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Where do we draw the line between fiction and nonfiction when writing a memoir? ... How can we even tell if fiction was slipped into the story? ... Within these next pages, the issue of fiction in memoir will be discussed it will talk about how it affects the author, the reader, and our history. ... Even though it may be entertaining to read, we need to be cautious on how much fiction we are adding. It is wrong to add too much fiction into memoir because it isn’t accurate or truthful. ... Authors may feel the need to involve fiction in their stories in order to cover up something that they don’t want to share. So they gloss over the gap with some believable fiction and call it good. ... Like a smile at a cocktail party, the voice of memoir - far more than fiction - can evoke a quick response. ... It’s “fiction, not memoir. ... “The line between fact and fiction, between what is real and made up, is blurring” (Roy Peter Clark). ...
Fiction in memoir becomes very tricky when talking about history, especially war. ... The fact that historians from this particular group have been so prone to writing about their own lives indicates that the general issues raised by the confrontation of history and autobiography are especially intense with respect to the Holocaust. ... A philosopher, Paul Ricoeur, claims that “history can usually coexist peacefully enough with fiction, even historical fiction, because fictional narratives do not claim to be "true" in the same way that history does. ... When it comes to history, it is a little more difficult to get away with fiction because it is about an event that more than just one person experienced. ... Whereas historians had traditionally rejected autobiographies because they had too much fiction in them, literary critics long considered them uninteresting because they were too bound to literal truth and did not offer enough scope for the imagination” (Popkin). ... Many writers know that fiction in memoir happens whether they like it or not. ... There are those who believe that any kind of fiction in memoir is wrong. That everything should be pure fact, like a plain black and white picture. They claim that any little bit of fiction that the author puts into the memory is only lying to the reader and to themselves. There also those who believe that any and all types of fiction are acceptable in memoir. They claim that its acceptable because no matter how hard you may try to not have fiction in memoir, it is almost impossible. They also say that if it is hidden well enough the reader won’t know the difference between the fact and the fiction. Some authors who involve fiction in their memoirs add a disclaimer at the beginning alerting the audience that not all the information included in the piece is true. ... I think that memoir would be very boring if they were strictly fact, and no imagination was involved.
Approximate Word count = 2395
Approximate Pages = 9.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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