Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Denis Ledoux/@DenisLedoux
“Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.” William Shakespeare
I am very pleased to feature memoir author, teacher, editor and founder of The Memoir Network, Denis Ledoux in a four-part series on Memoir Writing Tips every Friday in October. Denis is presenting sessions on action, character description, setting and theme in preparation for “ November is Lifewriting Month (NILM).” The topic for today is action.
Welcome, Denis!
Action is Essential in Writing
In writing a life story, it is important to pay attention to three aspects: action, character, and setting. These will enhance your story every time. To neglect these elements is to risk having your story fall flat. In this article, we will concentrate on action.
The action of your story is its PLOT. Something must happen in your story to retain the interest of your reader.
Listen to how a child tells a story. It is all action. Nuances of character and setting are immaterial to the child. It’s what happens that counts. Our reliance on action, on plot, doesn’t wane as we grow older, but our ways of using it grow more sophisticated.
The amount of action necessary to retain interest varies enormously according to the sensibility and the education of different readers. Someone who prefers reading about ghosts and unpredictable supernatural occurrences will not find the English psychological novelist Virginia Woolf very interesting. But it remains true that readers–both of pulp fiction and of serious writing–need some sort of action to move the story along. Although much of Virginia Woolf’s action is interiorized, it counts as plot nonetheless.
When Writing About Action You Can Start in the Middle
One writer’s trick is to start in the middle of things. If you are writing about the time you got fired from a job, don’t start with the first vocational aptitude test you took in high school. Instead, start when you are first detecting a problem with a supervisor and then proceed from there to the unhappy conclusion. This sort of quick pacing will keep the interest of the reader.
Keep explanations and background material brief. Avoid the lengthy, informational flashback. Providing too much context can overwhelm your story and dissipate the energy of the action. Compare the next two paragraphs:
Groveton, an industrial city founded in 1809 and having a large population of Slovaks who started coming in 1892, Hungarians who first migrated in 1896, Byelorussian who arrived in 1899, the Greeks whose numbers swelled after 1901, Armenians who arrived around 1909, was the birthplace of my father.
My father was born in Groveton, an industrial city awash with waves of immigrants: Slovaks, Hungarians, Byelorussians, Greeks, and Armenians.
The second paragraph gives the information the reader needs to picture this bustling city but without the unneeded dates. The list of nationalities becomes central to our understanding of Groveton, and seems to wash over us like the immigrants themselves. In the first paragraph, the reader has no guidance to know if the dates are significant, and so labors through them. If it is indeed significant that Armenians arrived around 1909, that bit of information can be slipped in when it becomes important. Notice, too, that the second paragraph gets the most important information up front: My father was born in Groveton.
In the first paragraph, the writer tried hard to keep the action going by choosing different verbs to describe the arrival of each group. But the essential fact is that they all arrived and contributed to the life of the city. State that, and keep going.
Perhaps all of those immigrants arrived during your father’s childhood, and so the dates become more significant. You can still handle them in a less onerous way, read the example below:
My father was born in 1891, just before the first wave of immigrants from Slovakia arrived. He watched Groveton change almost yearly as waves of immigrants from Hungary, Byelorussia, Greece, and Armenia arrived over the next 18 years.
Your choice of words and sentence structure can contribute to the action, even in a paragraph that is conveying information to the reader
Good Luck with your writing!
***
Thank you Denis for showing us the importance of incorporating action into our writing and for giving us specific examples on how word choice and sentence structure can contribute to the action.
Author Bio: Every November, Denis offers November is Lifewriting Month. NILM provides writing prompts via e-mail, free tele-classes on memoir-writing techniques and many surprise memoir gifts. Denis is the author of the classic Turning Memories into Memoirs/A Handbook for Writing Lifestories. Most recently , he completed his mother’s memoir, We Were Not Spoiled, and his uncle’s, Business Boy to Business Man. Denis is currently working on a book about “writing with passion.” Jumpstart materials are also available for writers wishing to be memoir professionals in their communities.
