Journaling for Memoir

Workshop A Short Course in Writing Deeply

Workbook

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Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. - Anton Chekhov

JournalingforMemoirTeleseminarAShortCourseinWritingDeeply

byAmberLeaStarfire

TheBenefitsofJournalingforMemoirWriters

Mostwritershavekeptjournalsfromtimetotime,andwe’reawareofthe

powerfulbenefitsofajournalingpractice—catharsis,emotionalhealing,clarity,

makingmeaningoflife’sevents,stressreduction,andenhancedcreativity,tonamea

few.Butwemaynotbeawareofthemanywayswecanusejournalingtechniquesto

enhanceourcreativewritingpractice.

Idividejournalingformemoirintothreecategories:

1. Journalingtodayfortomorrow’smemoirs

2. Miningpastjournalsformemoirswe’rewritingtoday

3. Developingthestory

Journalingfortomorrow

Recordinglife’seventsonpaperisliketakingsnapshotsandstoringthemina

photoalbum.Later,whenyouwanttorememberthoseevents,youcanlookatthe

photographs.Itstandstoreasonthatthemoresnapshotsyoutake(i.e.,themore

eventsyourecord),themoreaccessibleandaccurateyourmemorieswillbecome.

Thinkofjournalingasacameraofwords:itprovidesawayforrenewingold

memoriesandcapturingnewones.

Journalingfortomorrowisaboutcapturingyourmomentsasclosetowhen

theyoccuraspossible.Thegoalofwritingcapturedmomentsistostoptheaction

andrecordallthesensoryandemotionaldetailssurroundingit.

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Here’showyoudoit:

1)

2)

Practice:

1. Chooseanexperienceyouhadtodayoryesterday.

2. Briefly,writewhereyouwere,whowastherewithyou,andwhathappened.

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3. List3things/qualitiesoftheexperienceforeachsense(sights,smells,tastes,

sounds,andthingstouched).Includephysicalreactions.

Sights:

• _________________________________________________________________________________

• _________________________________________________________________________________

• _________________________________________________________________________________

Sounds:

• __________________________________________________________________________________

• _________________________________________________________________________________

• _________________________________________________________________________________

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Smells:

• __________________________________________________________________________________

• _________________________________________________________________________________

• _________________________________________________________________________________

Tastes:

• __________________________________________________________________________________

• _________________________________________________________________________________

• _________________________________________________________________________________

PhysicalTouch:

• __________________________________________________________________________________

• _________________________________________________________________________________

• _________________________________________________________________________________

PhysicalSensations/reactions:

• __________________________________________________________________________________

• _________________________________________________________________________________

• _________________________________________________________________________________

4. Jotdownemotionsfelt,includingconfusion(youdon’tknowhowyoufeltor

feel).

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5. Notecontextualitems—newsitems,weather,holidays,generalmoodetc.

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That’sallyouneedtodotocaptureamomentforthefuture.Ifyouhavetime,

afteryou’vejotteddownphrasesorlistswiththedetails,gobackandwritea

poemorbitofproseaboutthemomentorevent,processingyouremotionsas

younormallywouldinyourjournal.

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Miningpastjournals

Now,we’regoingtoreviewjustafewofthemanywaysandreasonstopull

thosejournalsoutofstorageoroffyourbookshelvesandusethemtohelpwithyour

memoirwriting.Thesimplestmethodsinvolvereadingentrieswhilelookingfor

informationthatinforms:

Scene:_________________________________________________________________________________

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Reflection:____________________________________________________________________________

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Context:_______________________________________________________________________________

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AnotherwayistolookforPatterns:

Seasonal:______________________________________________________________________________

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Thematic: _____________________________________________________________________________

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Metaphoric(recurringimages)______________________________________________________

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Developingthestory

Yourjournalistheplacetoexploreimages,concepts,characters,places,and

themes—allwithoutthepressureoftryingtowriteanactualsceneorstory.It’sa

practicedesignedtodeepenyourunderstandingofyourstory.

DevelopmentTechniques:

Clustering: ____________________________________________________________________________

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ExampleofClustering

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PracticeClustering:

1. Useafreshsheetofpaper

2. Asyournucleus,chooseapersonorplaceandwritethenameinthemiddleofthepage.

3. Clusterfor2minutes.

4. Writefor8minutes,usingyourclusterforinspiration.

Listsof100:___________________________________________________________________________

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• 100thingsyourcharacterwants• 100thingsyourcharacterhates• 100thingsyourcharacterloves• 100personalitytraits• 100fears• 100thingsyourcharacterisgoodat• 100thingsyourcharacterwisheshecoulddo• 100peopleyourcharacteradmires• 100thingsyourcharacterbelievesin• 100physicaltraits• 100thingsyourcharacterdidasachild

Dialogues: ____________________________________________________________________________

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LettersandInterviews:______________________________________________________________

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Anyjournalingpromptsorsentencestarter:______________________________________

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SomeStarters(youcansubstituteit/I/he/sheinanyofthese):

• He’sthekindofman/womanwho…• It’sthekindofplacethat…• Mybiggestfearis…• Whatshereallywantsis…• Ifhecoulddoanythinghewanted,hewould…• Itsmellslike…• Ifeelmostsecurewhen…• Themostwonderfulthingthathappenedwas…• Iamsohappythat…• Hewassodepressedthat…• ThemostdifficultthingIeverhadtodealwithwas…• Thesituationwas…• Tome,atruefriendis…• Shehated…• Heloved…

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More...Doyouwanttotakeyourmemoirwritingtothenextstep?

Doyouwanttouseyourjournalmoreeffectively?

Thisshortcourseisonlythebeginning…

JournalingforMemoirisasix-weekguidedstudycourseinwhichyouwill

learnadditional,proventechniques,including“BurningMoments”toreveal

importantthemesinyourlifeanddriveyourwritingprocess.

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