Want to tell your own story? Try memoir-plus. - Poynter

"Memoir-plus is a newer genre that elevates memoir beyond one's personal narrative. It's about writing your personal narrative plus something else - reportage, research. investigation, social commentary, etc. - with the goal of helping to expand readers' knowledge and understanding about the topic(s) your personal narrative addresses. As a journalist, I knew my plus could be reporting. So I set out to do a whole lot of reporting for my memoir. I surveyed over 700 people from 44 states and 37 countries,"

"Mallary Tenore Tarpley has spent most of her life writing her memoir - first in bright, fuzzy journals with joyful images of Winnie the Pooh, Minnie Mouse and stuffed bears, later in draft after draft on her laptop as she began her career. The story of her first book, "Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery," is Tenore Tarpley's journey of understanding the very real and imperfect middle place between acute illness and recovery."

"Tenore Tarpley taught with a group of memoir writers for Poynter's first memoir workshop, Mining for Memoir . We chatted via email about how she used her journalism skills to approach a newer genre of memoir writing. Tenore Tarpley, an assistant professor of practice at the University of Texas at Austin's School of Journalism and Media and McCombs School of Business, previously worked as Poynter's managing editor."

Mallary Tenore Tarpley developed memoir-plus, a genre that pairs personal narrative with reportage, research, investigation and social commentary to broaden readers' understanding. Her book Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery examines the imperfect middle between acute illness and recovery. Tenore Tarpley applied journalism skills by surveying over 700 people across 44 states and 37 countries and interviewing clinicians, researchers and respondents. She taught in Poynter's Mining for Memoir workshop and used reporting to expand the memoir's scope. Pursuing memoir-plus increased publisher interest while requiring a balance of personal narrative, reportage and research.

Read at Poynter