A Perceived Truth
Memoir: In my words: a true slice of someone’s private life that carried profound meaning, created a change in perspective, and carries a universal meaning for others. Memoir is the author’s journey of a time or situation that is resolved in some fashion, at least by the end of the book. Along the way, the reader should be pulled into the author’s dilemma, created by a narrative arc. The ending should be satisfying. To achieve this, at least some of the characters must have flaws, and not only the main character (narrator), the writer herself. Because truth as it is perceived is rarely benign; it usually comes with a double-edge.
The genre has taken a hit throughout the years; even Montaigne had to submit to comments about self-indulgence, I’m sure. Perhaps even more so, considering the century. Today, the average populace has for years been saturated with reality shows, selfies, FB confessions, You Tube enticements, and so forth. There appears to be a never-ending interest in how others live their lives, whether real or fabricated, with a never-ending supply of those ready to share. Share their version of perceived truth.
I think of a photograph, a blink of a moment in time. What happened before and after is lost to us. Even the depiction is nebulous, a great shot with the proper lighting can make a plain scene seem extraordinary, a plain woman beautiful. We may say a photo is “artistic.”
Artistic. According to Merriam Webster: showing imaginative skill in arrangement or execution. Let’s apply this to writing. We have the word imaginative in there and memoir is based solely on truth, isn’t it? Well, yes, but good writing also takes skill, which our creativity/imagination provides. And leads me to the question on my mind today.
If I were to be one of the main characters in a memoir someone else had written, how would I evaluate the depiction? How much or how little should be said about me—the way I look, what I say, how I react—that would leave me comfortable with the way the reader will now perceive me? Or even how the narrator perceives me? How do I determine the accuracy of someone else’s opinions of me? Because, in the end, that is what I would boil down to: the image, opinions, and judgement that the author had of me at the time the story takes place. What if the author began with my shortcomings, in action or in background, that I would not want the general public to know about, even if these changed over time, showing redemption? Or perhaps not?
Since I finished my book, I have been plagued with doubt. Not over the story-line, the arc or the outcome. Rather, doubt over my brash feeling of entitlement– of writing about my characters the way I perceived them and the events that happened. Although everyone (except possibly myself) came out well in the end, the story carries events, or descriptions, that will not be pleasing to those involved. But even if everyone had been depicted as stellar human beings, I tend to think that the fact they are depicted at all may cause a sense of discomfort. Although everyone I spoke to was aware that I was writing a book, and the stories they relayed may be included, there is still the sense of shock of reading about themselves. Add in a description or a scene that is less than complimentary and …well.
To write the story with creative artistry (I hope!) I had to use imaginative skill. It is, after all, a story. And everyone has one, don’t they? Little did I know where the journey would take me when I first began. I do know where it ended. I can only hope that my beloved family perceives the story as the one I intended, a legacy of love.
Thanks for sharing my angst😊.
