This husband gets a hard lesson in the do's and do not's of motorcycle maintenance. Lucky for us, his wife spread the story of his tragic, yet gut busting story.
The word memoir comes from the Latin memoire, meaning “memory” or “reminiscence”. Memoirs are a subclass of an autobiography. A memoir is an autobiographical writing; however it tends to encompass the writer’s entire life span. Memoirs follow a chronological scope determined by the writers’ context, therefore making it more flexible than traditional autobiographies. Memoirs have become a very prevalent form of literature available for public consumption. Though you would think that they are memoirs of celebrities or historical figures, that is no longer the case. For example, people who have lived extraordinary experiences have found a new and intriguing way to write about it; through memoirs. The art of writing a compelling memoir can be broken down to a handful of basic steps. The most important step in writing a compelling memoir is to “go deep” into emotional experiences (Crayne, 08). A good way to help to convey an emotional experience in a memoir would be to try and remember exactly how it was and how you felt while that particular event was happening. Some writers of memoirs find it helpful to go as far as writing a complete story about the specific events being recalled. Some find it important to write from the point of view of the younger you, who went through the experience, as opposed to the present you who is recalling through memory. The more descriptive the memory is including place and time of specific events, the more a reader can find themselves understanding through the writers eyes. A common goal of writing a memoir is to write what you would normally be afraid to write. Readers often gain a better experience through your writing by emotionally connecting with the writers’ words and conviction. Often, these readers that are able to emotionally connect with the memoir will mostly favor these deep, descriptive and emotionally charged sections of the memoir they are reading. Victory Crayne wrote in 2008, “If it feels like you’re writing a novel, well, in a way you are!” Memoirs that have complicated emotional conflicts experienced by the reader through the writer, often reads like a novel due to the interesting characters, detailed visions and descriptive scenes that people enjoy while they are reading (Crayne, 08). One should not be afraid to write any of their feelings, experiences or emotions. While keeping yourself open-minded, you end up with a more authentic feel to your final product. In the end, your memoir gives a more authentic feel to your story. With a gripping, captivating memoir, you are more likely to get noticed by all potential readers, including publicists and publications. Crayne, Victory. (2008, August 12). “Getting Started Writing a Memoir.” Retrieved June 8, 2010, from Crayne: www.crayne.com Free writing is a pressure-free way to get your thoughts onto paper, to practice your writing skills and to brainstorm without any reservations. The process can be either completely unregulated or somewhat focused, depending on the context and purpose for the writing. Free writing can be a very enjoyable and productive thing as you continue to practice often and produce more and more work. Many people have trouble jumping into writing and getting started with the process. Free writing is a great way to get started with the writing process and free associate. “Free writing resembles the warm up you might do before exercising. There is no ‘correct’ way to do this,” so you can try a variation of techniques and use what works best for you (Richmond 2009). As you make free writing a habit and write more, you can tweak the process to fit your needs. The best way to begin is to just have a blank computer screen or notepad and begin writing for a few minutes. You can time yourself, say about five minutes, and then look back over what you wrote and see if you can make something out of your words! If you like or need more organization to this process, you can pick a topic of your choice to write about. This will naturally make your brainstorming more focused. This is an approach that teachers use in the classroom often to get students thinking about a particular issue. This approach is also a good way to initiate a group conversation (everyone writes down their individual thoughts first, and then share their thoughts with the group). As you can see, free writing can be used in many contexts and is a great way to spend some time working on your writing skills and writing organization. Richmond. (2009). Freewriting: A Way Around Writer's Block. Retrieved June 8, 2010, from Writing2: http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/freewrite.html Private journal writing is a great way to practice your writing daily. In addition, it can be a very therapeutic process because you are writing your thoughts down every day and possibly working out feelings, emotions, and life’s daily problems. You can do all this without worrying about other people reading your words. There is comfort in the plain fact that your writing will not be read by anyone but yourself. Now “when you first start, your writing may feel stilted or awkward…just keep going and soon you’ll find thoughts will begin to flow and you’ll begin writing automatically. Sometimes I don’t think I will write any more than a couple of lines…but once I get going, it begins to flow and sometimes I end up with a couple of pages” ((May 2008). Some days you may think that you do not have a lot to write about, and then surprise yourself as you fill up page after page. Regardless, the length of your journal entries does not matter. Brevity can be nice, but sometimes you might find that you have a lot to put on your page. There is a wonderful freedom here that mirrors the freedom in free writing. Another great thing about journal writing is that is gives you the ability to reflect on your writing and on your life. Therefore, “it’s beneficial to date every entry e.g. Wednesday 19/3/08. This is useful when you want to reread your journal; you can see how you were going at a certain time in your life compared to where you are now” (May 2008). Reflection is an important thing to practice as a writer, and this type of writing simultaneously allows you to reflect on your writing and on your own life. May, J. (2008, September 15). Journal Writing: 10 tips on getting started! Retrieved June 8, 2010, from Aspiration Plus: http://www.aspirationsplus.com Creative writing is an enjoyable way to write freely without the binding aspects of typical, everyday technical and academic writing. There are many forms of creative writing, with the most popular being short works of fiction and poetry. Some people argue that creative writing cannot be taught, but there are general characteristics of it that can be explained. Creative writing can also be a form of free writing. This can be something specifically planned out if ideas have already been thought up or something written without a prompt at all. One type of creative writing that can be especially pleasurable is poetry. Poetry can be such a satisfying thing to write because it allows you the chance to not have to adhere to the mechanics and conventions of grammar, spelling and punctuation that we must abide by on a regular basis. “Repetition and error is allowed and even encouraged, since the mind can be weighed down with a focus on structure” (Stevens 2002-2010). As the writer, this really gives you a freedom you do not normally have. You can write what you feel and whatever you want, with or without reason, and produce a piece of writing that is truly your own. Poetry also gives you the opportunity to use figurative language, something also rarely seen in technical pieces of writing. Figurative language is a way for us to use figures of speech to say things in unconventional ways. It is a way to exaggerate or mix up the literal meaning of words. For example, you could use metaphors to make connections between two unlike things, or you could use personification and give human qualities to inanimate objects. There are endless types of figurative language, giving you an immense chance to have fun with your truly original, creative writing. The best part of the process will be reading over what you wrote and sharing it with those close to you! Stevens, S. (2002-2010). Creative Writing Techniques: The Benefits and Basics of Free Writing. Retrieved June 8, 2010, from Helium: http://www.helium.com/items/1282922-how-to-freewrite | WizardzThis blog is used to inform users of updates and provide free tips for better writing. Every now and then, something will be posted for entertainment value. Enjoy. ArchivesNovember 2010 Categories |
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