If the memoirist is borrowing narrative techniques from fiction, shouldn't the novelist borrow a few tricks from successful non-fiction?
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Writing a novel is easier than writing a memoir; you are not constrained by the truth.
I think one can be more honest in fiction than in a memoir.
There is a lot of scepticism today as to whether memoir is real. But when fiction is done at a certain level there is scepticism as to whether it is really fiction.
Well I'm not a novelist. I've only written one book and that is a memoir.
I'm not usually drawn to memoir - many run the risk of self-aggrandizement or score-settling.
When anybody starts out with a memoir, you get the impulse to tell your own story with your own voice, and you get all that out in one fell swoop sometimes.
I have always distrusted memoir. I tend to write my memoirs through my fiction. It's easier to get to the truth by not claiming that you are speaking it. Some things can be said in fiction that can never be said in memoir.
To reconstruct stories and scenes, nonfiction writers must conduct vigorous and responsible research. In fact, narrative requires more research than traditional reportage, for writers cannot simply tell what they learn and know; rather, they must show it.
Fiction isn't memoir and memoir isn't fiction.
When it comes to memoir, we want to catch the author in a lie. When we read fiction, we want to catch the author telling the truth.