How about you? Do you have questions for Denis on how to incorporate action into your writing?
Denis has generously offered to give away the Memoir Start-up Package at the end of the series to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
Next Week:
Monday, 10/7: “The Memoir Network Blog Carnival: What Memoir Writers Have in Common with Sculptors.”
Wednesday, 10/9: “How I Found My Memoir While Searching for My Roots: Akin to Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity” by Paige Strickland
Friday, 10/11: “ Memoir Writing Tips by Denis Ledoux: Describing Character in Memoir Can Be Easy.”
Very interesting, as although I write solely non-fiction [some would say never knowingly write fiction!] a similar problem arises writing captions for illustrations. The latest book has 660 minimum of these and it is very hard to avoid a degree of repetition – I write a precis, expand from that, and then trim, aiming for around 125 words in the final type. Obviously the length varies as some illustrations from the mid-1940s are in my memory bank, older it depends if there was a contemporary report.
What does “interiorized” mean please? I may have lectured in English Lit/Lang but that new American word has two possible meanings.
Welcome, David. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience with us. I’m glad you found Denis’ post interesting. I look forward to his response to your question.
David,
While the concept of “interiorized action” is not mine, perhaps the word I have used to label it is. “Interiorized action” is action that exists only in the character’s mind. It is often used for anticipation, suspense, or foreshadowing. In Mrs. Dalloway, there are many flashback scenes in which Clarissa remembers Peter and what they did way back then—these are not interiorized actions, but there are also a number of scenes in which she fantasizes what it will be like to see him again—she plays scenarios out. These are not flashbacks but interiorized action. Now, I don’t have the novel in front of me to quote from, but let me make an example up. In this example I have written about not studying sufficiently as an eighth grader for an oral report. Here goes:
“That morning, I awoke with the thought of standing in front of the class, and Mrs. Snodgrass asking me to deliver my oral report. I would stand there next to her desk and look out at my classmates. They would be smiling as if they knew I could not remember a word. I searched every nook and cranny of my mind but could not come up with a word. Mr. Snodgrass, adjusting her butterfly glasses, would say impatiently, ‘We are ready, George,’ and I would have to turn to her. ‘Mrs. Snodgrass,’ I would say, ‘I can’t remember a word.’ The boys and girls would laugh. Mrs. Snodgrass would say dismissively, ‘George, I can’t give you a passing grade. The worst part is I’ll have you again in the eighth grade next year.’ ”
In this above example, the whole classroom scene is not happening anywhere but in the mind of the character. It is an expression of anxiety (–perhaps well merited anxiety.) Instead of saying, “I was worried that the lack of study would catch up with me, the author has presented an imagined scene with an action. This sort of interiorized action can be used frequently in a memoir. It is important not to make memories up but it is entirely possible that the writer could remember having had the dream. Forty years later, the author may fill the scene out a bit but the reader will probably forgive him.
We all remember imaginary scenes where our worst fantasies were played out. These reveal character.It is effective to show these in action rather than in vague words: “I was worried.”
I would appreciate it if others who have used interiorized action in a memoir would provide their example.
Denis, you’re right – that first paragraph is a real clunker: passive and uninteresting. Action is, indeed, the make or break of good storytelling, and scene is what drives action. And once you’ve mastered scene, writing becomes such fun. Thanks for sharing, Kathy.
My pleasure Belinda. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I found the Denis’s examples enlightening too. Your comment reminds me that I need to catch up on your goal-setting series 🙂
Belinda, Another favorite of mine is being concise in my writing. Using action is often a way of saying something concisely. And yes, for me too, mastery is always more fun than winging it.
Denis, thank you so much for sharing your time and expertise with us via Kathy’s blog. I have to agree with Belinda — that first sentence is such a clunker and actually rather boring. This is one of the areas I’m working on as I write my memoir, sticking with action and dismissing needless details such as your first paragraph includes. Looking forward to the series.
