Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)
Opinion is sharply divided on whether this is kosher or a no-no. I think it's okay if a. you put a disclaimer to that effect at the beginning of the book and b. you have a genuine need to disguise certain people.
The other option if you do have a need to disguise people is do what I did. One person who had played an important and positive part in the story later did something that was not so great. It isn't important for the reader to know that the good person did something bad, so I made some statements that are 100% true, but make it sound like that person was actually two.
If you have two people who are minor players in your story, I'd say to just keep both rather than combine the way you would for fiction.
Hope that helps.
Blessings,
Siri Kirpal
Are you combining to disguise, or to tighten up the story? If you're just trying to compact events, then taking a few minor characters that basically did the same thing, and making them into one or two composites, is probably not a bad thing.
No problem, it's sort of like a movie giving you a montage of scenes, rather than showing the same thing, over and over.
If it's a string of bad bosses, or boyfriends, just pick out a couple, and suggest that they're lot of similar people.
Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)
In that case, make sure you do a disclaimer.
Many people will claim this goes into fiction territory. Personally, I don't mind; it wouldn't stop me reading the book. But do cover yourself.
Blessings,
Siri Kirpal
As you correctly stated, "memoir is based on truth"; it is not the absolute truth. I think you're fine using composite characters, but as Siri Kirpal said, include a disclaimer because some people are just anal about exact details.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/05/obama-ny-girlfriend-was-composite-character-122272.html
As Frimble3 said, combining a few minor characters that "did the same thing," isn't a bad thing, but is it to avoid repetition or to make a larger statement?
I think the Obama autobiography/memoir article is stunningly revealing on the matter, but even he included a disclaimer.
Just to throw some petrol on the fire, this nugget came to me in an email subscription: "My memoir has a couple paragraphs of fiction and several quotes from others' writings. The rest is all truth."
This is from what appears to be a self-published author talking about her memoir available on Amazon. I don't know how she handled including fiction, and I'm not going to pay $8.99 to find out - I just thought it worth noting that this sort of thing is out there.
Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)
If you're doing it to protect an identity, go for it, but not to the extent that it changes the reality of the story. If you're doing it to make life interesting for the reader, don't.
Blessings,
Siri Kirpal