Life Lines: What's the best way to use journal entries in a memoir?
Q.
What’s the best way to use journal entries in a memoir? Should I quote myself as I would a passage from a book?
A.
During a webinar I attended some time ago, the topic arose of including journal entries in memoir. One writer mentioned that much of her memoir consisted of journal entries, while another writer said her editor suggested she omit journal entries from her memoir altogether because writing from the present—rather than including journal entries from the past—makes for stronger storytelling.
My opinion? I believe journals and diaries are goldmines for memoirists and life story writers for two main reasons:
1. Journals and diaries are excellent source material. There’s no better way to research how you were feeling at a specific time in your life than sifting through your most personal writings from that time.
2. When quoted judiciously, journal and diary entries make you a more credible narrator of your own life. Including a line or two from a journal or a diary in a memoir or piece of life story writing is a way for you as the writer to say, Hey, look, here’s some solid evidence to back up what I’m telling you happened back then, as well as how I felt about it as events were unfolding.
I do, however, understand where that naysaying editor was coming from. Journal entries can be like dreams: not nearly as interesting to the listener or the reader as they are to the dreamer or the journal-writer. When we look back at our own journal entries, we experience all kinds of aha moments, and every one of those aha moments is beautiful and profound because it represents a new piece of the mosaic of our life that we’re creating for ourselves as we review our life’s events and remember. Those aha moments aren’t as interesting to others as they are to us, though. In general, our readers are more interested in what we learned from revisiting a journal entry than in the journal entry itself, just as it’s generally more interesting to hear about the interpretation of someone else’s dream than to hear about every plot point of the dream.
That’s why I advise writers, in most cases, to include just snippets from a diary or journal in a memoir or life story. When you use just one or two or three direct quotes from a journal or diary to advance a storyline, you become something of a reporter on your own life; you get to pad the older diary material with the context of good storytelling.
This advice to avoid long journal or diary passages in memoir isn’t a hard and fast rule. There are exceptions. If you feel that a passage straight from your diary is the best way to write about the day your dog died, for example, then thank goodness you have that original source material to quote from directly.
If you’re unsure about including a long journal or diary passage in a story or memoir, try asking an early reader or two to offer an honest opinion about whether you’ve included too much. Just remember, as always, that you’re the writer. You have the final say on what kind of story you want to tell.
As for the mechanics of quoting from a journal or diary, yes, treat it as you would a passage from a book. In general, that means the following:
Use an inline quotation for a passage of fewer than four lines. Enclose the passage in quotation marks and incorporate it into the text.
Example:
In reading through my diary from seventh grade, I startled to learn that I’d gotten grounded “for cheating on a science test by writing the answers on my palm in red ink.” I don’t remember doing anything that brazen in middle school.
Use a block quotation for four or more lines. Indent the quote half an inch or one tab, and do not use quotation marks.
Example:
I’ve always remembered myself as a Goody-Two-shoes in middle school, which is why it surprised me to revisit this diary entry from when I was in seventh grade:
I’ve been SO distracted by my crush on Greg B! Jenny says they must have invented the word “harebrain” just for me. I can’t stop wondering if he’ll ask me to the dance. Should I ask him? I wouldn’t dare! What if he said no? See what I mean? I just keep going around and around in my head about it. I even got caught cheating on a science test the other day by writing the answers on my palm in red ink. I tried to study for it, but I couldn’t hold a thought. Mom and Dad grounded me for the entire weekend. At least it wasn’t the weekend of the dance.
Readers: Let us know in the comments whether and how you’ve used journal or diary entries in your memoir or life stories.
If you have a question for me about memoir or life story writing, about writing in general, or about publishing, use the contact form HERE or email me: hello@sararoahen.com. Let me know whether you’d like me to use your name, a pseudonym, initials, or a pithy handle.
Yours in putting memories on the page,
Sara