Memoir vs. Autobiography
February 18th, 2010 by Nick CiskeDo you know the difference between a memoir and an autobiography? Do you know which sells?
Chip MacGregor weighs in on the issue in his latest blog post entitled Let’s Talk Memoir:
There’s a difference between “memoir” and “autobiography.”
An autobiography is a straight retelling of one’s life — what happened, what were the events/decisions, what did those result in.
A memoir is a more personal narrative of the significant change points in one’s life. It doesn’t have to be linear, whereas an autobiography is almost always linear. And the focus can be more on the effects in your personal life — what you were feeling, what you learned, how you changed. The emphasis is almost always on a catharsis of some kind. So while the goal of autobiography is to get the facts straight, the goal of memoir is something more akin to “reveal myself and my story, in order to reveal principles that will help others live more effectively.” (This isn’t a dictionary definition; it’s a MacGregor Definition.)
Read the rest of the post for more tips on writing a great memoir.
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Nick Ciske is the co-founder of Believers Press and has been developing web sites in various capacities for over ten years. After a five year stint at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association he ended up at Bethany Press International. Now a book geek, he helps Christians publish their books by creating new publishing solutions and partnerships.
3 Responses to “Memoir vs. Autobiography”
Ask the Experts
Wow. I thought I wrote my autobiography but now I see its a memoir.
Thanks for defining the meanings. I will now call mine memoirs not autobiography.
A memoir and an autobiography, can be combined. Because I am in the process of writing a manuscript, which is semi-autobio and it contains many catharsises moments in my life.