[General] Memoir writing and novel

[jutfrank]

I must disagree. Though chapters may not be much of a defining feature of novels, they are a typical generic feature.

You could say the same of paragraphs and sentences.

I suppose so, yes.

I suppose, in terms of text organisation, the further 'down' you go, analytically speaking, the more ubiquitous features become. Sentences are common across a very wide range of discourse, paragraphs less so, chapters less so, etc.

 

[Raymott]

If you write an autobiography in the third person and disguise the name, you could call it a novel; your publisher could call it a novel and advertise it as a novel. But your friends will say, correctly, "This isn't a novel. It's a disguised autobiography!"

On another note, whenever politicians write their memoirs, the book is often referred to by members of the opposite political party as a novel (because according them, it takes liberties with the truth).

 

[Tdol]

I imagine members of their own party will do the same. ;-)

 

[Rollercoaster1]

I imagine members of their own party will do the same. ;-)

Only if they are sincere with their own selves.;-)

 

[outofdejavu]

The Memoirs of a Geisha is a novel told in first-person perspective.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

The Memoirs of a Geisha is a novel told in first-person perspective.

Now you bring a new twist to our almost-wrapped-up discussion.:lol:
Let's see if someone has something constructive to say.

 

[Tdol]

Only if they are sincere with their own selves.;-)

Sincere? That's asking a bit much of a politician, isn't it?

 

[Rollercoaster1]

Sincere? That's asking a bit much of a politician, isn't it?

What do you think why I said 'only if'?