I think one can be more honest in fiction than in a memoir.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I will say, with memoir, you must be honest. You must be truthful.
Writing a novel is easier than writing a memoir; you are not constrained by the truth.
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.
Fiction isn't memoir and memoir isn't fiction.
An autobiography can distort; facts can be realigned. But fiction never lies: it reveals the writer totally.
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.
This is a cliche, but in fiction, I feel it is easier for me to get to some sort of truth, some kind of more honest writing.
I thought, frankly, that it would be more pleasant to write a memoir than it was.
One can be absolutely truthful and sincere even though admittedly the most outrageous liar. Fiction and invention are of the very fabric of life.
A memoir is always the most authentic telling of a situation, but a novel gets to different places.