Issue 4 June 2016
Writing in bite-sized pieces
Could you write your life story on a postcard?
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Welcome In this issue Page 2 Writing in bite-sized pieces Page 4 Six-word memoirs Page 6 Cinquains Page 9 Blogging your memoir Page 12 Could you write your life story on a postcard? Page 15 It’s your turn
Welcome to the June edition of the iScribbles online magazine - a magazine for aspiring and inexperienced writers of non-fiction. At iScribbles we cover a wide range of non-fiction genres from life story, memoir, autobiography and family history to nostalgia, scrap-book journalling, food writing, local and social history and travel writing. This edition of the iScribbles on-line magazine focuses on writing on a small scale. If you are daunted by the idea of writing a full-length book, I hope the articles in this month’s edition will inspire you to get scribbling. From writing in bite-sized pieces and writing your life story on a postcard to six-word memoirs and cinquains - these are all ways in which you can tell a story without the need to produce pages and pages of text. Although using a short form to tell a story does present a different type of challenge to writing a longer work, the forms described in this magazine do give you opportunity to be more creative and imaginative. Chris Lightfoot Editor and founder of the Scribbles magazine and website
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Writing in bite-sized pieces Chris Lightfoot Sitting down to write a full-length autobiography, memoir, family history, local history book or whatever subject you have chosen can be daunting and so what not try another approach.
Pick out something that interests you Choose an anecdote, a special memory, a specific event or whatever inspires you and then scribble a bitesized story about it. If you approach writing in this way you will soon have a collection of stories you can share with family and friends.
Look for a theme You could write a random selection of stories based on individual events, memories, special occasions, holidays, people, specific periods, places etc. or you could look to see if there is a theme or thread you could develop into a series of stories. If you then decide you want to produce a complete book, the bite-sized pieces you have already written will give you a great start. If your goal is to write a full-length book, breaking it down into manageable bitesized pieces not only means that you are more likely to succeed but you will also have the satisfaction of seeing your story gradually evolve.
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Concentrate on one idea at a time For each story try to concentrate on just one particular event, incident, place, person etc. at a time. This will help you to focus your ideas and stop you from wandering off into other areas or topics. You can save all of your other ideas for subsequent stories.
How long is a bite-sized story? The length of each story you write will largely depend on what you are writing about and how inspired or motivated you feel. You might be able to say everything you want in two to three hundred words or it may take 2000 words or more but length really doesn’t matter. The main thing is that by breaking down your task into bitesized pieces, not only will the task become much more manageable, you will also have a better chance of succeeding by getting past the first major hurdle for many new or inexperienced writers – getting started.
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Six-word memoirs Chris Lightfoot
Could you sum up your life in six words? Legend has it that in the 1920s Ernest Hemingway made a $10 bet with some friends that he could write a story in six words and this is what he came up with: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”. Even if this story is apocryphal these six words are remarkably powerful and I can’t imagine any one reading them without tears coming to their eyes. In 2006, Larry Smith, founding editor of Smith magazine, invited his online community to submit the story of their own lives in just six words. Because of the huge response, a collection of six-word memoirs by the famous and and not so famous was published in a book called 'Not Quite What I was Planning'. The success of this book led to a series of best-selling six-word memoir books.
Some examples of six-word memoirs There are many examples of six-word memoirs in books and online but here are just a few examples that caught my eye on Kelly Writers House: What I didn't expect changed me (Kathy Lou Schultz) Each year balder than the last (Donald Antenen) Moved every year then came home (Allison Harris) It's simpler than they tell you (Josh Kruger) Survived dog attack, Beatlemania and egomania (Catherine Palmer) Maybe art school was a mistake (Holiday Campanella) Slightly awkward, clumsy, asks many questions (Tahneer Oksman)
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Write your own six-word memoir Writing about your life in six words is a challenge but it really makes you focus on the most significant, profound, amusing, sad, poignant, influential, life changing etc. events in your life which can be summed up in just six words. As you only have six words to play with you will have to choose your words carefully. So, once you have come up with an idea, start by scribbling down as many relevant words as you can and then cross out and cross out until you have got down to your final six words. Avoid unnecessary words such as 'and', 'the', 'I', 'me' etc.. Don't worry about the correct use of punctuation - be as creative as you want and use whatever punctuation adds style (for example, colons, semi colons, dashes etc.) and meaning to your six-word memoir.
Don't stop at one six-word memoir Why settle for one six-word memoir. Make the six-word memoir part of your writing routine. They are creative and fun and something you can share so easily through social media (Twitter is perfect for six-word memoirs) or any other way you want.
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Cinquains Chris Lightfoot Continuing the theme of brevity (see Six-word memoirs on page 4) let me introduce you to the world of ‘cinquains’.
