The memoir/journalism table
We were talking on WriterL last week about the differences between memoir and journalism (see the Thursday, March 04 post for details). I asked: Might it be instructive for us to figure out what characteristics make the genre distinct? I started sketching out a table comparing memoir to journalism across several characteristics. I don't know if this will come across in text, but let me try:
Of course these are sweeping generalizations (which is why I used more/less important rather than yes/no). But still, readers react differently to hidden signals in each genre. The more writers can use signals appropriate to their genre, the better off everyone will be.
What do YOU think? Drop a line to info@johnclaytonbooks.com. To receive these posts via email, write to johnclaytonoutreach-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. (You need not put any text in the message.)
| Journalism
| Memoir
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verifiability | more | less
| |||
| Background research (facts) | more | less
| |||
| Importance of events to writer | less | more
| |||
| Structure | same | same
| |||
Of course these are sweeping generalizations (which is why I used more/less important rather than yes/no). But still, readers react differently to hidden signals in each genre. The more writers can use signals appropriate to their genre, the better off everyone will be.
What do YOU think? Drop a line to info@johnclaytonbooks.com. To receive these posts via email, write to johnclaytonoutreach-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. (You need not put any text in the message.)
