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Personal History - Hints on Writing (view source)
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''[[Image:Paper and Pencil.jpg|thumb|right]]Anyone who believes you can't change history has never tried to write his memoirs.'' David Ben Gurion<br> | ''[[Image:Create_a_Personal_Journal1.jpg|right|300x240px]][[Image:Paper and Pencil.jpg|thumb|right|Paper and Pencil.jpg]]Anyone who believes you can't change history has never tried to write his memoirs.'' David Ben Gurion<br> | ||
=== Should I Be Formal === | === Should I Be Formal === | ||
You may be wondering what would be the appropriate language to use. Do I write in a formal style or should I be more relaxed?<br> | You may be wondering what would be the appropriate language to use. Do I write in a formal style or should I be more relaxed?<br> | ||
Maybe you think that being formal is more appropriate, after all this is your life story. <br><br>If after a few pages your literary masterpiece doesn't feel right or flow very well, it very well may be that you're using words that no one ever heard you use before. Maybe people will wonder if you really wrote this stuff. Have you noticed that when you pick up a pen you have the tendency to become someone else? <br><br>Here are a few suggestions you might find helpful:<br> | Maybe you think that being formal is more appropriate, after all this is your life story. <br><br>If after a few pages your literary masterpiece doesn't feel right or flow very well, it very well may be that you're using words that no one ever heard you use before. Maybe people will wonder if you really wrote this stuff. Have you noticed that when you pick up a pen you have the tendency to become someone else? <br><br>Here are a few suggestions you might find helpful:<br> | ||
=== Write Like You Speak === | === Write Like You Speak === | ||
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=== Avoid Compound Words === | === Avoid Compound Words === | ||
They are words, for example, that start with pre-, re-, or de-. Get rid of words that have endings such as -altry, -ousness, or -ization. These words are referred to as “crowed words.” Each of them contains more than a simple definition. It requires more effort for your brain to process them, which slows down your comprehension.<br><br>To help you get rid of these types of words, get a high school dictionary. Notice I said a high school dictionary not a college one. High school dictionaries give definitions of these compound words that are found more in everyday conversation. | They are words, for example, that start with pre-, re-, or de-. Get rid of words that have endings such as -altry, -ousness, or -ization. These words are referred to as “crowed words.” Each of them contains more than a simple definition. It requires more effort for your brain to process them, which slows down your comprehension.<br><br>To help you get rid of these types of words, get a high school dictionary. Notice I said a high school dictionary not a college one. High school dictionaries give definitions of these compound words that are found more in everyday conversation. | ||
<br>When a compound word comes to mind and you can’t think of a simpler word, go to you high school dictionary and see what words you can substitute. Simple words make for faster reading and easier comprehension. | <br>When a compound word comes to mind and you can’t think of a simpler word, go to you high school dictionary and see what words you can substitute. Simple words make for faster reading and easier comprehension. | ||
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=== Appeal to the Senses === | === Appeal to the Senses === | ||
Use language that appeal to the senses. Write so that the senses of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste are triggered. <br> | Use language that appeal to the senses. Write so that the senses of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste are triggered. <br> | ||
*Sight: “The six inch dent in the side of my car told me the whole story.” <br> | *Sight: “The six inch dent in the side of my car told me the whole story.” <br> | ||
*Sound: “My cousin’s voice could be heard all over the house.” <br> | *Sound: “My cousin’s voice could be heard all over the house.” <br> | ||
*Smell: “Whenever I walked into the kitchen just before dinner, the scent of garlic always greeted my nose.” <br> | *Smell: “Whenever I walked into the kitchen just before dinner, the scent of garlic always greeted my nose.” <br> | ||
*Touch: “When mother touched my hand, I felt peace again.” <br> | *Touch: “When mother touched my hand, I felt peace again.” <br> | ||
*Taste: “That steak tasted like shoe leather.” | *Taste: “That steak tasted like shoe leather.” | ||
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*Background: Tell what led to the incident. | *Background: Tell what led to the incident. | ||
*Raising Action: Describe the string of events to show how they increased tentions or emotions in the characters. | *Raising Action: Describe the string of events to show how they increased tentions or emotions in the characters. | ||
*Climax: Tell us how it ended. <br> | *Climax: Tell us how it ended. <br> | ||
*Effect: What were the results on yourself and others because of the events described. <br> | *Effect: What were the results on yourself and others because of the events described. <br> | ||
*Learned: Tell us what you learned from your experience. <br> | *Learned: Tell us what you learned from your experience. <br> | ||
*Feelings: What were you feelings about the people involved or towards the events themselves. <br> | *Feelings: What were you feelings about the people involved or towards the events themselves. <br> | ||
*Consequences: What other events were effected by this incident? <br> | *Consequences: What other events were effected by this incident? <br> | ||
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=== Express Feelings === | === Express Feelings === | ||
If there is anything in the telling of one life, this is the most important item it in. Events we experience are interesting to others, no doubt, but our feelings about them do more to reveal who we are to others than anything we can say. Express feelings like surprise, embarrassment, sorrow, happiness, joy, bitterness, resentment, remorse, etc. If you have these reactions to the events you are writing about, tell us! You have feelings and we, your readers, want to hear them. <br>Life affected you. It did not bounce off of you without a reaction. Humans react to everything, whether it can be seen or not.<br> | If there is anything in the telling of one life, this is the most important item it in. Events we experience are interesting to others, no doubt, but our feelings about them do more to reveal who we are to others than anything we can say. Express feelings like surprise, embarrassment, sorrow, happiness, joy, bitterness, resentment, remorse, etc. If you have these reactions to the events you are writing about, tell us! You have feelings and we, your readers, want to hear them. <br>Life affected you. It did not bounce off of you without a reaction. Humans react to everything, whether it can be seen or not.<br> | ||
