I have been listening to a writing masterclass by Malcom Gladwell. He is a great story teller. I am getting the urge to re-read some of his books after listening to how he ended up on those topics.
I have attended a few online classes and I am getting a bit tired of them at this point. But this class by Malcom is an exception. He is very good at making his point and teaching the basics.
He said one specific things that made me pause. He discourages writing an autobiography. In general, writing in the first person brings too much attention to the author and raises the expectations of the reader. Malcom points out that people don't read the autobiographies of an average person. There needs to have been something grand in the life of the author to warrant that type of self-indulgence.
That message is true. When I think about the memoirs I have read, it was always someone that had done something great. I even remember a few people I know being disappointed at Michelle Obama's book because her life was perceived as easy.
The week before last, I was making an outline of my book Coming to America. I have shared a lot of the posts on 200WaD and a few platforms. I always thought that telling the story of my coming to America would be my first book. But now, Malcom's message is making me think again. And I like that. I have to have a creative way to talk about something interesting and find a way to wove my story in it. But I can't be the sole focus on my book. That isn't going to work and Malcom Gladwell made me realize that.
I have attended a few online classes and I am getting a bit tired of them at this point. But this class by Malcom is an exception. He is very good at making his point and teaching the basics.
He said one specific things that made me pause. He discourages writing an autobiography. In general, writing in the first person brings too much attention to the author and raises the expectations of the reader. Malcom points out that people don't read the autobiographies of an average person. There needs to have been something grand in the life of the author to warrant that type of self-indulgence.
That message is true. When I think about the memoirs I have read, it was always someone that had done something great. I even remember a few people I know being disappointed at Michelle Obama's book because her life was perceived as easy.
The week before last, I was making an outline of my book Coming to America. I have shared a lot of the posts on 200WaD and a few platforms. I always thought that telling the story of my coming to America would be my first book. But now, Malcom's message is making me think again. And I like that. I have to have a creative way to talk about something interesting and find a way to wove my story in it. But I can't be the sole focus on my book. That isn't going to work and Malcom Gladwell made me realize that.
Gladwell will be held responsible if coming to America gets too much dilution
Else write your intended book and also write the pivot 😁. Just like movies
i feel as though i have one of the most unintersting lives there could be and yet i feel so compelled to write memoirs about it.
i think it's because when i do write memoirs it never centers around me. it actually just uses me as an instrument to highlight everything around me. the people. the culture. stuff like that.
There is no way I could write the way you do Sir Abe. It is hard enough to articulate my own perspective, I can't imagine how I would be able to highlight other things. It is a skill I need to develop.