Writing Narrative Nonfiction: Playing with the Narrating Voice of Memoir

Your Life As Story:  Writing Narrative Nonfiction

Playing with the Narrating Voice of Memoir

by Lisa Dale Norton

August 2007

When you were eight years old you thought about different things than you think about today—your bike, toys, your pet hamster or best friend, your birthday, summer beckoning at the end of a long school year.

You thought in different patterns, too, focused around daily concerns and your need for your mother and father. You used words and expressions you no longer use. You had physical habits you've left behind.

Sure, there are still similarities between the girl you were and the woman you are —we remain the same in many ways, no matter what our age —but the eight year old you were was a thinker and speaker set apart from the mature adult reading this column.

". . .use the voice and intelligence of an earlier self to guide your story. "
—Norton

Here 's an exercise: Try bouncing around a bit when you write your life stories; try experimenting. Record in words a memory using the voice and perception of the girl you were at the time the event happened. Then try writing that same memory from the perspective of the woman you are now. How are they alike? How are they different? And which do you like best? Which comes most easily to you? Can you see the advantages or disadvantages of both?

Playing like this with the craft of writing helps you learn the best way to realize the stories that wait inside you. And only by playing with those possibilities will you identify fresh ways to capture your past in story.