Kathy, thanks for bringing Denis and his experience and knowledge to us. As always, you treat us to special gems in our genre.
It’s my pleasure, Sherrey. I agree , Denis has a wealth of memoir knowledge and resources to share with all of us and I’m thrilled to feature him here. Thanks for stopping by.
Sherrey,
You are most welcome. Good luck with your writing.
Thanks for this informative article. I totally agree that action is essential in writing a memoir. The best memoirs read more like a novel, don’t you think?
Hi Linda, It’s nice to “see” you here. Yes, I certainly do agree that a memoir should read like a novel, as you showed us so well in your own memoir,French Illusions. I’m glad you enjoyed Denis’ post. Thanks for stopping by. Do you have a sequel coming up?
The novel and the memoir are close cousins. Both use fiction techniques to keep the reader interested. A difference is that the novel proceeds for theme to the action. That is, you begin with some sense of what you want the novel to be about. “I want to show that…”) Then the writer proceeds to find characters who can exemplify the theme,etc. Even when the writer begins with characters (which is often the case), s/he often has a sense of the struggle of that character. (“I want the novel to be about sudden change..about too much success too early on… about…”) The memoir, however, begins with characters. They are the people in your life and you cannot go about making them up. From there you move on to your theme. What has this added up to?
This a a rough overview of the relationship between a novel and a memoir. I’m sure there is a book there. Or, has it been written?
More thoughts anyone?
Thanks, Denis and Kathy, for this right-on wisdom. It inspired me and I know it will inspire others. You know, Kathy, that I will share it with the SM 101 tribe. 🙂
Linda
How nice to see you here, Linda! So glad you appreciate Denis’ “right-on wisdom” and I know how generous you are with sharing with your “tribe.”. Thank you. It is much appreciated 🙂
Linda, you are welcome. Reading blogs regularly can be an inspiration. I know they are for me. Kathy has a great blog.
I have to constantly discipline myself to not write a dependent clause at the beginning of a sentence. I agree with Denis. Put the action first. Action is often portrayed by short, pithy sentences interspersed with longer ones. Thanks for the reminders.
Welcome, Evelyn! Thanks for stopping by and adding your own insights to the conversation.
The introductory clause (or phrase) is often used effectively in time sequencing. “Because I did this first, I was able to do that next.” While I know inherent in introductory, dependent clauses and phrases, I also want to caution you against eliminating all introductory clauses and phrases as a matter of course.
I think I would use your wonderful example in my class, Denis. Now I will look forward to reading Memoir Writer’s Journey on Fridays, too.
Hi Pat, Always so nice to have you along. I’m glad you found Denis’ post informative and am thrilled you want to keep coming back. Thanks!
Very interesting comments … and good illustration. I have long been of the view that it your memoir doesn’t read like a novel, it will be a long, slow slog for the reader!
Yes, Mary, I agree. We all want to avoid that “long, slow slog for the reader”! Thanks for stopping by!
I agree, Mary.
I myself am being challenged with writing about my seventeenth-century ancestors. After ten years of research, I wrote an historical account of their lives (four people). Because I wanted the book to serve as a road map for anyone wishing to explore the seventeenth century, I included many details—dates, names (who was present at the marriage contract, etc), official functions and titles. This clearly detracts from the novelistic tone I have striven for so carefully in so much of the book. But, I do not want to omit the dates and names and functions and titles. I am in a quandary and will probably err on the side of genealogical information.
Thanks for the wisdom that you imparted, Denis. I am writing my first novel using some of my life’s experiences to bring some action into the story. I agree that the reader must be engaged by the choice of words that convey action and empathy.
Thanks for stopping by,Kathy. I’m happy you enjoyed Denis’ post. Best wishes on your writing.
Good luck, Kathy. I have written much autobiographical fiction myself.