Writing the Organic Page
In a great memoir, an organic page reads like a rich tapestry, weaving together raw emotion with a clear story. If we are careful with our choices in shaping the narrative – the tone and the images we create – honest and authentic storytelling can resonate with universal truths.
Unlike other literary forms, the memoir does not rely on dramatic embellishments or fantastical elements to captivate readers. Instead, the revelations will give our memoir the strength it needs. Our experiences are rarely clean-cut or linear but often messy, tangled, and contradictory. By recognizing this complexity and striving not to flatten our story into a simplified narrative we can write an organic memoir.
In The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion offers a multifaceted portrayal of grief. Her fragmented, looping thoughts, presented organically on the page, reveal her raw and soulful mourning, mirroring her emotional disarray and humanizing the disorientation of losing a loved one.
Engaging Readers through Organic Shifting
On an organic page, transitions guide the reader seamlessly. How do we create natural connections between moments, ideas, and emotions, avoiding jarring shifts?
We can begin by weaving in motifs or emotional beats to unify our story. For example, if we use the changing seasons as a metaphorical shift, each chapter could open with a vivid description of the landscape. This anchors readers in time and place through sensory details.
“The river behind our house carried more than water. It carried the stories we told while sitting on its banks, the weight of our secrets tumbling over smooth stones. Even now, I can feel the cool current against my feet, a reminder of how life flows on, indifferent to our fears.”
In the example, sustained down-to-earth imagery makes the page feels organic. By grounding abstract emotions in tangible imagery, the writing creates an organic page that feels accessible and emotionally impactful.
Balancing Artistry and Authenticity
Telling an artful and authentic memoir requires well-crafted poetic language, an innovative structure, or symbolic motif to enhance truth and storytelling.
- Narrative’s artistry – in Tara Westover’s Educated, the stark, brutal realities of her upbringing set against her academic achievements create a dynamic tension that propels the story forward. The interplay between raw experience and how finely told it is epitomizes the organic page.
- Grounding the Abstract – To make abstract themes like love, loss, identity, and resilience relatable, we must ground them in concrete, specific details. For instance, instead of stating, “I felt disconnected from my family,” we can write, “At the dinner table, my siblings’ laughter was a chorus I could no longer join. I sang out of tune, unfamiliar with the source of their small talk and banter. I wondered how to find the proper pitch, feeling like a stranger in my own home.” This translates the abstract emotion of disconnection into a vivid scene that readers can visualize and empathize with.
- Recording Other Voices – We write our memoirs recognizing they are shaped by the people, places, and events that surround us. Therefore, we can add depth to our narratives by incorporating imagined conversations, dialogue, letters, or quoted messages. These elements reflect the diverse identities populating our pages, enriching our memoirs with a tapestry of voices.
Organic Belonging in a Community
Can we make our readers feel as though they are living alongside us? Through memoir, we capture the organic sense of interconnectedness. In a world often fragmented and isolating, sharing our stories becomes a natural bridge, reaching out and transforming connections. Creative storytelling of our life’s adventures dismantles walls and fosters relationships, reinforcing that belonging is about embracing our unique selves within a supportive community.