When people appear in a memoir, it’s either as main characters or minor characters, right?
Afraid not.
Although this is what I’d always thought, Sandy Blackburn-Wright’s Holding Up the Sky
When describing a new area, Blackburn-Wright provides a list of African names. Though these people don’t appear again, it gives a ring of authenticity to the story. Concrete, specific details.
I thought this guideline would only apply when dealing with exotic people, i.e. those who present an angle different from what your readers would normally encounter.
But then I remembered earlier in the book, Blackburn-Wright did the same thing describing the people who travelled with her on her first trip to Africa, and they had Western plain Jane names.
While using specific details is a given, the lesson here is that lists of people show that your memoir happens in a bigger world than the one your main story takes place in.
