…Vignettes
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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Meaning number 5 of vignette according to dictionary.com:
a small, graceful literary sketch
Our memories are full of often-small scenes arranged higgledy-piggledy. Our task in writing a memoir is to turn these scenes into vignettes and then find some way of ordering them into a book.
There is no need to write the vignettes in the order they will appear in the memoir. You can write them as you think of them. One tip I saw somewhere is this: if some of the vignettes are emotionally draining to write, intersperse them with easier, lighter memories to give yourself a break.
Unfortunately, but excitingly, I probably won’t be able to respond to your comments before the beginning of May. But do please keep commenting. When the challenge is over, I will write a concluding post with a summary of all the advice you’ve been giving me. And don’t forget, the Comment link is at the top of this post.
Miriam Drori, Author 
4 replies on “A-Z Challenge: V is for…”
I wondered what you would come up with for “V”! (Waiting on “X” and “Z” 🙂 )
🙂 keeping you in suspense (and commenting from my phone – isn’t it clever).
I wonder if these vignettes have to be placed in chronological order in the book. Would it work if they were themed? Sorry, I’m not meant to be asking questions here but it made me think.
As I mentioned in O, I tried to organise my vignettes according to theme, but came to the conclusion that it didn’t work. Which doesn’t mean that a different writer couldn’t make it work….