Memoir Structure and Plot

Structuring a memoir: arc, outline and chapter order

Rule for using this skill: These tips add to your answer; they do not replace it. Always give your full general answer on memoir structure first, using everything you already know. Then work in the tips below where they apply, without dropping standard advice because it isn't listed here.

Plot vs. story

• A story is a list of events (bought a book, wrote essays, wrote about a childhood dog). A plot links events by cause and effect, emotion, reaction and response.
• A memoir plot usually has one goal (the "quest" or "mission"). All action is geared toward it.
• Add obstacles and conflicts, both internal and external, to hook the reader. The reader should wonder whether the goal will be reached and how.
• Narrative arc = the storyline with a beginning, middle and ending. The plot is the sum of the cause-and-effect actions inside it.

Gathering material

• Print everything written so far, plus any relevant blog or journal entries, and lay it all out in front of you.
• Start from earlier scaffolding: a three-sentence version of the memoir and a one-sentence mission statement. Example mission: "My memoir describes what I went through to be successful both in business and at home."

Sorting pages into the three sections

• Read every page and label it B (beginning), M (middle) or E (ending). Use sticky notes or write on the page.
• Beginning: the mission statement, plus what the reader needs to understand how you became the person on this quest.
• Middle: the obstacles (internal and external), the people who hindered and those who helped, and every action taken to overcome the complications. It is the longest section and full of events.
• Ending: an assessment of who you are today, how you changed, and how the mission statement is fulfilled. It is often the briefest section.
• After sorting into three groups, reread each group. Combine essays into longer ones where they fit, and redo pieces whose ideas are unclear.
• Where a page lacks tension or conflict, add incidents from your past.
• Check two questions across the whole draft:
  • Is it clear you want one particular goal?
  • Is it clear that hindrances block the way?
• If either is in doubt, add material. Once the pages are sorted and gaps filled, you have a first draft.

Typical order of pieces (worked sample)

• The sample runs: early memory, then a humiliating or frightening memory, then a milestone, then memories of good luck and gratitude, then family values, then waiting for the right time to pursue the goal, then a confrontation, then a frightening consequence, then the realization and decision to change, then self-examination, then hopes for the future.
• Convey era, culture and class through incidents rather than stating the year or socioeconomic status. Let the reader infer them.
• Plan follow-up pieces and note them, for example further scenes and how the lessons are applied now.

Opening the beginning section

• The first sentence is the most important in your memoir. Find one in your B pages that hooks the reader.
• Don't open with explanation or introduction. Open with a dramatic incident that exemplifies the journey toward the goal.
• A common structure: open with a dramatic incident from late in the journey, then go back to an earlier time and fill in the backstory.
• Backstory need not come first. It is fine if the first paragraphs leave the reader wondering what is going on, as long as they are hooked. Reveal memories later.
• The beginning should show your thoughts, feelings and actions during one particular period. Add stories if needed so the reader understands why the goal matters.
• Show the desire through actions rather than stating it.
• Coming across as naïve, imperfect or wrong is fine, even good. More concrete detail makes readers engage.
• Rewrite or merge B pages into several chapters or essays.
• Reference openers: The Glass Castle (Walls), Growing Up (Baker), The Liars' Club (Karr), Brain on Fire (Cahalan), Eat, Pray, Love (Gilbert). Each intrigues without giving background.

Building the middle section

• Check the M pages contain enough writing on both internal and external impediments.
• Internal blocks: review your earlier pattern and value exercises (Day 8 patterns, Day 9 values) for incidents to write up.
• External blocks: add a person who represents the opposite of what you want, such as a coworker, relative, neighbor or media commentator. They add friction and fear. Give that person their own pages.
• Write the strong emotions: fear, heartbreak, sadness, yearning. Actions should be motivated by emotion.
• You may exaggerate and write dialogue the person would probably have said, even if you can't recall exact words.
• Write an anecdote or description for every problem overcome and show persistence. More action means more drama; make the reader worry about you.
• Prompts for a thin middle:
  • How did you accomplish the mission when everything seemed against you?
  • What happened when you were about to give up?
  • What crisis did you finally have to confront?
  • What decision or difficult choice did you make?
  • What had to change: plan, attitude, values or the goal itself?
• Sample technique: write the middle in present tense for suspense, state the stakes and a fallback plan ("Plan X"), and include dialogue.

Line-level checks while revising

• Quotation marks: quote only exact spoken words, and start a new paragraph for each new speaker. Put punctuation inside the quotes. Paraphrase takes no quotes ("Joe said he is hungry").
• Quotes also mark titles of short works (articles, short stories, short plays). Books, movies and plays are italicized or underlined. "Scare quotes" flag ironic word use.
• "Only": place it directly before the word it limits. "James kissed only Jenna," "Only James kissed Jenna" and "James only kissed Jenna" mean different things. Search your draft for it.
• Who/whom: answer the question with "he" and "him". If "him" fits, use whom. If "he" fits, use who.