[stylist] could anyone read this please?

Thu Apr 2 15:33:46 UTC 2015

I've already pointed this out, but it is okay to conjecture about the lives
of others, or if you have information from or about a person, it's okay to
use that too in a memoir. Nowadays, most publishers would accept this style
of nonfiction writing. It's one of the markers noting creative nonfiction.
You can not fabricate a person's life, but you can conjecture, and you can
include another's past if you have knowledge of said life, and since it was
her mother, likely she knew something about her mom's life.

I've read a lot of books using this conceit, and not all were current.
Nonfiction writers in the early 1900's and 20's were already writing this
way, though it did not gain a ton of momentum until the 60's and 70's, which
is when the fourth genre and creative nonfiction were coined.

However, not having read the book myself, this is all conjecture, smile.

I agree with Chris that not having actually spent much time in her birth
country, she would not likely address British culture. And likewise, this
book is about the writer's life and not various cultures. If you want to
read a book about a particular culture, then you would want to find a book
specifically addressing a given culture, not a book about a single person's
life. So while you may have been disappointed to not have learned as much
about various cultures, the writer did nothing wrong. Sounds like this
memoir was not advertising an in depth look into culture, but was about the
account of one person's life.

And while I think about it, memoir writing often does not stick to a linear
timeline, and it usually is about a single memory, or a handful, not an
entire life. Is this book specifically described as a memoir or an
autobiography? Just curious. Many publishers use the terms interchangeably,
but typically the definitions are a bit different.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Chris Kuell
via stylist
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2015 8:00 AM
To: 'Vejas Vasiliauskas'; 'Writers' Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] could anyone read this please?

Hi Vejas,

I think this reads pretty well for a first draft. I have no problem with a
negative book review, although you might want to point out what others may
like about the book. For example (and of course, I haven't read the book)
you were looking for more descriptions of culture, but the book focused on
interpersonal relationships. So, if that's what people like, maybe they'll
love the book. And how was the writing? Was it engaging? Was it compelling?
Or slow and boring?

Now, a more general thought is that while Sally was born in England, it
seems like she spent most of her life in other countries--England the least.
So, is it really surprising that she doesn't give more cultural descriptions
about the UK?

In the following, you definitely have a run-on sentence. Plus, you have her
going to Portugal again without ever leaving it. So you'll want to
straighten that out.

After a while they moved to Portugal.  
While in Portugal, Sally gained a little sister, and her stepfather left the
family.  Sally, her mother and sister moved to Portugal, and then to Georgia
in the United States, then later back to Portugal, the UK and finally back
to the US, this time in Virginia, where she finished high school.  

I agree with you that fictionalizing her mother as a teenager isn't
appropriate for a memoir. Be sure to tell the reader who her mother is
earlier (you just drop in the names Sylvia and Grace) and consider quoting
from that section of the book to help illustrate why you gathered that Grace
was gay.

Overall, I think this is a very good start. Good luck with it.

Chris

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