Memoir or Autobiography

Punk28 · Jan 28, 2015

While I'm not yet there in writing the sequel/prequel to the story that I am currently writing I was wondering if I could be explained these two words.

What I am planned on writing next is about the great-grandfather of a clan of immortal aliens that are very well-known in the universe, the story starts off with a woman giving birth and the events that follow the birth of her child and then, after the woman passes away following complications from giving birth a narrative happens. The great-grandfather (Duru's his name, he's the son of the woman who passed away after giving birth) is writing in his journal, he's writing the past-events of his life in his journal along with personal feelings that he is currently feeling in the present.

After 1 chapter of his writing in his journal the story takes place, it starts off with the great-grandfather saying his first word ('pubba', his father calls his father papa and he interprets this as 'pubba' instead).

With the narratives being in the story would this upcoming work of my be a memoirative-type story or an autobiography?

T Robinson · Jan 28, 2015

Neither. Those terms are generally considered non-fiction, and as far as I know/can tell, you're talking about fiction.

The terms themselves could be considered as memoir: hitting the highlights/important events while the other is giving the full picture. YMMV

DancingMaenid · Jan 28, 2015

Yeah, memoirs and autobiographies are non-fiction genres. Not fiction.

An epistolary novel is one that's formatted as though it's made up of diary entries, letters, or other documents. Perhaps that would fit what you're describing. However, you can also have a novel that's framed as a character telling a story or writing an account of what happened, but have the book itself be formatted like a more typical third-person or first-person novel. It depends on what style you want to go with.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 29, 2015

What terms you use depends on how you write the book. A novel can certainly be written as a memoir, or as an autobiography, if it's done right. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is one famous example.

A novel written in journal form can also be called a memoir or autobiography because that's what it is.

Siri Kirpal · Jan 29, 2015

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Agreeing with James.

You could have your title be The Autobiography of [MC] or The Journal of [MC] or The Memoir of [MC] or The [MC] Chronicles. Be sure to say "A Novel" as your subtitle if you go that route.

You could also call it an epistolatory novel.

But either way, it's fine to do.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Punk28 · Jan 29, 2015

Siri Kirpal said:
Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Agreeing with James.

You could have your title be The Autobiography of [MC] or The Journal of [MC] or The Memoir of [MC] or The [MC] Chronicles. Be sure to say "A Novel" as your subtitle if you go that route.

You could also call it an epistolatory novel.

But either way, it's fine to do.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Well, I was hoping that the upcoming work that I'm planning on doing would be titled "Duru's Memoir: The Chronicle of a Surfeit". Would that be an incorrect title for this upcoming work?

The upcoming work will be following events as they happen in order (from the character's birth, to events that had happened in his toddler years, to events that had happened in his kid years, to events that had happened in his teenage years and specific events that has happened in his adult years (his losing his father, his deciding to become a conqueror like his father, his being a husband and later a father and etc etc etc).

Yes, this upcoming work of mine will be a fictional story

Samsonet · Jan 29, 2015

Technically I think that would be an autobiography, but both memoir and autobiography sound kinda anachronistic with his name and "Chronicle of a Surfeit".

Gringa · Jan 29, 2015

Punk28 said:
Yes, this upcoming work of mine will be a fictional story

If it's fiction, it's fiction. Memoir isn't fiction. Memoir is non-fiction.

Samsonet · Jan 29, 2015

Just to make it more confusing: a fictional memoir is a book that doesn't exist. A novel framed as a memoir does exist, but the characters were made up.

Siri Kirpal · Jan 29, 2015

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Okay to use that title, but add "A Novel" after the rest of it.

And if you query it, call it by it's actual genre: fantasy or whatever.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Roxxsmom · Jan 29, 2015

I'd just call it science fiction, written in the first person pov of a made-up character. If it's formatted like a diary, it would be an epistolary story. If it's told in a style that conjures up an image of this character telling their story to someone years later, I'm not sure what that's called, but it's a style of first-person narration.

As far as I know, memoirs and autobiographies are categories that apply to non fiction only (Writer's Digest says that an autobiography focuses on the entire life of the person, and a memoir focuses on a particular event or time period in that person's life).

This shows what I know, as I always assumed that autobiographies were self-authored stories about the lives of famous/important people and memoirs were about ordinary people and written more for their friends and family, but later published because a certain time period turns out to be interesting enough for people to want to read about some ordinary person who lived through it.

As others have said, a novel can certainly be written in the style of a memoir or autobiography, but it would still be a novel.

