Contrary to popular belief, writing chronologically isn’t always the best way to tell a story.
I would argue it’s rarely the best way unless you are writing a history book or a systems manual of some kind. No one tells a story in order. Our memories and thoughts don’t work that way.
The same goes for the process of my fragments for my memoir.
1. I decide on the theme.
Before I sit down to write, I decide what I need to write next. This is generally what is pressing on my mind and is usually decided while I am showering the night before or the morning of.
*Showers and walks are where most of my clear thinking is found.
2. I make a list.
Once I have decided what I am about to write, I make a list of all of the possible scenes, thoughts, words, quotes and ideas this theme brings up. For example:
Birthdays
- homemade cake.
- Streamers
- Dad’s Disney Voices
- Video camera
- Elementary school friends
These prompts don’t need to mean anything to anyone else, but to me, they allow me to see visually in my mind a variety of scenes. Once I am satisfied with the list, I decide which is best to begin with. I return to the concept: “Come in late, and leave early.” This concept helps create momentum and urgency in my writing and often allows me to introduce an intense scene that I can enter late and then expand upon.
3. I sit down to write.
No later than the day after I write the list, do I sit down to write the fragment. It’s important to me that I feel the urgency to write the fragment, which is why I bounce around. There are weeks I do not want to write about heavier topics, and it is then that I turn to lighter, amusing themes. Either way, I never make a fragment list and leave it waiting. I make sure to write it as soon as possible.
4. Review and Expand.
After I have written all I can in that fragment, I re-read it and expand. Rarely does this happen on the day of. Most of the time, this is the following day to let my mind sit with the material I have created. As I re-read, I often find patches of writing that need more explanation, scenes that are missing thoughts or need thoughts to be re-ordered.
5. I pass to my partner.
The first person who reviews my writing is and has always been my partner. With a more technical but still artistic mind, he often catches things I do not and helps me tidy up the copy in a way that I intend it to be read. In all honesty, I cannot be relied upon to create the cleanest copy while also excavating my life for all of these fragments.
*He is also the first in line to support my work, thus it works well that he is the best first person to read what I have written.
6. I review and expand again.
Once he sends back his edits, questions, and suggestions, I re-read, edit, and expand where needed. By then, my first draft should be complete.
7. I submit to my mentor.
The final draft is submitted to my mentor for their edits, thoughts, comments, etc. It is here that I then take the first draft and create a second, hopefully cleaner copy, ready for an agent.
