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Health & Fitness

How To Make Your Memoir Read Like a Movie

Kathleen Pooler, memoir blogger, asks Sonia Marsh how she made her memoir, "Freeways to Flip-Flops" read like a movie.

 

When Kathleen Pooler, author of the "Memoir Writers Journey," blog, invited me to do an interview as part of my virtual blog tour, I was thrilled. I suggested we take it one step further. Why not do a Google + Hangout interview and make it more exciting? Kathy agreed.

Kathy's blog is based on helping authors who wish to write their memoir. She asked me some thought-provoking questions about the writing process, and I would like to share some of my answers with you.

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Below, you will find some of the questions KP (Kathy Pooler) asked me, and my answers SM (Sonia Marsh.) You will find more questions on her blog as well as an excerpt from "Freeways to Flip-Flops" where I explain how to make your memoir more visual, and read like a movie.

To watch our interview, please head over to Kathy Pooler's blog.

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KP:  How did you find your story?

SM:   My story came from my journal. At first I thought I had a story, but it wasn’t until I hired my first editor, that I realized I had a half- story, half- journal, and that it would take a lot more work than I had initially thought. I was naïve and soon realized that I needed feed-back from critique groups. I attended those at various stages of my writing and after a year or so, decided to quit the critique groups and hire a professional story structure editor. The critique groups confused me, as I felt I was being led in the wrong direction. I needed an “expert” who could help me understand where my story should start, and what critical parts are required in memoir. I even had a critical chapter that was missing:  the “Family Meeting” as well as certain scenes that needed to be there, and others that I could cut out.

 

KP :  Your memoir is a great example of “showing , not telling”. As I said in my book review, I felt like I was watching a movie I was in when I read it. The story seemed to unfold scene by scene with reflective narrative woven in. How did you make that happen?

SM:  It wasn’t until I started a journal in 2003, six months prior to our move to Belize, Central America, that I realized I could turn it into a travel memoir. My friends kept asking me to send them e-mail updates about our life in Belize, and wanted to know how our three sons were adapting to their new simple life.

At the beginning, editors and critique groups reminded me to “show not tell” however, I didn’t really understand what they meant. I found it so difficult in the beginning. One useful tip was to read novels lie Nicholas Sparks, and other memoir writers like Augusten Burroughs, and I remember copying sentences from their books into a small notebook. I was envious of how they could write scenes and make me feel like I was in a movie. This exercise helped me think about becoming more “visual” in my writing.

 

KP :  I have heard you say that journaling helped you to write your memoir. Can you explain how you made this work for you?

SM:   What I discovered about keeping a journal is that it forces you to write things down as they happen. This is the best time to write, when your emotions are fresh and come through as honest and authentic. You can write down all the details of your surroundings: the smells, the colors, the landscapes, and let’s not forget the conversations. If your goal is to write a memoir, sometimes described as “a slice of your life,” it’s important to keep vivid details and stay true to life.

If I had to rely on my memory to write about our year in Belize, I could never have captured every detail of what happened to my 13-year-old son, Alec, when he touched a poisonwood tree. Thanks to my daily journal, I had all I needed to bring it back to life.

 

KP :  What advice would you give aspiring memoir writers based upon your experience of writing Freeway to Flip-Flops?

SM:     Write what you know- in your own voice- be authentic:   At first I was criticized for not having my “own” voice. I got so mad I       decided to write the way I speak:

 

  • Entertain your reader:   As writers, we always have to think of our audience, especially in today’s society with short attention spans.
  • Put the juiciest scenes in the first chapter- hook the reader action, even pose  a question right in the beginning so the reader will have a sense of what the story is about:   As writers, we want to save the best for later, when in fact it’s important to put it on the first page. That took me a while to understand. But it makes perfect sense. No one has the patience to read 30 pages for something juicy. I don’t so why should my reader. Posing a question like I did on the first page, it’s actually my inner thoughts at the time, makes the reader instantly know where the story is heading and makes them want to find out why indeed, I chose to uproot my kids to a dangerous situation.At first I had a prologue, but I decided to start with a dramatic scene right in the  action in Belize, the best decision I made. That way it does feel like you’re watching a movie. The prologue has now become my epilogue
  • Maintain a journal to capture the feelings of the moment more accurately:   Sometimes it may seem like it’s a burden to keep a journal, but if you only write one page a day, by the end of one year, you’ll have 365 pages which is enough material for one book. In my case, I was able to write 690 pages in my journal over a period of 18 months.My problem wasn’t writing the journal, but how to transform it into the structure of a memoir. After almost seven years of taking classes, attending conferences, working with editors, blogging, volunteering at writers’ groups and libraries, networking and so much more, I can say that keeping a detailed journal finally paid off.

 

 Sonia Marsh Bio:

Sonia Marsh is a “Gutsy” woman who can pack her carry-on and move to another country in one day. She’s a motivational speaker who inspires her audiences to get out of their comfort zone and take a risk. She says everyone has a “My Gutsy Story”; some just need a little help to uncover theirs. Her story, told in her travel memoir Freeways to Flip-Flops: A Family’s Year of Gutsy Living on a Tropical Island, is about chucking it all and uprooting her family to reconnect on an island in Belize.

Sonia has lived in many countries – Denmark, Nigeria, France, England, the U.S. and Belize – Sonia Marsh considers herself a citizen of the world. She holds a degree in environmental science from the University of East Anglia, U.K., and now lives in Southern California with her husband, Duke.

Sonia welcomes new friends, bloggers, writers and readers at Soniamarsh.com (http://soniamarsh.com) Contact her at: sonia@soniamarsh.com www.facebook.com/GutsyLiving or Twitter.com@GutsyLiving

Sonia Marsh is on her virtual blog tour this month.

You can check out her interviews here.

I invite you to leave your questions or comments on Kathy's blog.

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