Memoir (Project One)

7/30/2019 Memoir (Project One)

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+

MemoirsA Crash Course


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+ Why write a memoir?A memoir makes your personal experiences significant to othersit helps

the reader gain insight into and understanding of other times, places,

people, and events.


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+

Why?

By recreating experiences from the

past and exploring their significance

you can identify continuities or

discontinuities in your life.

Memoirs can be a means of self-

discoveryyou can evaluate where

you come from and what youve

become.

Memoirs establish a connection to

the past, inform and entertain

readers about the past, and bear

witness to things that would

otherwise be overlooked.

Nobody cared, then they

did. Why?

-Chuck Klosterman


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+What are the key features of a

memoir? Engaging title that hints at the

meaning or theme

Introduction with a lead that

captures the readersinterest/sets a scene

A complication that must be

resolvedoutward tension over

values or beliefs, personal inner

conflict, etc.

A plot that draws the reader

forward

Personal tone/intimacy between

the reader and writer

Rich, vivid detail

A central

theme/meaning/question

usually only hinted at rather

than obvious

A new understanding orrevelation that presents a

moment of growth for you


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+Personal tonehow your writing

should sound. In your memoir, you will be both

a participant(a character inthe story) and an observer(someone commenting on and

evaluating the story being told).

You should consider the way

you felt at the time the events

covered in your memoir tookplace and compare that to how

you feel about those events

now.

Focus on the details that are

most significant to youthese

will help convey your meaning

to readers.


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+ Tone: Content Mapping

adventure

Tornadoes

Speed/velocity

Danger

Twister themovie

Tree-

climbing

Low-hangingbranches

Playground/recess

Escape

Running

Fear

Bravery

A concept map is a good way to help you set the tone for your memoir.

Choose the word(s) or phrase(s) that best describe the tone you are going

for (what feeling do you most want your readers to feel?), and create a map

of relevant terms around the original term(s). Take 10 minutes to start

working on your own concept map.


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+Dialogue

Reasons you may want to use

dialogue in your memoir:

Develop characters

Develop characterrelationships

Provide information

Move the story forward

Create tension

Basically, your dialogue should

have a point.

Dont write dialogue (especially

in a 3 page memoir) that addsnothing to your story. You can

summarize any commonplace

exchanges.


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+Writing Dialogue

Make sure to write in the wayyour characters speak, but trimthe unnecessary words. Wetend to pad our real speech

with words like these,

thatdont add to the actual story.

Along those lines, dialogue shouldmove the story forward, not justprovide filler.

Make sure your reader can identifywho is speaking.

Create unique, true voices for yourcharacters.


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+Dialogue Mechanics

Quotation marks go around the words actually spoken.

1. WRONG: Brick said, I love lamp.

2. RIGHT: Brian Fantana said, Theyve done studies60 percent

of the time it works every time.

PUNCTUATION: If the sentence ends with quoted material,

place the punctuation inside the quotation marks. If it does not

end with the quotation, place appropriate punctuation at the

end of the sentence and place a comma at the end of the

quoted material.

Every time you introduce a new speaker or change speakers,

you need to start a new paragraph.


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+Description

Writing descriptively willimprove your memoir and makeit more interesting for yourreader. (Remember to consider

your reader!)

When writing description, youshould always choose to bespecific, and avoid the obvious.

Remember to employ things

like metaphors and similes toadd interest to your descriptivewriting.


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+Paragraphs

When to start a new paragraph:

1. When you have a new orslightly new idea

2. To emphasize a point, or makea contrast between points

3. In dialogue, when a differentperson speaks

4. When your reader needs a

pause

5. When you are ending yourintro or conclusion

Your paragraphs should aim toachieve the following:

UNITY: each paragraph shouldhave a focus, i.e. the

sentences should be related toeach other.

COHERENCE: Therelationship betweensentences should be clear tothe reader.

DEVELOPMENT: Develop yourparagraphs using examples,anecdotes, explaining thingsyour reader may not know, etc.


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+

Scenes andSummaries

SCENE:

Takes place in real-time, like amovie, usually contains dialoguebetween characters, and shouldbe used for importantinteractions and events.

SUMMARY:

Moves quickly, giving the readerimportant highlights orreminders, and is used forbackground information. Bits of

summary often occur withinscenes.

In terms of focus, you can

emphasize the most

important parts of your

memoir by writing scenesand using summary for less

vital parts.


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+Dialogue and Description

Dialogue and Description often work hand-in-hand in a narrative. (I.E.

