Why You Might Want to Rethink Your Memoir

Why You Might Want to Rethink Your Memoir Stranger Than Fiction? Probably Not: Why you might want to rethink your memoir Today, our lovely editor and Reedsy advisor Rebecca Heyman shares her thoughts on writing memoirs. In this lively and informative post, Becca offers some brilliant no-nonsense insights on the competitiveness of the memoir genre and why fiction might be a safer bet.Memoir is everywhere. The genre is pervasive, clogging slush  piles and hard drives and bookshelves. Part of its ubiquity might have  something to do with the pop-psych notion fed to so many Millenials for so  long, that we are all special and unique, our perspectives and experience  critical. Another contributing factor is a literal interpretation of the  author’s adage, â€Å"Write what you know,† which is in fact a call to use your experience  as a launching point for story, not a script.To be clear: I am not addressing those writers producing  memoir to establish a family legacy. In this article, I’m talking specifically to those authors who plan to query agents or indie-publish- in  short, those who intend their work for public consumption.Okay, now that we’ve got that squared away, allow me to tell  you why a vast majority of memoirists would be better off committing their  creative energy to a novel or, if you must, a short story collection.Reason #1: You don’t  have an existing platformHave a look at the best-selling memoirs for 2014. In  preparation for writing this post, I looked at lists by the New York Times, the Guardian, Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, and more. What I found  is that close to 70% of the titles on all these lists came from famous  people- politicians, celebrities, musicians, or figures of national import. The  remaining 30-or-so percent of successful memoirs came from people with  extraordinary personal experiences (think Cheryl Strayed’s Wild adventure), or previously published authors or poets.Even based on such an unscientific survey, it’s easy to see  that the memoirs selling best giv e readers a glimpse into a life most of us  can’t imagine. And since the best  memoirs transport us to another time and place the same way a good novel does,  that distance between reader and author experience is critical. Follow Becca and Reedsy on Twitter: @RFaithEditorial and @ReedsyHQWhat are your thoughts on memoir writing? Is the genre too competitive and dominated by celebrities for first-time authors to stand a chance? Let us know your thoughts, or ask Becca any question, in the comments below!