…Quotations
This post is one of 26 I am writing for the A-Z Challenge on the subject of writing a memoir. I’m not an expert in writing memoirs, but I’m exploring the topic with thoughts about writing one, and am happy to share the fruits of my exploration.
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A memoir is a factual account. There’s nothing made up (although some believe a memoir can embellish the truth). Except for the dialogue. That’s a convention. We write scenes with dialogue because dialogue makes the scenes more interesting to read. No one expects narrators to remember the exact words someone used to talk – unless you’re discussing a certain word or phrase the speaker always used. It’s accepted that speech is made up. As long as the meaning remains the same, readers don’t mind.
Of course I can’t vouch for the reactions of speakers who don’t like the words attributed to them!
Note: I love to read your comments, especially when they’re attached to the right post. Please remember the Comment link is at the top of this post.
Miriam Drori, Author 
4 replies on “A-Z Challenge: Q is for…”
I’m enjoying this A to Z series. I’m learning there’s a lot more in writing a memoir, at least one folks might actually want to read 🙂
There are so many things to think about.
Memoirs would be hard to write without extensive research, or if you personally knew the person. Embellishment in dialogue is thoroughly expected, though, it makes me laugh when some people actually believe the dialogue as gospel truth.
Readers probably don’t think about this much.