Writing Your Personal Narrative

Writing your memoir is a chance to tell a true story from your life that is important and memorable to you. You may not know why it matters, but for some reason the story stays with you, and you want to tell it. You will write it as if you were telling a friend a story, but the language will be more formal. Try to write your story as compellingly as a great work of fiction.

What to aim for:

• The narrative must be a true story
• Include the elements of a story  (rather than a description or scene or series of loosely connected events or ideas)
• Choose the most important and effective parts of the story to describe in detail
• Create characters
• The piece should be meaningful to you and show something important about the you or insightful about the world or human nature without telling what it means
• Show don't tell
• Write descriptively and specifically, using appropriate sensory imagery, and details that convey character and mood
• Your writing should have your voice, and should be smooth, concise and interesting to read
• The piece should be organized well and uses paragraphs effectively
• Use dialogue effectively, where appropriate