Memoir Writing Prompt: Pick a Word, Any Word

by Matilda Butler on June 6, 2017

Writing Prompt LogoPost #238 – Women’s Memoirs, Writing Prompt – Matilda Butler

How to Use a Word to Get You Writing

A close friend send me a card a few months ago. Right in the middle of it, she wrote:

FRIENDSHIP WORDS

Faithful
Funny
Fantastic
Forgiving
Fair
Flexible
Fabulous
First-rate

I marveled at this idea. And today I’m sharing her concept with you.

memoir writing prompt

Memoir Writing Prompt





1. Think of a word or concept. The example above is FRIENDSHIP. You might consider:

–Happiness
–Home
–Caring
–Family
–Travel
–Health
–Grace
–…(Your word)

2. Once you have chosen your word or concept, make a list of words that expand on that concept. In the example above, all the words began with “F” just as the word “Friendship” began with an “F”. But that isn’t at all necessary. (Although it could be a fun challenge.) Use single words that bring a fullness to the concept. Think of as many words as possible, but stop once you feel you have bounded your chosen concept.

3. Now this is where the memoir writing prompt gets challenging: Think of the word that describes the concept of your memoir. Make yourself choose just one word…survival, innocence, childhood, love, etc. Now that you have a word, make a list of other words that adequately describe the concept. Find the words that express the facets of your memoir word/concept…facets based on your experiences. Another person using the same word would have quite a different set of facet words because each person’s experiences are unique.

Take this word and list of related words and use them to reflect on what you have already written. Are there elements of the concept behind your memoir that you have not touched on? Would those elements enhance what you’ve written?

There are no clear answers, but this writing prompt may give you new food for thought as you make progress with your memoir.

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