Memoir Writing Series #2
In the first step of this series, I talked about finding the theme of your story by identifying emotions illustrated in your writing and how they point to what is at stake for the main character, you.
This time we’re going to explore how to fine tune your theme to get at the universal truth your memoir illustrates. In other words, what does your story have to say specifically about your theme?
To do this, Marion Roach Smith, author of The Memoir Project, came up with something she calls an algorithm, X+Y=Z.
Your story is about your universal truth called X.
Illustrated by your specific experiences called Y.
To be told in your chosen format called Z.
I used this formula to find what Marion calls my universal truth claim, or what I learned from a specific period or aspect of my life. I then curated the scenes from my experience that most vividly illustrate that truth because as Marion says, each scene in your memoir is like a bead on an abacus that must add up to your claim about X.
This algorithm may sound stiff and formulaic, but it helped me nail the core of my story and apply the first rule of editing, if it doesn’t add to the understanding of your truth, leave it out. (Don’t throw it out, however, because it may be for another book you’ll write another day.)
In my case, both my books are about identity. But identity is a huge theme. What exactly did I learn about my identity through specific struggles? What universal truth did I want to share with my readers in each book? And what specific scenes from my life illustrate those truths most succinctly?
In my first book, Teacher Dropout: Finding Grace in an Unjust School, my truth claim, or my X, was that identity is not defined by what we do. Because who are we then if we fail? A failure? And who can live with that ID— as a student, teacher, or any other profession?
My Y for Teacher Dropout were the scenes that portrayed my progressive descent into self-doubt and a sense of defeat during my most challenging teaching assignment in an “under-performing school.” Followed by scenes that displayed my growing freedom from equating my identity with either achievement or failure.
My Z or format for Teacher Dropout was creative nonfiction because I chose to narrate it using multiple narrators, so readers could see the scenes from both my perspective and that of key students who were composites of my real-life pupils.
My second book, Unmoored: How an Adoptee Found Her True Identity was also about identity, but from a completely different angle, my adoption, focused on a different segment of my life. My truth claim, or my X, was that although my experience as an adoptee influenced my sense of identity, finding my biological parents wasn’t what healed my insecurities.
My Y were the scenes that showed my desperation for approval from childhood to young adulthood, and how that led to a marriage crisis that began a spiritual quest.
My Z or format was a true memoir written in first person because I wanted my readers to see what I saw, feel what I felt, and understand the emotional journey that led to discovering the freedom of living in the unconditional love of God.
It may seem like I’ve provided spoilers about both of my books, however, the power of any book is in the details that reveal the heart of the author. Details artfully arranged, so that souls can more deeply understand the universal truths of life, connect as fellow human beings, and find hope on a troubled earth.
I hope this will help you find the heart of our own story. Here’s the link to Marion Roach Smith’s book, The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standarized Text for Writing & Life that helped me so much, and if you want to see how I applied her principals, here are the links to Teacher Dropout, and Unmoored.
Above all remember your story matters because you matter, so don’t give up, keep writing!
Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. – Luke 12:7
