal to a certain group. I then need to
incorporate this into the chronological telling of the events, so that the
overarching purpose of the novel becomes clear. More complicated than you
thought, right?
The experts advise creating an outline structure and I’ve
even been told that drawing the shape of your novel can be useful. When I tried
this, it did turn out to be an effective tool for exploring where the most
emotionally intense points in the tale were located. Through using this
technique, I’ve broken up the story into segments, and I’ve been able to get
the most juice out of the turning points I’ve identified. It’s also important
to be aware of the time spans involved, and to locate the reader in a
particular period. I’m taking significant episodes and writing about these in
detail, explaining how long these took to unfold. Figuring all this out helps
to keep things organised, so that the foggy haze of my memories doesn’t engulf
the project entirely.
The experts also say that autobiography should be honest,
and that you should be yourself while writing it. This sounds so obvious, but
yet pinning down my own voice in a consistent way has proved to be harder than
writing as a character I’ve invented. I find that my voice changes depending on
who I’ve been talking to or what book I’m reading. It’s hard not to be
influenced by external factors, and these are bound to come out in the writing.
The challenge comes in discerning whether something sounds authentically like
me, because of course it all does - I’m a multi-faceted being after all! But
this could become unsettling for the reader, so I’m finding that I almost need
to create a character for myself, to decide what kind of person I am in this
book, and stick to that like superglue. This has helped me to find my voice and
to explain myself more simply.
There might be a tiny shred of possibility that I am finding
my autobiographical novel particularly tricky because I have the worst memory
of anyone I know, and that includes my grandma who has dementia. I was hoping
when I started that one memory would spark another, which would spark another
and my story would grow, smoothly and seamlessly. This dream scenario was not
to be; instead I am spending my time alternately cursing myself for not keeping
a diary, and scouring facebook hoping that old photos will jog my sluggish
reminiscence factory into action. My top recommendation, for anyone who is
thinking of writing about their own experience is KEEP A DIARY! Just do it.
It’s good writing practice, and you never know, it may even be discovered and
published posthumously. Look at Samuel Pepys and Anne Frank. We shall be
published authors, even if we have to die first!
Finally, I have to figure out an ending for my
autobiography. There is a natural closing point, created by the end of a
particular episode in my life. This is useful, because otherwise my death might
seem like the only logical way to finish, and I don’t want to still be writing
this on my death bed! I don’t particularly want to end by moralising and
discussing the lessons that I learnt, nor do I want to talk about what the
future has in store for me. I think I will try to go out with a BANG!
Liz Barnes
You've got a big conundrum for that ending. I, too, have a rubbish memory and I'm constantly checking facts to see if what I think I remember is really accurate. Nice job you've given yourself. Since becoming a blogger, and appearing on other blogs, I've found that loads of anecdotal personal 'I' memories have ended up in the cyber sphere, jogged on by comments on the blogs.
ReplyDeleteI've just read the Diary of Anne Frank and it was incredibly moving and powerful. It's interesting to wonder who is writing a diary right now that will one day become a key piece of literature?
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