Punk28 · Jan 29, 2015

Is there such a thing as a fictional memoir or autobiography?

Walter Farley's Man O' War is a fictional biography on a racehorse that actually lived but the format that that novel is written in is not like how I'd like to write this upcoming work. I guess you can say that this upcoming work will be a little like Stephen King's Carrie but without all the interviews, meeting reports, book inserts etc.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 30, 2015

Gringa said:
If it's fiction, it's fiction. Memoir isn't fiction. Memoir is non-fiction.

Doesn't matter. Fiction is often written as a memoir or autobiography. Just because something is fiction does not mean it can't be presented and written as nonfiction.

Good characters are often treated as real people, and many of them have memoirs and autobiographies.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 30, 2015

Punk28 said:
Is there such a thing as a fictional memoir or autobiography?

.

Of course. Novels written as memoirs, autobiographies, journals, and diaries are very common. Always have been.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 30, 2015

Roxxsmom said:
I'd just call it science fiction, written in the first person pov of a made-up character. If it's formatted like a diary, it would be an epistolary story. If it's told in a style that conjures up an image of this character telling their story to someone years later, I'm not sure what that's called, but it's a style of first-person narration.

As far as I know, memoirs and autobiographies are categories that apply to non fiction only (Writer's Digest says that an autobiography focuses on the entire life of the person, and a memoir focuses on a particular event or time period in that person's life).

This shows what I know, as I always assumed that autobiographies were self-authored stories about the lives of famous/important people and memoirs were about ordinary people and written more for their friends and family, but later published because a certain time period turns out to be interesting enough for people to want to read about some ordinary person who lived through it.

As others have said, a novel can certainly be written in the style of a memoir or autobiography, but it would still be a novel.

It's still a novel, but it doesn't have to be presented as a novel, and the word"novel" doesn't have to appear anywhere on the book. No one will hide the fact that it's a novel, and critics and reviewers will call it a novel, but it can be, in every way, presented as a nonfiction account of someone's life. It's just a way of adding verisimilitude.

Samsonet · Jan 30, 2015

Punk28 said:
Is there such a thing as a fictional memoir or autobiography?

Walter Farley's Man O' War is a fictional biography on a racehorse that actually lived but the format that that novel is written in is not like how I'd like to write this upcoming work. I guess you can say that this upcoming work will be a little like Stephen King's Carrie but without all the interviews, meeting reports, book inserts etc.

There is fiction written in the style of memoirs. And I'm pretty sure Batman has an "autobiography" somewhere. But a fictional memoir is a memoir that doesn't exist. It hasn't been written.

The bigger problem, in my opinion, is that "memoir" is really the wrong word to use if the rest of the title is "Chronicles of a Surfeit". " Duru: Chronicles of a Surfeit" is a perfectly good title in and of itself. "Duru's Memoir", unless the character lives on Earth in the past three hundred years or so, sounds anachronistic.

If it's his chronicle, the word memoir is redundant.

Gringa · Jan 30, 2015

Jamesaritchie said:
Doesn't matter. Fiction is often written as a memoir or autobiography. Just because something is fiction does not mean it can't be presented and written as nonfiction.

Good characters are often treated as real people, and many of them have memoirs and autobiographies.

Okay I am confused and intrigued. Can the reverse be true?

Punk28 · Jan 30, 2015

Samsonet said:
There is fiction written in the style of memoirs. And I'm pretty sure Batman has an "autobiography" somewhere. But a fictional memoir is a memoir that doesn't exist. It hasn't been written.

The bigger problem, in my opinion, is that "memoir" is really the wrong word to use if the rest of the title is "Chronicles of a Surfeit". " Duru: Chronicles of a Surfeit" is a perfectly good title in and of itself. "Duru's Memoir", unless the character lives on Earth in the past three hundred years or so, sounds anachronistic.

If it's his chronicle, the word memoir is redundant.

While Duru has been on Earth he's not a resident of Earth. He was conceived, born, raised and lives on a very distant planet in the known universe called Gamma Vile (which is a considerable distance from Earth).

Samsonet · Jan 30, 2015

Oh. I feel kinda dumb now. I had assumed you were writing fantasy, but you know what they say about assumptions...

I still think memoir and chronicle are redundant, but so much depends on your worldbuilding, so. Yes, you can write a novel in the style of your main character's memoirs. I don't think anyone will confuse it for nonfiction, assuming you're clear that it's fiction.

Memoir or Autobiography

Punk28

T Robinson

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DancingMaenid

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Jamesaritchie

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