[General] Memoir writing and novel

[Rollercoaster1]

Can a memoir writing be considered a novel?

 

[Tdol]

A memoir is usually meant to have a factual basis, so I would say not really. You may find examples that blur fact and fiction to a great extent, but would that make them novels?

 

[Rollercoaster1]

A memoir is usually meant to have a factual basis, so I would say not really. You may find examples that blur fact and fiction to a great extent, but would that make them novels?

Are novels thought to be fictitious, only?

 

[emsr2d2]

Are novels thought to be fictitious (no comma here) only?

There was no need for the comma there (again!) In fact, the word "only" doesn't really fit at the end of the sentence at all. You could say "Are novels always fictitious?"

In answer to that, in general, yes. They might be based on true/real events but the understanding is that the bulk of the contents of a novel classes as fiction.

 

[Tdol]

Novels may have some basis in fact, especially historical ones, but they are not meant to be taken as history.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

Just to muddy things a bit, here's a quote from the Wikipedia page on Mark Twain:

"Twain's next venture was a work of straight fiction that he called Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc and dedicated to his wife."


"Personal recollections" would certainly fall within the definition of a memoir, and "a work of straight fiction" is more or less a synonym of 'novel'.
​

 

[Rollercoaster1]

Just to muddy things a bit, here's a quote from the Wikipedia page on Mark Twain:

"Twain's next venture was a work of straight fiction that he called Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc and dedicated to his wife."


"Personal recollections" would certainly fall within the definition of a memoir, and "a work of straight fiction" is more or less a synonym of 'novel'.
​

Thus, proved, novels can be based on true stories?

 

[GoesStation]

Thus, proved, novels can be based on true stories?

The Wikipedia article doesn't prove anything, but it supports the contention that novels can be based on actual events. This isn't controversial; any historical novel is by definition based on events that really happened.

 

[Tdol]

Thus, proved, novels can be based on true stories?

You seem to be looking for simple black/white definition of areas that have grey clouds. Ask yourself how you feel about the factual/fictional basis of something- that will help. We have prose poems, which are technically impossible, but are accepted forms of literary expression. How does hammering mercilessly on the theme of 100/0% truth help when there are infinite gradations? Some memoirs are reliable, others less so. Novels can have a basis in fact. They can twist the facts or distort them. They can even be closer to history than some works presented as history. Treat each work on its individual merits for what it is or claims to be. DH Lawrence's novel about the lives of miners in Nottinghamshire is more factual than many histories, but its aim is to move you through art not fact.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

You seem to be looking for simple black/white definition of areas that have grey clouds. Ask yourself how you feel about the factual/fictional basis of something- that will help. We have prose poems, which are technically impossible, but are accepted forms of literary expression. How does hammering mercilessly on the theme of 100/0% truth help when there are infinite gradations? Some memoirs are reliable, others less so. Novels can have a basis in fact. They can twist the facts or distort them. They can even be closer to history than some works presented as history. Treat each work on its individual merits for what it is or claims to be. DH Lawrence's novel about the lives of miners in Nottinghamshire is more factual than many histories, but its aim is to move you through art not fact.

I have been writing about some of the years (probably 6 years) of my personal life experiences; that includes: hardships, happiness, falling in love and forsaken by my lover. Thus, the writing is based on actual facts. I have introduced chapters in my unfinished book, so the book contains some chapters consisting of different parts of my life as mentioned above. If I am not wrong chapters are one of the main elements of a novel, right?

So, what do you prefer to call this book? I know it can be called an "Autobiography" or a "memoir writing", but I want to call it a novel rather than a memoir writing.

 

[emsr2d2]

Having chapters doesn't make it a novel. Pretty much all books have chapters. If they didn't, they would just be huge long blocks of text! If your book recounts your life and everything in it really happened to you, and you're writing it in the first person, then it's an autobiography.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

Having chapters doesn't make it a novel. Pretty much all books have chapters. If they didn't, they would just be huge long blocks of text! If your book recounts your life and everything in it really happened to you, and you're writing it in the first person, then it's an autobiography.

I am writing it in the third person.

 

[jutfrank]

I am writing it in the third person.

Why would you do that? Have you disguised your real name?

My guess is that you are attempting to write a novel.

 

[Tdol]

It sounds like a Bildungsroman to me:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bildungsroman

 

[Rollercoaster1]

Why would you do that? Have you disguised your real name?

Yes, you are right.

 

[jutfrank]

Why would you do that? Have you disguised your real name?

Yes, you are right.

In that case, I would call it a novel.

For me, if you've changed the identity of the characters, then that's fictionalisation. What counts for the genre to be described as a novel is whether the reader believes it to be a work of fiction (i.e., that it's presented as such). It is completely normal for novels to be inspired by real events and experiences, of course.

 

[Tdol]

Having chapters doesn't make it a novel.

And there are novels without chapters.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

And there are novels without chapters.

Right. I read on a website that chapters are one of the main elements of a novel. I guess it didn't mean that a novel can't be written without chapters, instead, it meant that without chapters a novel can be boring or hard to pick out essential parts of a novel and a reader might get tired of reading it without having some vital or essential information given at the beginning of a novel.

 

[Tdol]

There are novels written without paragraphs, but that website is talking rubbish- chapters are not a defining element of a novel, and texts that are definitely not meant to be novels, including some academic texts, can have chapters.

 

[jutfrank]

There are novels written without paragraphs, but that website is talking rubbish- chapters are not a defining element of a novel, and texts that are definitely not meant to be novels, including some academic texts, can have chapters.

I must disagree. Though chapters may not be much of a defining feature of novels, they are a typical generic feature. That is of course not to say that they are exclusive to novels.