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Mark David Gerson
a book bubble about
From Memory to Memoir
Self-Help
Author Insight
Own Your Story!
In Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 film "Rashomon," a violent crime is experienced by four individuals: a “perpetrator,” his two “victims” and an “objective” witness. As the film progresses, each character describes what happened, and it’s not long before we discover that each description contradicts the others. It’s not possible for any two versions to be true, let alone all four. Which is accurate? When it comes to memoir-writing, it doesn’t matter. My sister and I grew up in the same house, yet we each described conflicting versions of the same incidents, convinced that ours is the accurate one. My mother would have had her own take on those same situations, just as my daughter will recall some of our experiences differently than I do, and her mother’s version will be different still. All we can do when writing a memoir is to be as honest as we can and free others to tell their own versions of the same story if they choose. As with Rashomon, some of those accounts will contradict the others — and that’s just fine!
Book Excerpt
From Memory to Memoir
Rule #12 is all well and good. But what happens when players in your story — parents or siblings, for example, — claim that you’ve got it all wrong and insist that you tell it differently? What happens when they urge you not to write all or part of your story? What happens when they tell you what to write?
Here’s your answer:
Rule #13
You Own Your Story
Never let anyone tell you that you can’t write your story, that you shouldn’t write your story or how to write your story.
And if friends and family dispute your version of events? That’s okay. They can write their own version!
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