Autobiographical Writing

"‘Autobiography’ Berger writes, ‘begins with a sense of being alone. Yet…All that interests me about my past life are the common moments. The moments – which if I relate them well enough – will join countless others lived by people I do not personally know.’ His aim is not an epic recital but the catching of what is ordinary and commonplace, and yet no less mysterious for that. Berger here is acknowledging one of his fears. He is almost afraid to write autobiographically because such writing implies a kind of loneliness, and loneliness, is to him, as to most of us, something we secretly dread. Autobiography is too private, too personal. No one will understand or feel any connection with what we say. How can we make contact with our readers? Memory, where the focus is on each of us privately, can make us feel alone, uncomfortably so, like children in the dark when the footsteps recede. We are alone, so what do we have to say for ourselves, about ourselves, to others? Berger confronts this fear, and we know that he intends to deal with it carefully. If he relates them well enough, those private moments will join with other moments lived by his readers, and this for him is one of the aims of autobiographical writing: it is to find a way of writing, remembering and speaking which will break down the barriers that separate writer from reader or listener, so that both can begin to inhabit a common space; so that, in effect, the footsteps will return."

Mills, P. (1996) Writing in Action. London; New York:Routledge.