Post #111 – Women’s Memoirs, Writing Prompt – Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler
What’s Your Sandwich? Another Memoir Writing Prompt
Last August, I flew from San Jose to Portland to see family and to begin our search for real estate in Corvallis. Our home in Gilroy was for sale and although the market was weak, it was a beautiful property and we knew it would sell. We couldn’t postpone our search for a new home for too long.
One more trip and a chance to indulge in my secret pleasure. Which one do you think is mine:
1) Sitting at my computer exactly 24 hours before the flight leaves with my cursor on the Online Checkin button and my finger resting on the Enter key.
2) Going through security check-in with shoes off, hair barrette removed (it’s been known to trigger the alarm), jacket removed, computer out of backpack
3) Ripping open tiny bags of free peanuts
4) Reading Spirit, Southwest Airlines’ magazine.
If you chose #4, then you’re a winner. Not only is the magazine well written and interesting, but it is a source of ideas for my memoir writing prompts.
Here’s one from that August trip:
Spirit tempted us all with the photographs of sandwiches — especially this one on the cover. Now since I’m a vegan, I wasn’t actually tempted by the specific sandwiches although I imagine you might be. Instead, I saw a writing prompt that will be a lot of fun.
Memoir Writing Prompt: Building Your Own Sandwich
1. Write for 10 minutes about your favorite sandwich. Include every detail you can think of. Is this a sandwich you had as a child or is it an adult treat? If it is a childhood memory you are recalling, add where you ate the sandwich — what was the table like, the chair, the plate. What are the smells in the kitchen or from your sandwich? Focusing on tiny details both helps you to recall more and also helps you bring the description to life.
2. Now, describe yourself as if you were a sandwich. Think of the two slices of bread (three if you think of yourself as a club sandwich) as your major traits that hold the rest of you together. What about your filling — a little of many different ingredients or a lot of just a few? How do your hold yourself together. A toothpick might work for a physical sandwich but you might be held together by your beliefs. As with the previous prompt, include as many details as possible.
Treat: As soon as you have written on each prompt for 10 minutes, go to the kitchen and fix yourself a sandwich. As you assemble it, consider your life and all that you have put into it.
Want to read a few other memoir writing prompts inspired by Spirit magazine? Try these:
