We’ve been working on writing memoirs in ELA for the past few weeks. Here is an update on what I’ve accomplished/learned at each stage of the writing process.
The part of the writing process that has been the most comfortable for me has always been drafting because I was always free to do whatever I want, until the next stage (revising) then I have to do it again with less space to do what I want.
The part of the writing process that has been the most challenging for me has always been Generating Ideas because I’m not good at generating ideas. but when I do get an idea I always tell myself that it’s not good enough or its stupid.
Immersion
I’ve learned the characteristics of a memoir are: It has to be a true story, it’s written in chronological order, it includes descriptive details, it usually has a reflection, the writer is in the story, it usually includes the writer’s friends family ETC, and many memoirs are meant to make the reader feel something (happy sad ETC)
I think the characteristic I really want to focus on in my writing is detail because I need to work on adding more detail to my stories.
My favorite memoir mentor text was Sitti’s because the author had events that were happening at that time in the memoir.
Generating Ideas/Selecting
Why do you want to share this idea/story with others?
Because it was the first time I caught a somewhat big fish.
What emotions do you want your reader to feel as they read your memoir?
Joy
Drafting
Here is my first draft:
One thing I think I did really well is, add detail because I was really pushing myself to do that.
As I head into editing and revising, one thing I want to focus on is punctuation because I have never been good at it.
Stay tuned for another post soon as I work on revising my first draft. If you have any SHE (specific, helpful, empathetic) feedback, please leave it as a comment!
