MEMOIR WRITING

Refining Your Writing: What Is Literary Restraint?

It can be more difficult than you think

Originally posted in The Art of Memoir by KiKi Walter, April 3, 2022.

In my post about finding inspiration, I briefly wrote about how reading other memoirs can be helpful in learning about literary restraint.

If you are interested in writing memoirs, reading other memoir authors can be extremely enlightening (if not entertaining!). I enjoy reading other essayists and my bookshelves are home to many books from the memoir genre.

Reading other memoirists is a great way to learn about style, voice, and structure, inspire your own stories, and learn about the artistry of literary restraint.

What is literary restraint, you ask? I think I’ll cover that in next week’s post!

I am the first to admit that literary restraint has never been my best friend and it has taken me a long time to work through that in my writing. I think editing is really what made it click for me, and I always say that my own writing still can use a good editor who is not me. I can edit others in my sleep, but when it comes to my own work…yikes.

I think that may be true for many writers. It’s so easy to miss small things or want…