Introducing: 'Closing the Gap', a serialized memoir

Why I am writing a serialized memoir and what you can expect to find in it.

‘Closing the Gap’ is the name of my memoir, which I’ll start publishing here, chapter by chapter. I’m not a celebrity, nor a world-famous athlete, but I am something just as good: a human being living my life authentically.

Easier said than done. 

Almost 5 years ago, I got a divorce and, with it, I started on a healing path that forced me to peel off all the inauthentic masks I had covered myself with.

Had I known how difficult the process would be, I’m not sure I would have ever gotten a divorce. Had I known how liberating it would be, I would have done it much sooner. 

‘Closing the Gap’ is a story about going on a path of my own, shedding all the objects and people who didn’t align with me and discovering my real self. Through this journey I learned to close the gap between who I thought I was, who society told me I should be, and who I really am. 

Sometimes a poem says it better. So here is my story condensed in this poem I wrote: 

What is a serialized memoir? 

It’s a memoir — and any type of work, really — that is published in shorter sections, by chapters, instead of all at once in a full-fledged book. 

Some of the most famous authors who published in serial form, before having their works printed as books, are Charles Dickens, Alexandre Dumas or Leo Tolstoy. Had you lived during the late 19th century, you might have read Sherlock Holmes, Anna Karenina or Madame Bovary, chapter by chapter in a weekly or monthly magazine. 

As serialized books are making a comeback, I decided to publish my own memoir as I write it, step by step. This way, the book itself feels more alive, it gets created under your very own eyes and — maybe — together with your ongoing feedback as you’ll read through the chapters. 

Why I am writing a memoir 

Reading a memoir makes you feel you’re not alone in your struggles. Because the biggest lie we believe when we’re going through challenging times is that we are the only ones suffering. Reading about our shared humanity, from mistakes to triumphs and from sorrow to joy, it all can be reassuring.

Loneliness decreases, hope increases.

And if I can inspire, help or entertain even one person — one of you — with this book, then my work is worthwhile. 

My favorite memoir 

As I was studying the genre, I discovered my favorite memoir: Open, by the tennis player Andre Agassi. It’s so full of reflections on life and hard work, love and perseverance, that you don’t need to be a tennis fan to love it. This is ultimately what a memoir is about, not a product of vanity. It’s meant to turn the personal into universal — a human showing another human what it’s like to be human. 

I’ll leave you with a quote from it: 

“I've been let in on a dirty little secret: winning changes nothing. Now that I've won a slam, I know something that very few people on earth are permitted to know. A win doesn't feel as good as a loss feels bad, and the good feeling doesn't last as long as the bad. Not even close.” ― Andre Agassi, Open

OK, one more: 

“Points become games become sets become tournaments, and it’s all so tightly connected that any point can become the turning point. It reminds me of the way seconds become minutes become hours, and any hour can be our finest. Or darkest. It’s our choice.” ― Andre Agassi, Open

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In the next email you’ll read… Chapter 1 of ‘Closing the Gap’.