Post #110 – Women’s Memoirs, Writing Prompt – Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler
Another Plane Ride, Another Memoir Writing Prompt
A few days ago, I completed a round trip on Southwest Airlines from Portland to Las Vegas for the Association of Personal Historians’ annual meeting where Kendra and I gave three writing workshops. As usual, rather than immediately turning to work, I pulled out the dog-earned copy of Spirit magazine from the back of the seat pocket.
I often get ideas for writing prompts from this great magazine and thought I’d thumb through the current issue. Imagine my surprise and delight to find on the cover: The Art of Story Telling. What could be more perfect.
I’ll let you read the clever way that storytelling is illustrated (and yes, sometimes there are graphics). But for today, I want to use a statistic in the magazine to get you writing.
What Does the Cost of Money Have to Do with Memoir Writing?
Spirit magazine frequently highlights an interesting statistic. Those are perfect for me because I can reshape them into writing prompts. This month’s figure focused on the cost of producing new pennies and nickels. Did you know that it costs the government 1.8 cents to produce each new penny? Surprised? If you think that’s hard to believe, how about this one. It costs 9.2 cents to mint each nickel.
When I had a technology company, one sales person used to joke about losing a little on each sale but making it up in volume. I think the US Mint has perfected this.
Of course, the price of production is dependent on several factors but the dominant driving force is the cost of metal. Unfortunately for the US Mint zinc, copper and nickel prices have soared in the past several years creating the discrepancy between the cost and the value of both the penny and the nickel.
Now as to the connection between pennies, nickels and memoir writing.
Many of us collect something. One of my sons collected stamps when he was young. Another collected owls. A third stated that he wanted to collect silver, clearly upping the ante with his other brothers. My mother thought I should collect nickels along the way. She gave me a couple of shoeboxes full. I’m not quite sure what happened to them but I imagine I took them to a bank along the way.
Some collections are small and precious. Others are just for the fun of it. Some people like to purchase something on a trip that adds to their collection creating a visual memory.
Memoir Writing Prompts:
1. Do you have a collection? Write about how it got started. Write about the first piece in your collection. Write about your most recent addition.
2. After getting all of this written, consider what the collection means to you. If you were to give it away, who would you give it to? Reach inside yourself to better understand the importance of the collection in your life. What do you think the collection says to others about you?
3. Don’t collect? That can also be a good topic for writing. Why no collections. Perhaps you had one once when you were young. Maybe you just outgrew interest in collections. Perhaps you are too busy.
Want to read a few other memoir writing prompts inspired by Spirit magazine? Try these:
