How is plot in fiction different from plot in memoirs?

So one of the questions I get asked a lot is, What is the difference in plot between fiction and memoir writing? And the short answer to that question is absolutely nothing. From a reader's point of view, reading a novel should feel just like reading a memoir, or reading a memoir should feel just like reading a novel. They follow the same rules. You want to tell a story in exactly the same way. I think people actually mean to ask me is, Wendy, how is it different writing a memoir than it is writing a novel? And that's when things get a little bit tricky. So if I were to give you an analogy, I would say that writing a novel is like having a blank canvas. You're an oil painter. And little by little, you come up with ideas, you create your plot, and you start to form this work of art, and it starts to come to life in front of you. You start with a blank canvas. Memoir writing is the opposite. The problem with memoir writing is you have all of the information. You have all of these memories and your challenge is to take these disconnected memories and turn them into a story. So I like to think of this as being a sculptor. You have this huge piece, this block of marble. You have all of the information in front of you and your job is to cut away at it until what's left is a work of art. So the problem I see a lot is that when it comes to writing memoir, people will sit down and they'll think about a time in their life and they'll write about all these memories. So the problem with that is that disconnected memories don't create plot. Your goal is to write something that feels like a movie. We have a beginning, a middle, and an end. There's a quest. We need a story. It needs to feel like a novel. And it's really tough to do it when you're reflecting back on your life and you have these disconnected events. By the time you're finished with your memoir, it should read like a novel. So if that's the case, I want to talk a little bit about how plot works in novels. Let me start. I wanted to pick a book that most people have read. This is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I want to talk a little bit about the events. So here's a quick summary of the first few plot points. Mrs. Bennett tells her husband that Mr. Bingley, a wealthy, attractive bachelor, is moving into town and that her husband must go visit him in the hopes that he'll be interested in marrying one of their five daughters. Mr. Bennett says he has no desire to do any such thing. Okay, there's your first event. Here's the next one. Mr. Bennett surprises his wife and daughter with the news that he visited Mr. Bingley. Then, Mr. Bingley invites the Bennetts to a ball, where the family meets Mr. Darcy. They all decide he is arrogant and awful when he insults the Bennetts' daughter, Elizabeth, calling her tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me. The Bennetts get together with their neighbors, the Lucases, to gossip about the ball. Everyone agrees that Mr. Bingley was very taken with their eldest, Jane, and also Mr. Darcy is proud and disagreeable. So these are the first events that create the plot in Pride and Prejudice. And what I want you to notice is how all of these events are connected. One event could not have occurred without the one that happened before them. They're all connected by what I call causality. One event brings about the next one. So to help you understand what I mean by this, let's go backward. I'm going to flip the events on their head. We're going to go backward because if event number four couldn't have occurred unless event three existed. Let's start with event number four and see how that works. So, event number four, the Bennetts get together with their neighbors, the Lucases, to gossip about the ball. Well, obviously, that would never have happened had they not gone to the ball in the first place. And what is event number three? They get invited to the ball and go there. So, they wouldn't have been invited to the ball in the first place had Mr. Bennett not gone over to introduce himself to Mr. Bingley, because it was Mr. Bingley's ball. So, they wouldn't have gone to the ball in the first place had Mr. Bennett not visited Mr. Bingley. And the final event or the first event as written in the book is that Mrs. Bennet tells her husband that a wealthy bachelor is moving into town. So Mr. Bennet never would have visited Mr. Bingley had his wife not told him about the existence of Mr. Bingley. So all of these events are connected. One event brings about the next one. And that's how you create plot in movies. That's how you create plot in novels. And theoretically, that's how you create plot in memoir. The problem is we don't think of our lives this way. We usually think of what we look back on a period in our life, and we have disconnected memories, and that's not the way to tell a good story. To understand why reflecting on your life and coming up with disconnected memories is not a good way to tell a story, I'm going to give you the memoir version of Pride and Prejudice. Now, this is not good memoir version. This is the beginning memoir version. This is what I often see writers do on their first shot at writing a memoir. The kind of writing that doesn't really create plot. So instead of this plot, instead of Jane Austen's plot with connected events, imagine that Mrs. Bennet described what happened to her in a week. Mrs. Bennet tells her husband that a new neighbor has moved in next door. Mrs. Bennet decides that she is tired of housework and wants to learn to play the bassoon. Elizabeth finds a wandering sheep on their doorstep and asks if she can keep him. Mr. Bennet asked Mrs. Bennet if she wants to get freaky with him in the shower. Mrs. Bennet says she does not understand the meaning of the word shower. Now, it's so obvious to see that we're not creating plot here. These are just random events. But I see so many memoir writers. Try and do this writing in their book. And it simply doesn't work. When it comes to a novel, it's so obvious that this isn't creating plot. But when it comes to memoir, unfortunately, this is how so many readers attack the idea of structure in their book. But when it comes to memoir, unfortunately, this is how so many writers attack the idea of structure in their book. They just think of events that they want to write about, but they're not really telling a cohesive story. One of the things I often tell the writers I work with is just because it happened to you doesn't mean it belongs in your book. Once again, you're working with this piece of marble and you're not going to give people this entire chunk of marble and say, this is my story. This is my book. You have to carve things away that don't serve your purposes, that don't create plot for you. So how do you create plot in memoir? Well, the first thing you need to do is think like a novelist in the sense that you need connected events. You need causality in your book. You need to tell a cohesive story. This begins by coming up with the premise of your book, which is the very first step in creating structure. So I've talked mostly about what not to do in this video. If you sign up for my free class, I will tell you exactly how to structure your memoir to make sure that your memoir Reads like a novel. You'll find the link to the free class in the description right below this video. Take care, guys. See you soon.