Post #250 – Memoir Writing – Matilda Butler
Do You Use Memoir Writing Prompts?
Many memoir classes use writing prompts to get the creative juices flowing or to help students focus on one particular aspect of writing. Blogs and even books contribute to the set of prompts designed to help memoir writers improve their skills and practice their craft. What’s not to like?
As with much in life, there are two sides to this issue. Both have valid arguments. Some say the prompts are valuable. Others say the same amount of time should be spent working directly on the memoir. I can see both sides although I favor prompts as you can tell from this website. I find that prompts can help a person focus, gain insights, even understand the rigors of memoir.
A few months ago, I was in the audience of a concert and listened as the orchestra warmed up before the performance. Oh my goodness. What a cacophony of sounds. Each musician seemed to turn inward, ignore all others, and play difficult passages over and over. No one seemed to play an entire piece, just little snippets that were hard to do correctly.
This helped me see that writing prompts can be a type of warming up, a time to prepare to write. Maybe you want to think about creating your own writing prompts that let you work on a portion of your writing (sensory details, physical descriptions, etc.) so that when it is time to write, you are mentally ready to begin.
Your Own Memoir Writing Prompts
1. Write a prompt focused on emotions.
2. Write a prompt centered on sensory detail.
3. Write a prompt about the arc of a story.
4. Write a prompt that is lots of fun.
5. Write a prompt coming out of your childhood.
6. Write a prompt about your future.
7. Write a prompt about color and then consider how you can bring colors into your writing.
8. Write a silly prompt about the looks of your pet and then use that as a springboard to describing people in your memoir.
The best part of writing your own prompts is that you are never without a prompt.
