AboutSusan Rand Expertise I can answer questions about the elements of fiction and non-fiction writing: how to get started, writing techniques, re-writing, etc. I will NOT write for you, do critiques except from my website at http://pygmypress.com, or give you ideas. I will not answer home-or-schoolwork questions in any category. If English is your second language, please say so, and I will make an exception. Please submit no more than one or two questions at once, as I tend to go into detail in my answers.
Experience I wrote my first book in 1957 and have been writing and studying writing since. I have a BA in Written Communications, and have taught writing both privately and through adult education for 15 years. Have also edited (fiction books) for an online publisher and edited/wrote more than 100 articles for realsexed.com. Currently writing web content and mentoring beginning writers.
Question I have been going back and forth the past year or so wondering if I should write a memoir about my teenage days or should I write a novel? Some people I talk to say novel, some say memoir. I'm lost and confused with a great story/material accumulated from 13 to 19 years of age. Help!
Answer Hello Steve:
Ask yourself these questions:
1. Do I have enough material or can I remember enough incidents, etc. to fill a memoir book?
2. How candid do I want to be? Am I wlling to hurt someone's feelings or make them angry to tell the truth?
3. Does it make a better book to tell the truth, or to make things up? Which type of book do I read?
If the answers are "yes" you should consider writing a memoir. Now ask yourself these questions:
1. Am I good at making up stories that are interesting, lively, and actually add to real events?
2. Should I consider writing a creative non-fiction book? (google this to find out what it is).
3. Do I want to make up characters, or use real people from my past? If I use real people, how will I disguise them? CAN I disguise them?
If the answers to these questions are yes, consider a novel.
I hope this helps. If it does, a nice rating would be greatly appreciated. I am proud of my high scores over 1900 questions.
