Originally written for Charli at Carrot Ranch
By Irene Waters
My almost ninety-year-old mother rings me every night. A habit that began many years ago both to ensure that she had someone to talk to every day and from a safety perspective. Too often the elderly fall and are not discovered for days. Every day she tells me minute by minute how she has filled her day. She is autobiographically using time to chronologically map her day. When her day is complete, she asks me what I have done. I pick out bits that may be of interest to her, starting with that which I consider to pack the most punch. I may also join a few events making one, such as meeting Donna five times that day and getting some different bits of the story each time. It is easy just to conflate time (join them together) and tell it as one. I am giving her…
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Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 
I read the entire article at the Carrot Ranch site and again found it totally absorbing and informative. Thank you for the detailed description of the differences between memoir and auto/biography. Do you feel that memoir falls into the category of creative non-fiction? When I was at university, there was no such study as creative non-fiction but I know many people now earning degrees in this department. Any good story, whether fiction, creative non-fiction, auto/biography, or memoir, it must focus on what’s most interesting and remove repetition as well as boring details. Understanding the hallmarks of each is key to a successful tale.
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You know Sharon I have totally lost the plot when it comes to these. I obviously have already posted this one. There are at least three I haven’t but I can’t work it out. I have become very time poor over the last couple of weeks and my head is in a different place. Hopefully will get back to normal soon. Thanks for reading again.
As to whether I think memoir falls into creative non-fiction – yes I do. Biography does not. Memoir is a true story hopefully told well about a personal story so ends up on one end (private) of the creative fiction pendulum and a narrative such as the Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks lays at the other end in the public domain. The difference between the two is that in memoir the only person that can tell the story is the person to whom it happened or someone close to her whilst a book like the one mentioned could be researched by anyone and the facts are findable if one looks. I agree with you in what makes a successful tale.
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Thanks for further clarification. I feel like I’m getting to take the course you took. Thanks!
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What ?
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LOL
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