Patchwork Memoir: My Vision for Family Story

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When I first began preserving family memories, I started with scrapbooking. I was ashamed of the hidden photographs under my bed. I would dread my children's "all about me" week at school when we would drag out the boxes to search for a few choice photos to share with the class. 

After attending my first Creative Memoires class, I knew this was the right organizational system for me. I wanted the pictures displayed in heirloom albums we could enjoy at any time. And I enjoyed the creative outlet.

But I quickly discovered photographs only tell half the story. I also wanted to share the events leading up to the captured moment ... and to follow through with a satisfying conclusion. At times I wanted to delve deeper into other life events (not captured in photos): What was happening in the background that affected our thoughts, feelings, and responses. How did faith play a role in our lives?

A few years ago I developed the concept of Patchwork Memoir: 

Marry one image with one essay to create a "block" narrative.  Collect enough blocks to create a tapestry of your life.

 At that time, I envisioned Patchwork Memoir as an effective tool for writing our immediate family stories, using personal memory as the sole source of information. 

Since that time, however, I've expanded the concept. Patchwork Memoir can be enhanced with genealogy research and therefore extend far beyond immediate family members. In addition, social history can be an effective research tool for adding layers of context for more meaningful narratives.

I believe Patchwork Memoir is a viable alternative to the traditional 250-page memoir. And it is also a useful means to share genealogical data in a readable format.

The Cardinal rules for writers are:

  1. Know your purpose
  2. Know your audience
My purpose for writing our family story is to leave as a legacy for future generations.

My audience is my family, namely my three children and their offspring.

While I believe my children are interested in family history, I also know my children don't have the time nor interest in sorting through stacks of documents, records, and charts.

And while they may enjoy a well-written memoir, I believe their genre preference is more likely the short story.

Patchwork Memoir is the perfect solution for our family story needs.

I'm curious, dear reader, how do you write your family story? Do you think the Patchwork Memoir concept could work for you?

Comments

  1. RJ ThesmanSeptember 9, 2020 at 10:46 AM

    My family story is written in the form of several memoirs and boxes full of journals. But I love your idea of marrying the story with photographs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pamela M. SteinerOctober 27, 2020 at 6:52 PM

    I love this idea for sharing our family genealogy/history. I am beginning to put together my family's story, and this would be a great way to keep it simple and better organized and not so run-on that I lose the audience. Thank you!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MollyOctober 28, 2020 at 7:30 AM

      I know I can get quite carried away with details that others don't find nearly as interesting :) Creating an artificial word-count for each story helps me to reign it in and keep to the pertinent (and interesting) facts. I'd love to hear how the process works for you, Pamela!

      Delete

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