The Memoir Method: From the Ashes
The first quarterly read for The Memoir Method Podcast is From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle. This memoir is about a First Nations young man whose first three decades are defined by abandonment, addiction, crime, homelessness, and hopelessness. We’ll spend time over the next three months diving deep into this memoir and identifying what elements make this memoir shine. Most of these podcast conversations will be happening with my friend and fellow reader and writer Ginny Walters.
You can grab your copy here and join along.
This post will examine From the Ashes through the Memoir Method. As I guide writers through the memoir writing process, I’ve found it helpful to illustrate how these principles show up in published and successful memoir.
What the Memoir Method is
You’ll see the term the Memoir Method all over my content, and for good reason. The Memoir Method is the framework I’ve developed to help writers break down the memoir writing process into pillars that build on each other.
The Story Block: the foundation
The Process Block: the actual writing
The Edit Block: the nuts and bolts specific to memoir
You can read more about the Memoir Method Live program here.
The Story Block
Jesse Thistle’s memoir has a distinct foundation that propels both the external and internal narrative.
Focus
Thistle’s focus is clear: He takes us through his childhood and adolescence, chronicling his descent into addiction and incarceration, and brings us to his eventual recovery. His has a clear transformation and the stakes are clear: Jesse’s very life is on the line
Reader
Ginny and I identified three primary readers for this book:
other addicts in recovery or wanting to enter recovery
people who love those struggling with or in recovery from addiction
himself, as a mode of healing
Thesis / core message
Charlotte came away with the message that I am worth saving. You are worth saving.
Ginny pulled out Love is essential for healing: love for self, love from others, and love from strangers.
As you can see, our theses are in direct conversation with each other, and that’s exactly what you want as an author!
The Process Block
Thistle uses several writing devices to achieve the impact in his memoir. We’ll go more deeply into these in a different post and will give an overview here.
Vignettes
While this memoir has a distinct through line, Jesse does use vignettes to great effect. He writes short chapters that don’t always feel connected at first look.
Characters
The characters in this book are essential to understanding Jesse’s story. By exploring the relationships he has with people like his mother, father, grandparents, and friends, we see more sides to him and his story and understand nuances that we otherwise wouldn’t see.
Poetry
Sprinkled throughout From the Ashes are poems that Thistle wrote himself. These are placed intentionally and add a depth of soul unique to his voice and message.
Audio versus print
Charlotte read this book in hand, while Ginny listened to it. Ginny says that From the Ashes was stunning on audio, and the Jesse reads his memoir with intensity, sincerity, and a full range of emotion. In print, Jesse includes a handful of photos, which adds a striking personal element.
The Edit Block
Trauma
From the Ashes is a heavy book that goes into several different types of trauma: abandonment, addiction, homelessness, incarceration, and sexual assault. As a reader, sometimes you need to take a book slow, and Jesse’s memoir lends itself to a slower read. Jesse knows how to write about his trauma without making his narrative about the trauma. He communicates how these different traumatic events affected him without focusing needlessly on painful moments or topics. In fact, he writes his sexual assault so carefully that both Ginny and I had to reread that section a few times to make sure that we were interpreting that moment correctly.
As a writer, you can also set boundaries on what you’re willing to share with a reader. The wonder of memoir is that the readers are invited into a curated and authentic look into the writer’s life and have to accept what they offer, whatever they offer. Jesse Thistle spent four years talking about his memoir to the public and no longer gives interviews. Memoir readers are trusted to accept and guard whatever a writing is willing to share, however they’re willing to share it.
What do you think of From the Ashes and our breakdown? Have you read From the Ashes yet? Head here to see our list of conversations about this book, and I’d love it if you would give the podcast a listen and review.
You also might like episode 06 of the podcast, where I talk about how a thesis informs the reading experience and what that means for you as the author.
