For the last several weeks I have been making good headway writing my memoir and always look forward to getting back to it after I’ve taken a break. When I first began writing it, it was more a diary about my trying to buy back the house my ex and I sold in 2002 due to our divorce agreement with lots of flashbacks to how I got where I was. I thought the drama of “will I be able to pull off getting my home back” be one of interest, and it was until events in my life began to come so rapidly that I had to begin all over again and write it in the past tense. Yet, I am finding that is the least of my problems.

 

Fortunately, over the years I maintained diaries so I can reference them when writing about certain past events and be accurate when it comes to dates. However, the issue that is niggling me is just how informative should I be when writing about other people whose behaviors aren’t so flattering? I have no problem holding a mirror up to my less than flawless self, but since this is my point of view, I realize that I must be careful not to come across as too critical without tempering the facts—or the facts as I recall them.

 

Needless to say, I have a long way to go before the memoir has reached a point where I’m willing to share it, and writing it has taught me a number of lessons. And, as with fiction, I must remember to maintain the point of view, which is mine. It’s a POV that may quite likely differ from some of those about whom I’m writing, but as long as it’s apparent that it is my life how I saw it, then I think I’ll be able to stay on the track of honesty without harming anyone’s reputation, including my own.