Memoir: Dialogue to Reveal Character

The reason dialogue is so important in memoir is because you are writing in the first person. One character has to be in every scene in order to report that scene-and that character is the writer of the memoir-you. So the best way you can give another character’s point of view about and event or experience is to have a dialogue where the character reveals these things in their own voice. You may have ideas of how someone feels or might react and you can even put those ideas into your writing when the person is not in the scene, but having the character actually “talk” is the best way to get into another character’s head while writing in the first person.