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…because…

The part of the writing process that has been the most comfortable for me has always been the drafting stage because once I have an idea I pretty much know exactly what I’m going to write even before I start.

The part of the writing process that has been the most challenging for me has always been….because…

The part of the writing process that has been the most challenging for me has always been Generating Ideas because I’m not very good at coming up with things that actually happened in my life that I’m willing to write about.

Immersion

I’ve learned the characteristics of a memoir include:

-A true story or narrative that often focuses on a memorable experience of particular time in the author’s life.

-Written in chronological order so events unfold naturally.

-Includes descriptive details, dialogue, and pacing to develop experiences.

-Often includes a reflection on why the event is important to the writer.

-The writer is in the story. He or she tells the story from his or her point of view.

-Many memoirs include the writer’s family or friends or someone who made a difference in his/her life.

-Memoirs are written to make the reader feel something: happy, sad, mad, etc.

I think the characteristic I really want to focus on in my writing is…because…

I think the characteristic I really want to focus on in my writing is using descriptive details because I want the reader to be able to visualize it.

My favorite memoir mentor text was….because the author…

I didn’t like any of the mentor texts because most of them were kinda boring and none of them had anything I was interested in. 

Generating Ideas/Selecting

Why do you want to share this idea/story with others?

Deductive Reasoning. There was nothing else that I’d be willing to write about.

What emotions do you want your reader to feel as they read your memoir?

My memoir is not meant to make the reader feel an emotion.

Drafting

 

Here is my first draft:

One thing I think I did really well is….because…

One thing I think I did really well is use descriptive details because Gev. Kimmel said I use good descriptive details.

As I head into editing and revising, one thing I want to focus on is…because…

As I head into editing and revising, one thing I want to focus on is using good SHE feedback when helping others because I want to be aware of other people’s feelings.

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!