It wasn’t until I came across John Truby’s book, The Anatomy of Story, that I learned about the importance of story arc and character development in memoir.

An interesting — and challenging — aspect of memoir that I didn’t fully appreciate until I began writing my own was that a memoir needs many of the compelling elements that go into a good fiction story.

But, of course, you’re constrained by the truth. You can’t just make up an ally or opponent to interact with the hero (you). You can’t invent plot points to advance the story.