What do Killing Eve, Angela's Ashes and Toni Morrison's Beloved all have in common?

One of my favorite television shows is Kill Evewritten by the brilliant Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Jodie Comer's character Villanelle is one of the funniest villains I've ever seen on screen, and there's a moment in Season 2 that I'll never get out of my head. It's a group therapy scene in which the therapist asks, “Anyone else want to say anything?” Villanelle, pretending to be her nemesis Billie, responds:

A great monologue is remembered. Not just in our memories, but also in our hearts. We love watching her on screen. But for some reason, this powerful form of expression is often forgotten when writing personal essays and memoirs. That shouldn't be the case. Monologues can be so powerful in writing, both in fiction and memoir.

In Toni Morrison beloved, Baby Suggs has an epic monologue that respects all the golden rules. She captivates us right from the start with: “Here, in this place, we become flesh; Flesh that weeps laughs; Flesh dancing on bare feet in the grass.” And she captivates us line by line. (Of course she does, it's Morrison!) In Angela's ashesFrank McCourt ends one of his most moving monologues with the words: “You may be poor, your shoes may be broken, but your mind is a palace.” These words remind us to value what we truly own and what no one can interfere with can interfere. They linger long after we close the book. Whether on screen, on stage or on paper, the best monologues do exactly that: they have an impact like no other type of writing.

I am very happy to be able to teach Use monologues to advance your memoir writingan intensive craft seminar for the Narratively Academy next week. It will be a very enjoyable, productive session in which we will study examples of great uses of the monologue in memoir and explore how we can use them as templates and models for our own narratives. If you want to learn how to write memoir monologues as vivid as Morrison, McCourt, and Waller-Bridge, I hope you'll join us on Saturday, November 9th.

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