Editor’s note: some recent events critical of memoir lead us to share this short entry pointing to some blog posts that we’ve found inspirational on this topic of timing.
While there may be no perfect answer to the question of when you should start writing your memoir, this quote by Vita Sackville-West recently caught our eye.
It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop. ~Vita Sackville-West
Further reflection on the topic of when lead us to a recent blog post by our friend, The Traveling Writer, Alexis Grant. She helped us consider why you should take the leap and start writing your memoir now. While Alexis writes in this post about life and dreams in general, she eloquently communicates that the real risk can be in the very act of waiting. Dreams may simply change. And you may miss out on the opportunity to start writing or continue writing your memoir.
But memoir can be hard to write. Especially in the day and age of James Frey and most recently, Greg Mortensen. Both are accused of writing lies in their memoirs.
So is it better to wait and write later, after the smoke clears and the art and craft of memoir is once again held in high esteem (assuming that it once was)?
The simple answer is no. Don’t wait. Write now. After all, Miss Sackville-West is right. Writing really is what can differentiate you from the rest of the world.
I came over here from a blogger I met first on Blogger and now she has a WordPress blob. She’s currently writing her memoir. I’ve finished my first one, and it was released on May 17, 2011 by WiDo Publishing. Are member of the National Association of Memoir Writers only writers who haven’t yet published a book?
Hi Ann–nice to meet you! Congratulations on finishing your first memoir. To answer your question, members of NAMW are at all stages of their writing journey. Some are even working on 2nd and 3rd works of memoir and other nonfiction along with fiction works as well. We hope you’ll join us!