Post #123 – Women’s Memoirs, Writing Prompt – Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler
Want to Create a Connection with Your Readers?
This may sound a little far fetched, so give me a few minutes before you decide I’ve gone completely nuts in 2012.
I read that cows with names produce more milk than nameless cows, which are treated as part of a herd rather than as individual animals. (The findings, based on a study of 516 dairy farmers in England, were published in January 2009.) Dr. Catherine Douglas, the lead researcher from Newcastle University’s School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, said,
“Just as people respond better to the personal touch, cows also feel happier and more relaxed if they are given a bit more one-to-one attention. By placing more importance on the individual, such as calling a cow by her name or interacting with the animal more as it grows up, we can not only improve the animal’s welfare and her perception of humans, but also increase milk production.”
Thanks for sticking with me this far. I’m not trying to increase milk production. I’m a vegan, after all. But I am considering the impact of names, details, and knowledge about the people in our memoirs.
I suggest that you consider lavishing attention on the people in your memoir. Treat each of them as important individuals. Make sure you adequately introduce them to your readers. Don’t just say “Aunt Ruby.” Tell your readers more about this woman. They’ll identify with the rest of your story if they become emotionally involved with the people you are writing about.
For example, you might tell them that Uncle Rob, Aunt Ruby’s husband, died when her children were four and nine. You might recall overhearing your parents saying, “Poor Susan. She’s so young that she won’t even remember her father when she grow up.” Because your uncle was your father’s brother, you begin worrying that something might happen to your father as well. What would you do? How would you be able to go to college?
Writing Prompt
1. Take a person you mention in your memoir. Not you. Not other “top tier” people who are in many scenes in your memoir. Take a minor person. Write down everything you know about this person. Then write an imaginary scene in which there’s just you and this person. Go for a walk or a sporting event or a museum. Use the setting to draw out information about the person. Be as descriptive as you can. Think of how you can draw the reader in by creating a connection between the reader and the person.