We want to know how you felt if you lost a child, failed at business, inherited a large sum of money, when you realized you had met the person you were going to marry, hated it when a certain person was elected mayor of your town, etc.<br><br>Your reactions are who you are and your reader wants to hear them to know YOU.<br> | We want to know how you felt if you lost a child, failed at business, inherited a large sum of money, when you realized you had met the person you were going to marry, hated it when a certain person was elected mayor of your town, etc.<br><br>Your reactions are who you are and your reader wants to hear them to know YOU.<br> | ||
=== Put in Some Humor === | === Put in Some Humor === | ||
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=== You Are Not Ordinary === | === You Are Not Ordinary === | ||
There is no such thing as a ordinary person. Just as no two people would ever play the same piece of music the same way, no two people will ever react the same way to the same situation. <br><br> | There is no such thing as a ordinary person. Just as no two people would ever play the same piece of music the same way, no two people will ever react the same way to the same situation. <br><br> | ||
Everyone is unique and everyone is interesting once you get to know them. It’s a fact – people find other people interesting. Magazines about people and what they are doing sell far more issues than magazines on home improvement.<br><br> | Everyone is unique and everyone is interesting once you get to know them. It’s a fact – people find other people interesting. Magazines about people and what they are doing sell far more issues than magazines on home improvement.<br><br> | ||
Remember -- how you faced the commonplace is not commonplace. You will always do things your way. Your descendants will see how you handled sickness, death of family members, financial reversals, marriage, divorce, and more. <br><br>They’ll want to see how you “made it,” if you "made it." They’ll want to know what process you went through to get to the top. Or if you didn’t accomplish all the things you wanted, what did you do? This may be of critical importance to a 4th great grandchild who is down on himself, thinking he is not achieving his best. Reading your response to your failures and how you kept going may give them inspiration to keep going too. <br><br>In addition, the specific thoughts you recorded and the language you use will tell them if you took life seriously or were a light-hearted person. What you write about will tell them what was important to you. <br><br>Of course, what you didn’t write about will speak to them as well. What could you do better for your children and your children’s children than to record the story of your life? Some of what you write may, indeed, be humdrum dates and places, but there will also be passages that will be quoted by your posterity. <br><br>Think about that. You could be quoted by your descendants. I have quoted my ancestors as I’ve told my children and grandchildren about them. You will be quoted too. | Remember -- how you faced the commonplace is not commonplace. You will always do things your way. Your descendants will see how you handled sickness, death of family members, financial reversals, marriage, divorce, and more. <br><br>They’ll want to see how you “made it,” if you "made it." They’ll want to know what process you went through to get to the top. Or if you didn’t accomplish all the things you wanted, what did you do? This may be of critical importance to a 4th great grandchild who is down on himself, thinking he is not achieving his best. Reading your response to your failures and how you kept going may give them inspiration to keep going too. <br><br>In addition, the specific thoughts you recorded and the language you use will tell them if you took life seriously or were a light-hearted person. What you write about will tell them what was important to you. <br><br>Of course, what you didn’t write about will speak to them as well. What could you do better for your children and your children’s children than to record the story of your life? Some of what you write may, indeed, be humdrum dates and places, but there will also be passages that will be quoted by your posterity. <br><br>Think about that. You could be quoted by your descendants. I have quoted my ancestors as I’ve told my children and grandchildren about them. You will be quoted too. | ||
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=== The Good the Bad and the Ugly === | === The Good the Bad and the Ugly === | ||
The question sometimes comes up, should we write about everything -- the good, the bad and the ugly? Do we reveal all, even our bad side? What is tasteful and what is not?<br><br> | The question sometimes comes up, should we write about everything -- the good, the bad and the ugly? Do we reveal all, even our bad side? What is tasteful and what is not?<br><br> | ||
Personally, I disagree with those who delve in detail into the ugly parts of their lives or those of anyone else, for that matter. The truth might need to be told and I emphases the word “might”, but why play up the negative? <br><br>Why spend a lot of time talking about an ugly incident when your life is, for the most part, one of trying to do the right thing for yourself and your family? <br><br>As we seem to forget the unpleasant experiences in life over time and remember only the good, let us do the same with our personal histories. Remember for whom you are writing and what you want others to remember about you. | Personally, I disagree with those who delve in detail into the ugly parts of their lives or those of anyone else, for that matter. The truth might need to be told and I emphases the word “might”, but why play up the negative? <br><br>Why spend a lot of time talking about an ugly incident when your life is, for the most part, one of trying to do the right thing for yourself and your family? <br><br>As we seem to forget the unpleasant experiences in life over time and remember only the good, let us do the same with our personal histories. Remember for whom you are writing and what you want others to remember about you. | ||
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*A New Guide To Better Writing – by Rudolf Flesch and A. H. Lass | *A New Guide To Better Writing – by Rudolf Flesch and A. H. Lass | ||
*On Writing Well – by William Zinsser. | *On Writing Well – by William Zinsser. | ||
*Writing About Your Life - by William Zinsser | *Writing About Your Life - by William Zinsser | ||
*A Writer’s Guide to Nonfiction – by Elizabeth Lyon | *A Writer’s Guide to Nonfiction – by Elizabeth Lyon | ||