Andrea Jarrell
How to Make Your Memoir a Page Turner
June 14, 2018
4 PM PDT 5 PM MDT 6 PM CDT 7 PM EDT
Andrea Jarrell
Author of I’m the One Who Got Away
I’m the One Who Got Away is a life-affirming, recovery story about having the courage to become both safe enough and vulnerable enough to love and be loved. As one reader said, “it’s a coming of age story — middle age.” The Los Angeles Review of Books review said it this way: “In I’m the One Who Got Away, Jarrell has composed a collage of the people she used to be, to create a portrait of the woman she is — self-aware and unafraid. She gives the rest of us approaching our 50s hope that the best is yet to come.”
I am an essayist and memoirist who began as a fiction writer. To many, my memoir reads like a novel and that was my goal. As Allison Green (The Ghosts Who Travel with Me: A Literary Pilgrimage through Brautigan’s America) stated in a piece for the Brevity Magazine blog: “I found that creative nonfiction was the home I didn’t know I needed. It provided structure and focus. Now I liken it to form poetry; the truth as I remember it constrains the writing in the same way the sonnet form constrains writing. Unexpectedly, that constraint fosters innovation and surprise. It frees rather than limits.” I’ve been a storyteller and writer all my life. Thus far, memoir is where I feel most alive as a writer. This particular story had been in me for a long time — part of it was something I grew up with but as an adult new experiences made deeper meaning out of the original story.
“Page turner” and “riveting” are two of the ways many readers have described I’m the One Who Got Away. I didn’t anticipate this reaction and have thought a lot about what accounts for it. While I can’t guarantee a formula for a page-turner I believe I understand the elements that have compelled readers to keep reading: surprising opening, overall structure, scene and dialogue, character development (many readers have said they root for every character even the “bad” ones), and length.
You will gain/learn from Andrea’s presentation:
- The pros and cons of chronology.
- The importance of scene and dialogue.
- How to create a cohesive whole from episodes.
- What to do if you weren’t actually there.
- Tips on creating complex characters.
Bio
Andrea Jarrell’s debut memoir “I’m the One Who Got Away” was named one of the Best Books of 2017 by Kirkus Reviews and was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award. Jarrell’s essays have appeared in the New York Times “Modern Love” column, Harper’s Bazaar, Literary Hub, Narrative Magazine, the Washington Post, and many other sites, journals, and anthologies.
I’ve tried to sign up for today seminar a couple of times and get no email on how to connect to the call. I’d at least like the recording.
Hi Frances,
We sent out the email with info just a little while ago. Please let us know if you have not received it. You can email customersupport@namw.org.
Thank You,
Erica
NAMW
How timely! I was just last night looking at this book and author and put it on my list to purchase. Now I get to hear her talk about the book and hear about how she works her craft. Timing is perfect! I believe this is called synchronicity. Love it!
couldn’t sign up but want to!
Will the recording be available?
Hi Judith,
We will be sending out the recording via email to everyone who signed up for the event.
Kind Regards,
Erica
NAMW
I tried to sign up but to no avail. Can I still get the recording?
Hi Jan,
The recording is available at the bottom of this page: https://namw.org/2018/05/june-virtual-book-club-free-to-all-june-14-2018/
Thank You,
Erica
NAMW
Saw this too late but would be interested in a repeat or a recording of this presentation?
Hi Emmi,
Here it is: https://namw.org/2018/05/june-virtual-book-club-free-to-all-june-14-2018/
Thanks,
Erica
NAMW
I missed it! Can I still get the recording?
Hi Catherine,
You can access the recording here: https://namw.org/2018/05/june-virtual-book-club-free-to-all-june-14-2018/.
Kind Regards,
Erica
NAMW
Hi Erica: If I’m a member but didn’t sign up, can I get a recording, too, of her presentation?
Hi Yvonne,
You can access that recording here: https://namw.org/2018/05/june-virtual-book-club-free-to-all-june-14-2018/
Kind Regards,
Erica
NAMW