In a guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog, Adele Annesi examines autofiction and how writers can use this form to explore important life experiences. Short for autobiographical fiction, autofiction uses elements of autobiography and fiction to examine turning points in the writer’s life. “In this nexus of fact and fiction, writers can mine, select and transform their real life journeys, turning points and discoveries into story,” Annesi writes. “The writer then melds these realities with fictional plot elements, characters and events in a way that often reads like memoir or autobiography.”
Though the writing is based on events from the author’s life, readers are left wondering which aspects are true and which imaginary. For example, autofiction writers may use their own name or a similar name for their protagonist. The book will include notable similarities between the life of the writer and the protagonist, and may feature the protagonist talking about the act of writing and storytelling. In blurring the lines between fact and fiction, the writer asks readers to think deeply about the work.
Like memoir, the author doesn’t share every aspect of his or her life, but chooses key events and turning points, based on the intended theme of the work. Characters, settings, and events can be created from scratch to support the theme. If you’re interested in autofiction, Anessi suggests the following exercises based on techniques described by Robert Olen Butler:
- Reflect on your life and list important experiences and discoveries
- Differentiate the list between events and turning points. Describe the journey to and from these scenarios and consider the outcome and what you learned.
- Arrange those experiences and what you’ve learned, perhaps in order of increasing clarity, saving the most important for last.
- Decide what to tell and how accurately to tell it.