Im expecting you to use them to compliment each other in your

memoir).

EXAMPLE:

Its all over but the shoutin now, aintit boy, he said, and when

he let the quilt slide from his shoulders I saw how he had wasted away,

how the bones seemed to poke out of his clothes, and I could see how it

killed his pride to look this way, unclean, and he looked away from me fora moment, ashamed.

--From Rick Braggs All Over But the Shoutin


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+Contexthow can your audience

relate?

Make sure to include enough information about people, places, dialogue, etc., thatyour reader can reconstruct the scene in their imagination.

Memoirists can take a recognizable situation and give it new meaning.

Put your memoir in a larger social/historical/cultural context. Consider thesignificance of the thing youre writing about in relation to the world at large. Whatdid it mean then? Now?


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+THESISwhats your point?(Remember, this is your argument.)

Your goal is to uncover some meaning in your past for both

yourself and your reader.

However, dont spend too much time worrying about what your

point isif youve chosen a worthy topic it will usually become

clear to you as you write. BUT! You may need to go back and

strengthen your point.

Your thesis should be IMPLIED, rather than directly statedtry

not to moralize. In a memoir, its okay not to present yourthesis until the end. In fact its traditional for the full, true point

of a memoir not to be revealed until the end.


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+Example conclusions

The books had been burnt, butthe story went on.

Book War, Wang Ping

An excellent question. I honestlydo not know. I have no idea. The

slur just seems to have been outthere, there and somehow notthere, like the way a Wiffle Ballwhips and dips, the way adultslaugh at things kids dontunderstand, the way backgroundnoise from a baseball game leaksout of transistor radios, the waybits of gravel bounce out ofpickup truck beds, the way factoryfires flirt with the night sky, theway sonic booms burst the lie ofsilence. Words of My Youth, Joe Mackall

I had forgotten all about that patent-leather lookuntil one day in 1971, when I was sitting in an

Arab restaurant on the island of Zanzibar

surrounded by men in fezzes and white caftans,

trying to learn how to eat curried goat and rice

with the fingers of my right hand and feeling two

million miles from home. All of a sudden, an old

transistor radio sitting on top of a china cupboard

stopped blaring out its Swahili music and startedplaying Fly Me to the Moon, by Nat King Cole.

The restaurants din was not affected at all, but

in my minds eye I saw it: the Kings magnificent

sleek black tiara. I managed, barely, to blink

back the tears.

In the Kitchen, Henry Louis Gates

This is the picture I see when I write.These are the secrets I was supposedto keep. These are the women whonever let me forget why stories needto be told. Lost Lives of Women, Amy Tan


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+Revision: things that can wait

(for now)

A COOL TITLE! You should putthought into your title, but dont gethung up on it prematurely.

Streamlining: when youre first writing

your drafts, more is more! Whenyoure getting close to a final draft,you want to go back and clean upinsignificant/extraneous details.

A sweet opening line/paragraph.This is something that you can go

back to, if youre struggling. Onceyouve gotten some goodmaterial youll discover a great,attention getting place to startfrom.


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+ In-Class Dialog ActivityWrite a descriptive dialog for this scene. Who are these guys? What

might they be saying to each other?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJdF8DJ70Dc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJdF8DJ70Dchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJdF8DJ70Dchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJdF8DJ70Dchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJdF8DJ70Dc


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+ DESCRIPTION TABOO2 minDescribe without using the words autumn or trees


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+Homework for next week

Conferences: Make sure to check your email for the conference

schedule I send you and show up at the right time. You should

come ready to tell me about the memoir idea(s) you have.

For class Tuesday: Read Michael ChabonsTo the Legoland

Station, come to class ready to write


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+ Six Word MemoirsNow were going to try an exercise in conciseness by writing our own six-

word memoirs.

http://vimeo.com/8562043#at=0
http://vimeo.com/8562043http://vimeo.com/8562043http://vimeo.com/8562043


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+Challenge: Write your life story in

six words.

Pre-write: make a list of topics/memories/personality traits thatcould be used in your six word memoir.

Draft: Using your pre-writing, select one or two ideas to expandinto six words. Consider the examples for inspiration.

Revise: Make at least one change to improve your memoir (wordchoice, varying sentences, add/change punctuation)

Peer-Edit: Share your memoir with the person next to you. As youreview each others memoirs, consider if the memoir can stand on

its ownif not, how can the meaning be made more clear? Final Draft: Post your six-word memoir to Blackboard. Well share

them in class on Thursday.

Memoir (Project One)

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