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Fellow writers I'd love your opinion.

I'm writing a book about my story so far dealing with an illness. My plan was to have almost 3/4 of the book, as diary entry's which I kept throughout my illness. But now after reading several other memoirs (both for research & fun) I'm thinking, in terms of "what reads better" or what readers would like, should I writing it as a "story" or keeping it in mostly diary format?

Tia

Personally, I like the diary format because it feels like I am reading something that has actually happened. But at the end of the day, it's your story, so do what you feel is best.

Books not written chronologically tend to confuse a lot of readers (example:my sister) especially when you're writing about a serious event. Be careful so it doesn't come out choppy. If you have an ultimate point you want to make at the end of the book, you might want to go chronologically though..

What ever the for you are using is not a problem but give the readers the best information.

I'm not an expert on memoirs, but here are some questions I have:

Do you want to inform people about the illness in general, OR do you just want to share your own experiences with it?
The answer to that would affect the answer to your question. If you're sharing your own experiences, I'd made it a narrative--take your diary entries and make them a story, like a memoir.

If I understand your question, I'd go with the "story" answer. Making it a story reads better than diary entries.

Also, have you read the memoir Brain on Fire? It's about a young woman who suffered a sudden, unexpected illness from out of nowhere. I think it sold quite well, so you might want to check it out to see what made it good. (I haven't read it, and I hope I'm right about the title.) I believe it was written "story" style, not diary style.

A memoir that was written with diary entries and such was This Star Will Not Go Out about the young woman who was written about in that John Green book. I don't think people really liked its diary-style.

Anyway, I'd read both if you haven't, since their similar books. But, botton line, I'd turn it into a story. Good luck!

-- 10 Mar 2015, 14:50 --

BTW, I've tried doing that with my own diaries, but I get so darned depressed that I bail. (Sad life.) So if your writing project doesn't work out, don't be too bummed about it. You could make it fiction and change the sad stuff, exactly like John Green took Esther's life and made it The Fault in Our Stars. So keep your options open, and good luck!