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Here's another
memoir writing
free lesson for
you, using your
history recall
Using
History Recall
Many of us remember exactly where we were
and what we were doing the day Princess
Diana died in the car crash.
And just as many of us recall the exact
moment when Kennedy was shot.
But we may not wish to write about such tragic times in
our past. This is where choice comes in.
Below is a short list of Today in History events
(compliments of Twisted History.com).
1. Check the list every day until you find an event that
gives you a personal history recall. Once you do find
an event, go to step 2.
You Recall
2. One way we can narrate events from our past is by
using a wonderful technique called wave-particle-field:
Consider for a moment the movie that opens with one
hand holding a matchbox and the other holding a match.
The match strikes the flint strip, the flame pops up, and
the hand holding the lit match raises to a cigarette,
which is in the mouth of a man. The camera now backs
up to give us a picture of the whole person, then moves
out to give us a wider view of the whole room.
The cinematography has covered three ranges for us,
a. close up,
b. medium shot, and
c. long shot.
This is what you can do in this memoir writing exercise:
a. give a close up of yourself and the other people
during the event. how old are you? where are you?
what are you doing? can you smell anything? hear
anything? feel, see, or taste anything?
b. move a short distance outward--what is going on in
the room down the hall or downtown? describe the
same sensory details (as above and as we learned to
do in Memoir Writing for Our Elders to Tell Your Story
lesson.
c. then move even further away, so you are narrating the
details of the largest sphere, the field.
Until I can find the samples I was given permission to
use, I will paraphrase some wave-particle-field
examples former students of mine have written:
Betty described her new groom getting a
haircut--detailing the shine of his thick black hair, the
thick smells of hair tonic, even adding dialogue.
She then described the townspeople preparing
themselves for war (WWII).
She then began an account of the battlefields in Europe.
account--or if you get stuck while
writing--email me. I'd love to
read and respond to anything.
Memoir Writing Ideas
Memoir Writing for Our Elders
art in the RoxanneWrites HOME page for art credits section.
