Zinsser on Memoir

Your biggest stories will often have less to do with their subject than with their significance — not what you did in a certain situation, but how that situation affected you and shaped the person you became. 

--William Zinsser

Though it's a few years old, this interview is an interesting look at the role of memoirs in our lives. Zinsser suggests that it's not just people who've had crazy lives who should write them, and that sometimes, the regular stories are the ones that need to be told. He thinks about truth, and suggests that it's a writer's job to be as honest as he can about his experiences, and to tell stories that matter.

You can find the interview, as well as an article, here. Zinsser's advice is relative to those of you in Creative Writing class, but also, perhaps, to you seniors in the midst of writing college essays.