Dear Author:
I recently finished a unique editing project, a memoir written in letter form. A compilation of letters would be another way of saying it. The author, Greg, wanted his grandkids and on down the line to know from whence they came. He wanted to share his experiences, beliefs, interests, as well as his rich family history, but writing a book felt daunting. Instead, he spent a year or two writing letters to people who impacted his life. The surprising thing was how well I knew Greg by the time I completed his project.
A letter to his great grandfather, structured around a trip to ancestral Scotland, opened Greg’s epistolary memoir with a nice run-through of his family’s history. Letters to his parents included a description of the small New Jersey town of Clinton, where he grew up, and went on to cover the family’s love of singing, their church involvement, and their reclusive nature. Letters to former work colleagues outlined Greg’s career path, professional struggles, and his love of analytics. A letter to his family doctor revealed health issues. Other letters delved into travel, golf, singing, teaching, astrology, investing, and politics.
By the time I finished editing Greg’s 27 letters, I felt I really knew him. Not just because I’d read so many details about his life, but because his personality shined through in every letter. Yet there was nothing complicated here. No writer-y techniques like scene-building, character development, story arc or structure—just straightforward narration in letter form. Some were one single-spaced page, some were seven; the average was four. The writing was simple and heart-felt.
After editing, Greg applied a uniform format to each letter, added a picture below each title, and then took his files to Kinko’s for printing. Voila! His memoir was done.
If you’ve been struggling with the idea, or the actual process, of writing your own legacy memoir, maybe you should consider Greg’s epistolary approach. It might feel more manageable and it might be more fun. Here’s how.
HOW TO WRITE AN EPISTOLARY MEMOIR
Make a Binder: Get a slim binder and add tabs labeled, for example:
Family
Childhood
School/College
Career
Interests
Politics
Special Individuals
On the first page list the people you’d like to write to, then add a piece of paper to the appropriate tab with their name at the top. We’ll call these pages “Letter Holders.”
Outline. Go through each Letter Holder and jot down the topics/memories you’d like to share in your letter. Use just enough words so you remember when you come back later. Like if it’s the time your University of Washington fraternity stole Washington State University’s mascot goat before a big rivalry game (my client’s story), you might just jot down “Apple Cup – goat.”
Think. One of my favorite authors, David McCullough, said that he’s often asked how much time he spends researching, how much time writing, and how much time editing. “But no one ever asks me,” he said, “how much time I spend thinking!” Before you start writing, give yourself time to think.
Take a few weeks to fill in your Letter Holders
When a good idea (or memory) comes to you, run—don’t walk—to your binder and write it down (because good ideas are fleeting and often make only one appearance!)
Add or delete Letter Holders as you consider all the people in your life
Strategize. Do you want your epistolary memoir done by a date certain, like Christmas? Or maybe a self-imposed deadline, like your next big birthday? You might consider a writing schedule, like two hours every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. If not, how about one letter a month? Just be sure to set some kind of schedule. If you don’t, chances are your half-finished (or less) binder will get stuck in a closet, never to be finished.
Write! Now comes the fun part, writing the letters. The most important thing is not that your letters are well written, it’s that they’re written at all. Please, please remember that. Here are some tips for that first draft:
Don’t worry about the writing!
Don’t worry about their point of view—this is YOUR story
Be yourself—you don’t need to be the hero
Be open and honest—try not to “sanitize” your story
Share yourself—your opinions, feelings, motivations
Write naturally and as you speak—you don’t need fancy words
Think of the person as you’re writing—look at pictures
Edit As I said above, this step is optional. But if you do want to perfect your work, here are some very basic writing tips:
Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly, especially “very” (trust in the power of your words!)
Use short introductory phrases, no more than five words
Try to put the subject and verb close together and early in the sentence
Vary the length of your sentences by adding or deleting conjunctions
Keep paragraphs between ten and fifteen lines long
Delete Wordiness. In looking at my work with many authors, I have found that wordiness is so prevalent as to have earned its own right to have an exclusive section in this blog post. Phew! That was a lot of words. How about, Wordiness is so common, it deserves its own section—with examples! Some tips on deleting wordiness:
Make EVERY word work! Examples:
He referred back to the notes he had once taken
He referred to the notes he’d taken
In the event of his late arrival we would have to
His late arrival meant
We were rather concerned about his tendency to be late
We were concerned about his tardiness
Watch for words ending in -tion and change to verbs
My suggestion is that we make an alteration
I suggest that we alter
I will stand in opposition to you
I will oppose you
It is my recommendation
I recommend
Delete “that” wherever possible (it’s seldom necessary)
Read your letters out loud. If it’s a mouthful, it’s too wordy
Print. The easiest and most economical epistolary memoir is printed and bound by Kinko’s on 8.5 x 11 paper. You can email or bring your Word files in on a thumb drive. Some hints while creating your files:
Decide on a format and apply it meticulously to each file
I prefer a centered heading, 14 font, in Calibri
Center a picture (if using) between the heading and first line
No need to include a caption
Use wide margins, at least 1.25 inches
Important: Have one book printed, go and LOOK at it and approve before printing more
If you’re interested in seeing the power of an epistolary memoir, I recommend Mary-Louise Parker’s Dear Mr. You. Or check out Good Read’s dedicated Epistolary Memoir Shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/genres/epistolary-memoir
Happy letter-writing!