I am honored to have Jerry Waxler, author of the Memoir Revolution, as my guest today. He generously answers my many questions about the role of memoir in our lives today, and as a result I've divided our interview into two parts. Part 1 is here today. Part 2 will go live on September 15. Please come back then to continue enjoying our discussion. Jerry is passionate about life story writing and as a result has read hundreds of memoirs in researching his his book. Jerry Waxler knows about memoir.
Madeline: What does the Memoir
Revolution mean? Why is it important?
Jerry: The Memoir Revolution is my name
for the groundswell of interest in reading and writing life stories. I believe
that this is an important development for our culture, a renaissance that teaches
us how to use the ancient power of Story to interpret our own lives.
As the collective interest in
memoirs continues to grow, more and more of us are discovering the value of it
for ourselves. The Memoir Revolution helps us pull together our memories,
teaches us how to find stories within them, and use those stories to connect
with others.
Madeline: What is the difference
between memoir and fiction?
Jerry: That’s
a great question. Of course there’s the obvious difference that one is truth
and the other invented. In addition, there are some crucial stylistic
differences.
Fiction
is mainly in third person so when we read novels, we observe characters from
outside themselves. Memoirs take us inside the character’s point of view. That’s
a radical difference. Entering into the protagonist’s mind lets us feel what
it’s like to be someone else.
Madeline: What does memoir have in common
with fiction?
Jerry: They
both rely on the structure of Story. I first began to understand the power of
this structure about 20 years ago, when I heard about the mythologist Joseph
Campbell, According to him, humans have always used Story to make sense of
life. Campbell’s wave keeps rippling throughout the culture. Recently, a book
by Brian Boyd called “On the Origin of Stories” makes the case that
storytelling was an important aspect of human evolution.
So when
we read either novels or memoirs, we are enjoying an author’s attempt to turn
life into this fundamental shape. My passion for memoirs arises from the fact
that instead of learning the shape of an invented character’s life, we can
learn about our own and each other’s.
Madeline: What is your favorite
memoir and why?
Jerry: I have so many favorites. The
one I happen to be reading at any given time is almost always my favorite at
that moment, because I enjoy watching the story unfold. When I look back through
the list of ones I’ve read, many jump out on top, like a parent who is proud of
all the kids. I think of each one as my “favorite” within its own category.
John Robison’s memoir Look Me in the Eye is my favorite story
about growing up with Asperger’s. Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes is a favorite for its importance to help start the
Memoir Revolution. Haven Kimmel’s Girl
Named Zippy is a favorite for its portrayal of ordinary childhood. AM Homes
Mistress’s Daughter and Alice
Sebold’s Lucky tie for favorites for
incorporating journalistic research into the body of the narrative. Tracy
Seeley’s Ruby Slippers is a favorite
for incorporating personal essay into the body of the narrative. Kate
Braestrup’s Here If You Need Me is a
wonderful example of grief and the evolution of personal philosophy. Martha
Stettinius’ Inside the Dementia Epidemic
is a fabulous mother-daughter story, a wonderful caregiving story, and an
activist memoir, since the author uses the memoir as a way to help raise
compassionate awareness for caregivers for Alzheimer’s. Slash Coleman’s Bohemian Love Diaries is a fascinating
coming of age story about a young man who sees life as art. Boyd Lemon’s Digging Deep is a wonderful example of
looking back, and trying to make sense of the past. The list goes on and on. I explain my broad passion for these books and
categories in my book Memoir Revolution.
Madeline: Thanks for those great
recommendations. I now have a lot of reading to do. So, how is memoir evolving
even today?
Jerry: What
a great question. And a difficult one, because the answer depends on what corner
of the memoir world you are watching. Not every corner is evolving.
Academic
writing programs continue to deepen their students’ appreciation for the
literary aspects of memoir. The publishing industry is troubling. For a while
at the beginning of the trend, it looked like they were moving more and more
toward the well-written lives of ordinary people. Now, with the contraction of
bookstores and the advent of eBooks, they seem to be tending more than ever
toward predictable commercial success. This need for sure winners seems to trap
them in a search for celebrity and news.
I think the
real evolution is not in the genre but in the culture, as more and more of us are
interested in reading about other people’s lives and considering the
possibility of writing about our own.
I saw an
example of this shifting perspective when I was giving a talk about the Memoir
Revolution to a church group. A woman raised her hand and asked if the
expansion of the memoir movement meant it was alright for her to write the
story of how she was abused as a young girl. When I said, “Yes,” she started to
cry. She sobbed that she always assumed she would have to remain alone with her
secret. This was the first time in her life that it occurred to her that she
would ever be able to share it.
Madeline: Do you think memoir is
getting more attention by agents and traditional presses now? When I was
querying I was rejected many times because I wasn’t a celebrity. Is this still
the case?
Jerry: Keep in mind that in the
commercial publishing world, the publisher makes a huge financial commitment to
bring a book to market. To earn back their money, they need to sell a lot of
books. So when agents consider which books to represent, they must take into
account factors like whether or not you are famous, or whether your particular
issue is hot right now. It has become increasingly difficult for traditional
publishers to gamble on ordinary people, even when their stories are unique and
well told.
The good news for memoir writers is
that our options for self-publishing have sky-rocketed. However, these new
methods of publishing come with additional responsibilities. Finding readers
falls largely on our own shoulders, so in addition to learning the craft and
finishing books, we now must educate ourselves about book marketing.
To survive these times of rapid
change, I encourage memoir writers to stick together. Online writing
communities foster mutual support and learning, as well as an opportunity to
tout and read each other’s books.
Madeline: Thank you so much, Jerry. I look forward to continuing our conversation on September 15.
****
Memoir Revolution Synopsis
In Memoir
Revolution, Jerry Waxler shows how memoirs link us to the ancient,
pervasive system of thought called The Story. By translating our lives into
memoirs, we discover the meaning and purpose that eludes us when we view
ourselves only through the lens of memory. When we share these stories, we
create deep connection and mutual understanding.
The
author traces the emergence of the Memoir Revolution through his own journey
from rebellion and chaos in the 60s; from mysticism to computers in the 70s;
and from receiving talk therapy to providing it in the 80s and 90s. Through
extensive commentary on over 100 memoirs, self-help and fictional works, Waxler
draws you into the power of this literary movement, where you can find a voice
for your own life experience.
Jerry's bio
Jerry
Waxler shares his passion for life story writing on the blog Memory WritersNetwork which contains 100s of essays, interviews and book reviews. His two
books, Learn to Write a Memoir and Four Elements for
Writers are available from jerrywaxler.com. He teaches nonfiction
writing at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is on the
board of directors of the Philadelphia Writers Conference, and is an advisor to
the National Association of Memoir writers. He has a B.A. in Physics and M.S.
in Counseling Psychology.
Links
Buy
Four Elements for Writers
http://www.jerrywaxler.com/four_elements.html
Buy
Memoir Revolution
http://amzn.to/10W8kkb
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