There's not of a much better setting for memoir than the old neighborhood. Such a great cast of characters with so many stories to tell. You've got your friends, your enemies, the good neighbors, and the crotchety old meanies. A neighborhood is a place with character filled with characters.
Whether you lived in a distinguished old neighborhood or a vast tract of cookie cutter houses, each neighborhood has something special to offer your readers--something to which they maybe relate or a place where they could only dream of having lived. The sights, the sounds, the smells, and everything else that made your neighborhood what is was can turn a memoir story into a rich tapestry of memory.
There are many neighborhood stories you might draw upon. You can tell the nostalgia stories of growing up, changing neighborhoods to become the new kid on the block, or leaving the neighborhood where you spent your childhood years.
The neighborhood doesn't even have to be your own. Your best memories may have come from the old neighborhood where your grandparents lived or your cousin's neighborhood where you spent your favorite summer.
Your personal story is interwoven with the setting of your story. Take the greatest advantage of your story's setting. Make the neighborhoods come just as alive as the houses in that neighborhood and the people in the neighborhood. Take the reader back to your neighborhood so they can get a better feel for why you were as you were.
What was most special about the neighborhood where you grew up? Was your neighborhood a place of great stability or one with a highly transient population? Do you still live in or near the neighborhood where you lived in your younger days?
Ha what neighbourhood. lol I lived in the rural eastern part of my hometown. While there were children that took my bus to school, none lived close enough to really hang out that much. Just one girl was down the street but my mom didn't like her and didn't encourage a friendship. There were some boys down the other street but they weren't interested in playing with me. I was on my own all the time, playing alone in my room, the field or the woods. There was only a short period in the mid-70s when a family w/ kids moved across the street for about 3 years. Other than that I was surrounded by super elderly people.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there are stories there as well if you dig deeply enough.
DeleteLee
I think rural communities are definitely a neighborhood. Busy bodies and people who would kill for you. Children to play with, but you might have to travel. However, my brief stay in the city allowed me easier access to playmates.
ReplyDeleteI would agree. Even in places like rural Montana where neighbors might be 50 miles apart it's some semblance of neighborhood and there are stories to tell.
DeleteLee
This is a great idea to write about. I remember 3 different neighborhoods in Arizona I lived in as a child and they were all unique and interesting. Also, my grandma's town of Globe, AZ was another place I loved to be.
ReplyDeleteEvery neighborhood has it's unique attributes. They're made up of people and that makes for a lot of story opportunities.
DeleteLee