Your Life As Story:
Writing Narrative Nonfiction
Dialogue In Memoir, Part I

For now, though, the most important point to remember is that Memoir is not Journalism. You are not a journalist recording facts. You are an artist making truth. What that means is the essence of what you remember about an event‹what it meant to you, how it made you feel‹is what matters. As writers of Memoir we reconstruct memories. That¹s what it means to re-member. We don't make it up; we do the best we can to reconstruct. Of course imagination is part of this. How could it not be?

So, when you set out to write a scene with dialogue you simply put yourself back in the moment, remember the general tenor of the conversation and create a dialogue that captures it. Even if you were walking around like a spy with a tape recorder under your lapel and you captured every word of every event you ever lived, I can guarantee you that transcript would make for crappy dialogue on the page. Dialogue is about capturing the essence of the moment, the character, and the point of the scene. Every scene has to have a point. It exists in the story to move the narrative arc forward.

Next month I'll list some tips for using dialogue to create characters in Memoir. In the meantime, play with it. Trust your memory, and remember that what it serves up is what matters. That's what makes the story your Memoir, so honor that, even if no one else does.