week five: memoir

This month I wondered: would I still be able to call myself a lover of books if I never gave memoir a chance? As it turns out, I probably don't need an answer to that question now that my attitude towards memoir has taken a 180 degree turn. These past two weeks learning about memoir from Stuart, Cam, Benjamin Law, and Kari Gislason has been truly enlightening and engaging. I believe it was Law's Tourism piece that opened my eyes to how interesting this genre can be, and Gislason's memoir, The Promise of Iceland, that sealed the deal for me. The prologue in The Promise of Iceland intrigued me; after a reading the first few pages provided on Blackboard, I immediately found myself walking to the library to borrow a copy of the memoir so I could find out more about Gislason's promise to his absent father. I was drawn to his memories of Iceland.

Needless to say, I was thrilled when I saw Kari Gislason standing in our lecture room preparing to give a guest lecture. Every week at WRIT3050 is a treat, and that day was no different. Who knew that memoir was just as creative as a piece of fiction? And that characterisation was just as important?  

These are some of the neat tips and tricks I learned from this week's lecture and tutorial on memoir:

1. Memoir is about you, but not just about you
In a work that is ultimately about you on paper, the first task is to not view your work as about you. Don't be indulgent--write for the story and the storyline. Making it all about you may be cathartic for you, but boring for your readers.

2. Before you begin writing, define the story
Ask yourself: what is it that you're trying to understand/tell?

3. Understand your function in the piece
You are a major character in your memoir. Who are the other characters? Family? Friends? Strangers? Do you wish to merely convey information, share perspective, or something else? What is unusual in your life or in your way of perceiving life?

4. Structure is pivotal to a story
How you structure the plot creates meaning and helps establish unity of theme. Sometimes writing events in non-chronological order may be more effective than chronological order, or vice versa. Plan how you will manage interweaving and alternating complex plot lines. How will you maintain the focus of the memoir?

I'll be sure to keep these pointers in mind when writing my memoir. Now that I am aware of such techniques, I look forward to seeing how writers employ these techniques and structures in their memoirs, starting with The Promise of Iceland followed by Benjamin Law's The Family Law.

Julia 

week four: shadow boxing

Ever since this semester began, I have become more sensitive to the things I read. We probably never realised it until WRIT3050 made us aware of it, but creative non-fiction articles are all around us. We read it all the time, we just didn't know it fell under the creative non-fiction genre--or at least, I didn't. I always thought of them as just articles. I'm not sure why, but knowing its genre changes how I read CNF pieces now. In a good way. I enjoy picking out the little details taught to us in class, I am actively aware of its theme and angle, I enjoy analysing its structure... Perhaps it's a little nerdy of me, but it's fun!

Anyway, I stumbled upon an article called Shadow Boxing last night, and even though I don't know squat about Mohammad Ali except for the fact that he bit off a chunk of Evander Holyfield's ear--um... wait, wasn't it Mike Tyson who did that? I stand corrected. (Many thanks to a friend whom I clarified these facts with.) Back to my point. I really don't know much about Mohammad Ali, but what I do know is that he was amazing at his sport, and that this article by Wright Thompson was really interesting. Because it wasn't about Mohammad Ali, really--it was about Sweet Jimmy, a boxer who once fought Mohammad Ali and who promptly went missing after.

I liked how Thompson successfully piques reader interest in the first few paragraphs, and thoroughly enjoyed his creative depictions of the old man shadow boxing. Thompson does a great job in hooking and reeling his readers in as he attempts to solve the mystery of the missing Sweet Jimmy. Even though it gets slightly draggy in the middle, Thompson manages to hold my curiosity right until the end, which I am thankful for because the epilogue is beautiful:

Even Ali is a prisoner in his own body, a ghost like Sweet Jimmy, lost in a different way. He paid a price for his fame, just as the men who fought him paid a price for their brush with it. Nothing is free. Confronting the wreckage reminds me of an old magazine story, written by Davis Miller. There's a haunting moment, in 1989 when things were turning bad. Ali stands at the window of his suite on the 24th floor of the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. His once booming voice comes out a whisper.

"Look at this place," he says. "This big hotel, this town. It's dust, all dust. Don't none of it mean nothin'. It's all only dust."

A fighter jet lands at an Air Force base out on the desert. Ali watches it through the glass, the lights on the strip so bright it seems like they'll burn forever.

"Go up in an airplane," he says. "Go high enough, and it's like we don't even exist."

Not only is the article well written, but there's a life lesson to be learned from it as well.

Julia

week three: overcome

Hello, world!

It's so lovely to be able to blog about my WRIT3050 journey. I was incredibly excited when I found out that WRIT3050 was being offered this semester, and quickly enrolled in the course without a second thought. As an aspiring magazine journalist, I believe that this course will be a truly educational experience, and I hope that in the midst of learning more about creative non-fiction, I will also be able to sharpen my own CNF writing skills. 

I think it's important to identify the issues that impact the way we write. I hope that, with this post, I will be able to identify the things that hinder me from writing well so as to overcome these challenges. These are the two main issues I believe affect my writing.

1. Writing under pressure. 

When it comes to writing my diary or writing for leisure, I find that I am more creative, more courageous. But, when it comes to assignments (especially the ones under my Writing major courses) or writing for publications, I panic. Suddenly, my words become rigid and my writing voice disappears. I am less courageous, which in turn makes my work bland.

2. I overthink. 

This is directly related to my first point. Because I know I clam up when under pressure, I tend to overthink everything-- my words, my sentence structures, my entire article. I can take hours analysing a single paragraph, editing its sentences, rearranging words, and so on, only to find that I have totally turned a completely fine, if not great, sentence or paragraph into an awkward-sounding one. I need to stop overthinking. 

I'm sure I have plenty of other weaknesses, but these are the main ones. While I don't think I'm a downright awful writer, I could definitely do with a lot more confidence in my work, so that I overthink less and write with less restraint. Confidence, and more practice; that's what I need. I hope that, by the end of this course, I will be able to overcome these challenges.

Looking forward to a great semester ahead!

Julia