Structure in Memoir

How to Reveal the Universal Story Inside the Personal Memoir
Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018
10 am -1 pm
San Diego Writers, Ink
More info & Registration

Memoir, like any story, needs a structure upon which to build and from which to expand. It needs a construction with its own logic that holds the story together. Memoir isn’t autobiography. Memoir is a “slice of life” that has a beginning, middle and ending, but these aren’t birth and death and everything that happened in-between. In this workshop, we’ll look at some of the many ways a writer can structure her memoir—linear, framed, single-focus issue, collage, braided, circular, plus a few other surprising scaffolds. We’ll explore examples of the various structures and discuss why they work and how a writer can determine the most effective structure for the story that wants to be told.