Writing Narrative Nonfiction: The Longer Memoir: Getting Past “Go!”

One of the things I help clients do is commit to a beginning and push forward realizing that vision. The beginning they settle on may not be the perfect opening; it may need to be retooled…at the end of the project, but that’s the point. AT THE END. The time to work on that beginning is after the narrative arc is complete, after there is a beginning, middle, and end to the memoir. Then it is easier to go back and see what needs to be changed. Then, at least, you have a finished project to massage instead of the eternal fresh start, which never allows for deepening or development.

I say to each of you: There will always be a new, more seductive way to begin your story, a better scene to capture the people and setting, more compelling language to spin out the core concepts. But just as it is with people—always a fresher, younger, prettier, more handsome, richer, version around the corner—ultimately you must choose; you must commit to a singular beginning for the story. Only then can you get on to developing its complexities and surprising turns.

One way to commit to a singular beginning is to hire someone to help you clarify the storyline and the creative process, someone who will be your conscience, who will drive you forward with questions and support, by pointing out the very things discussed here, and then getting you to laugh at your own procrastination techniques. Another way is to work with a small group of writers invested with that same responsibility: keeping you on track, while you do the same for them. Whatever style works best for your form of creativity, find it and stick with it until you have completed your project.