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| Gifts of the Spirit Shirts |
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| Books for Small Christian Communities |
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| Books for Prayer and Spirituality |
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| Books for Scripture Study |
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| The Our Father: Lent 2012 Retreat |
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| | SELF-KNOWLEDGE
THROUGH WRITING YOUR MEMOIR
prepared by
Eleanor Lincoln, CSJ
Women at the Well Ministry, St. Paul, Minnesota
© 2003
A retired professor of English from The College of St. Catherine,
Dr. Lincoln has given numerous workshops on memoir writing.
This online workshop is adapted for your personal use.
Part 8: Shaping Your Memoir
Has
the reflection and writing you have done so far led you to deeper
self-knowledge? Has it also led you to a better understanding of
yourself in relationship with God, other people, and creation?
By
now you have accumulated many pages of free writing, and you have
triggered memories throughout this process. What you have done thus far
in this retreat workshop should be valuable to you. Are you interested
in going farther with it? If so, Part 8 will help you to more fully
develop your memoir.
You may be your memoir's only audience. If
so, let the wisdom of memoir-writing lead you to further self-knowledge
and wisdom. Perhaps you want to share your memories with a few
appreciative readers.
Treasure your memories and be grateful for them. Now is time to decide if and how you want to shape your memoir.
What focus or theme are you discovering?
How
is your “voice” emerging? The “voice” is the person behind the “I.” Can
you (or a reader) hear your “voice”? Your voice should be recognizable
through the experiences the “I” chooses to write about and also by the
word choice, the pacing, the overall structure. Your “voice” will come
clearer as you shape your memoir.
All memoirs include (in varying combinations):
voice (the person behind the memoir)
exposition (the facts and information included)
narration (the stories about the experiences)
description (details which affect the senses)
reflection (the meaning and significance, both then and now).
Your
memoir will reveal your past experiences seen from the perspective of
the present. This perspective varies according to the distance in time
between the experience itself and your reflection about it later. For
instance, there is a long time between memories of childhood and your
adult self. On the other hand, the time lag is much less in a memoir
written about last year's travels.
As you look over your
materials, find the “energy points,” the themes, the vivid language.
Start with these. Be prepared to continue to write and rewrite, to
revise your plans, and to work hard. As you write, you will find
yourself creating anew as you go. You will continue to grow in
self-knowledge as you work with your memoir.
Free writing
As
you have learned by now, free writing is important at every stage of
the writing process. Continue to explore your unconscious, your
imagination, your memory. Whenever you are stymied, do more free
writing! Don't forget to continually brainstorm, cluster, dialogue. Go
into your “memory room” frequently. Review your free writing from time
to time. Mark the places of “energy” and do further free writing around
these.
Articulating is an important part of the writing process
- finding the words for what you want to say. Gather much more material
than you think you will need. As you collect/write your memories, keep
a list of other memories whenever they come. The more your write the
more memories will come.
Review your pages of free writing to
see if you have enough detail. Continue to brainstorm about sense
details to bring the memory more alive to you (and to any reader you
may have).
Drafting/composing
How
much do you want your memoir to include? What focus, what time period,
what people, what places? Let your material speak to you of its
organization and focus. Remember, your memoir does not need to be a
book. It might be a short sketch or a chapter. What do you want your
memoir to include? You are in charge!
Not only does the material
as a whole need focus. Each section, each paragraph should be
focused--with all the details leading toward or away from that focus.
Note the focus of each of the published memoirs included in the
bibliography (Part 9).
Be more and more aware of any readers you
may share with. Keep this audience in mind as you write. For whatever
audience you choose, write authentically and vividly. Good writing is
always specific, using concrete detail. In being specific, you will be
unique.
Principles of effective writing
Even
if you are your only reader, you will need to strike a balance between
generalizing and using detail to support your general assertions.
Effective writing depends on an appropriate selection of detail to
bring the experience alive. You will find Natalie Goldberg's Writing
Down the Bones very helpful.
Use vivid words. When you name
something specific (e.g. “apple” or “pear” rather than “fruit”), you
take the blur of fuzzy language away. Discover the sense images that
are in your body or your imagination.
Find ways to give life and
energy to your sentences so that your ideas move, rather than just sit
on a page. Let your verbs be full of action.
Remember, let your
voice come through. Everything should come from your perspective. When
you are speaking, your voice is recognizable. Let the “you” come
through in your writing too.
Rewriting, Revising
To
revise means to re-see. You have a vision of what you want to say. But
your early drafts will probably not capture that “vision” fully. So
continue to re-see or re-vise until your memoir says what you really
mean and envision. Revising is a matter of options--of choosing the
best way to say what you intend to say. (All good writers revise and
revise!)
In revising try to find the most effective ways to
shape the piece. Then look at each paragraph to see if it really says
what you mean. Do the same with each sentence and each word. Do they
work together to carry out your focus?
Editing
Editing
should be your last step. Self-editing before this final stage of the
writing process can be counterproductive because it can stifle your
creativity. But now you will find it helpful to use a dictionary and a
good English handbook. Use spell check on your computer with caution.
You will find a critical reader the most help of all.
Publishing
If you decide to share your memoir, you can simply print out the pages on your computer. Maybe you can include photos.
The
process of publishing your memoir in book form would go beyond the
scope and purpose of this retreat workshop. But you might want to
entertain this idea some day!
If you
have gained in self-knowledge through your writing and have developed a
more reflective approach to your life, your examined life is indeed
worth living!
As you continue to write may you grow in self-knowledge!
If you haven't already looked at Part 9 The Bibliography,
you might like to do so now.
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