Put Your Words Down, Flip Them, and Reverse Them: Writing Your Memoir in Reverse Chronology
If you’re writing a memoir, you have to write your life events exactly the way they happened. But you don’t have to write them in order. Reverse chronology is an inventive and (more) interesting way to present the events of your remarkable life.
Sometimes, a story is better told by flipping it on its head.
Memoir in Reverse Chronology
One of my all-time favorite movies is Memento. The protagonist has amnesia and takes a backwards ride to discover who he is and how he got to that point in his life. In the beginning of the movie, I knew he had amnesia and his body was covered in tattoos that seemed to be clues. My mission was to figure out, with him, why and how he got to that state. Predictability bores me. I love having to think my way through a movie or book – being simultaneously confused and intrigued, and guessing (wrongly) the whole way through.
Similarly, one of my favorite picture books is Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome. It exhibits the conqueror Harriet Tubman ultimately became and then walks backwards down a staircase leading to her humble beginnings. In my opinion, this format serves to highlight just how extraordinary her life was. She did superhero things and made a resounding impact on the entire world, but she was just a regular girl who made a choice.
Work Them
And then, of course, there’s the song I paraphrased in my title. The phenomenal Missy Elliott’s smash hit “Work It” gained popularity, in part, from her ingenious idea to record some of her lyrics backwards. Navigating all forms of art backwards embodies one of my favorite habits from The 7 Habits of Happy Kids: “Begin with the end in mind.”
An innovative way to start your memoir is to begin by setting the stage at the end, putting the result in your readers’ minds first. Start with the what and then deconstruct the how and why. Give them the hindsight that you didn’t have when you lived through your story, and then take them on a backwards ride to figure out how you got to that last (first) page.
Writing a memoir in reverse chronology also follows in the footsteps of some of the best fiction books on the market.
True as memoirs must be, the best ones read like fiction, incorporating their greatest storytelling tools. I have been deep in the pages of a memoir and had to stop to remind myself it portrayed real events in the lives of real people. Memoirs can often seem unbelievable. The journey they take us on are often the most notable examples of human strength, perseverance, and victory.
Making the choice to write the most impactful events of your life in reverse chronology can elevate your readers’ experience by giving them the effect and then taking them on a scavenger hunt, of sorts, as they guess their way through the causes.
Get a professional opinion on your outline in reverse! Title paraphrased from Missy Elliott’s “Work It.” Post contains affiliate links.
