Many memoir writers cannot resist the temptation to jump around chronologically in their life story. This urge often comes from the desire to make things more interesting for readers. Chronological is boring; I’ll tell my story differently and stand out from the crowd.

Or writers think readers won’t appreciate how far they’ve come in life unless they understand right away the contrast between the beginning and end. Who would believe that a millionaire doctor grew up with no food in the fridge?

Sometimes, writers identify themes or patterns in their lives (one of the great bonuses of writing memoir) and think those make interesting organizational devices. Every time I get comfortable, I quit my job.

While this thinking makes some sense, it usually produces memoirs that lack dramatic tension. At worst, the books that jump around within a life story confuse readers. My rule of thumb in writing memoir and biography is to tell the story chronologically, at least as you write the first draft.

Why?

1. You’ve had a big, complicated life, and explaining it in order is easiest for readers to understand.
2. When readers learn about your life as it unfolds, it naturally creates interest and even suspense, because they don’t know what happens next.
3. Readers feel a greater connection with you when you bring them along as you experience things, make mistakes, and grow, rather than hearing about your growth in hindsight.
4. When you write about events in the order they unfolded, you can show a cause and effect in your life story that makes your biography read more like a novel, which readers enjoy.
5. Many of the best memoirs are written chronologically: The Glass Castle, Angela’s Ashes, Eat, Pray, Love, and I could go on.

Think of chronology not as a pot you must fit your story into, but as the base of your stew. From the basic chronological framework, you can throw in flashbacks to help readers better understand a character or event and sprinkle in some light foreshadowing for added suspense.

One popular variation on chronology involves beginning your book with a scene from the pivotal moment of your story. This whets the readers’ appetite and shows them why they should care.

For example, if you worked your whole life to fulfill your dream of making it to Carnegie Hall, it would work to start with the performance, maybe as you fight your nerves before stepping on stage. This lets readers know what’s at stake and gets them curious about how you got there and eager to know the outcome (which you don’t tell them in the first scene, of course). After this exciting intro, you go back and start from the beginning.

In Kill the Gringo, the memoir I wrote with my dad, I started the book with a tumultuous time in his life, which happened to be at the pinnacle of his career when he served as director of the Peace Corps. For someone like my dad, who had some big jobs but was not famous, beginning the book with him embroiled in major controversy while holding a high-profile position shows readers that this man led a consequential, eventful life, even though they’ve never heard of him.

Start by putting your manuscript together strictly chronologically. Then, if you identify small bits that work better as flashbacks, or a dramatic portion that makes sense as an exciting beginning, tinker with those organizational changes.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that a unique organizational structure will make your memoir more interesting. What makes your book fascinating is your story, told clearly and honestly, and presented in a way that welcomes the reader to come along with you.