What is a cinquain? A cinquain (pronounced sin-cain) comes from the Latin for five and is a type of poetry that was created about 100 years ago by an American poet called Adelaide Crapsey. The popularity of cinquains (like the Japanese haiku and tanka) can be attributed to their simplicity and brevity.
What form does does a cinquain take? A cinquain has just five lines with a specific count of syllables or words in each line and so they are relatively quick and easy to write. The original format for a cinquaine (as defined by Adelaide Crapsey) uses a count of syllables but there is also a version based on the original idea which uses a word count rather than a syllable count. Line 1 - two syllables Line 2 - four syllables Line 3 - six syllables Line 4 - eight syllables Line 5 - two syllables
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Line 1 - one word Line 2 - two words Line 3 - three words Line 4 - four words Line 5 - one word
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Although cinquains can be left-justified when printed/written on a page, because of their structure they also lend themselves to centering the text creating a diamond- or Christmas tree-like shape (see below).
Cinquains can tell a story Even though there are only five lines to play around with some of the best cinquains tell a story but they can also be more abstract. Below are some examples written by Adelaide Crapsey. A quick internet search will reveal many more examples written by a variety of authors.
Examples of cinquains by Adelaide Crapsey
Winter The cold With steely clutch Grips all the land...alack The little people in the hills Will die! November Night Listen… With faint dry sound Like steps of passing ghosts, The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees And fall.
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Have a go yourself Start by coming up with an idea or subject for your cinquain and then scribble down as many words and phrases as you can that are related to that idea/ subject. Once you have done that, think about the story or message you want to convey and then pick out the words and phrases which are most suitable. Finally organise the words and/or phrases into five lines and then edit them to fit the appropriate syllable or word count for each line. It is easy to count the number of words in a line (see below) but if you have chosen to write a cinquain based on syllables, the best way to make sure that you use the correct number is to count them on your fingers as you write each line. Beer aptly described as the best long drink in the world © Chris Lightfoot (2015)
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Blogging your memoir Chris Lightfoot If you have been thinking about writing a memoir but are unsure of how to get started, why not try blogging it. Blogging your memoir is an excellent way of connecting with and building up an audience as you tell your story. And, if you are an inexperienced writer, it is a great way of getting some regular writing practice.
Decide what you want to include in your memoir If you haven't already got a clear idea of what you want to write about, start by creating a timeline of the period you want to focus on (it doesn't matter how long or short this is) and write in the key events and any other significant memories or experiences you can remember. Once you have done this you can then choose what you want to include from your timeline when you start blogging your memoir. There will be some things that stand out and others which are not so important but nevertheless may be useful or relevant to your story, so don't discard anything at this stage.
Identify the underlying theme of your memoir If your memoir is inspired by a special memory, a specific experience, a significant life-changing event then this will form the main theme (or themes) of your memoir. The overriding theme may be one of courage, ambition, hope, determination, endurance, tolerance, perseverance - whatever it is, this is what you want to convey to your readers.
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Stick to the relevant bits Don't include details which aren't relevant to your story or theme. Even you have a memory that stands out, if it is superfluous or irrelevant leave it out. You don't want to lose you readers by recounting something that causes you to digress from your main story and theme.
A memoir is not a day-by-day or year-by-year account Unlike an autobiography a memoir is not a chronological account of your life. A memoir focuses on events and experiences that relate to your subject or theme rather than the time frame or time scale in which they occurred. The time frame may span many years or just a few days or weeks but this doesn't matter. When you are blogging your memoir simply focus on the events and memories which have inspired your story rather than the time or period in which they happened.
Who else will feature in your story? Even though your memoir is essentially about you there will be other people in your story, so think about how they have affected or influenced you and how you will incorporate them into your story.
Divide your story into separate blog posts Just as you would with a conventional book, organise all of the ideas you have for your memoir into scenes and chapters and decide how you want to start and finish. You can then treat each part as a separate blog post. Aim to write each blog as a stand-alone story but also try to create some continuity and flow between each post so as your readers engage with your complete story as it unfolds piece by piece, blog by blog. Although you want your readers to enjoy each blog you post, you also want them to be eagerly awaiting the next one to find out what happens next.
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How long should your blog posts be? There is no definitive answer to this other than as long as they have to be. Each blog post you write will vary in length but if you can say all you want to say in 500 words or less then that is fine. On the other hand if what you are writing about demands more words, then don't feel you have to try and reduce the number of words by cutting and rewriting. There is a lot of talk about the short attention span of online readers but if what you write interests and engages them, they will keep reading whatever the length.
How often should you post a blog? Blogging your memoir is a great way of getting the job done but how often should you write a blog? Once a day, once a week, once a month? It really is up to you. However, if you want to complete your memoir, then establishing a regular routine is the best way to achieve this. It can be difficult to produce a blog everyday and if you only write one a month you may lose the continuity and flow, but aiming for one a week is perfectly manageable for most people. If you have planned your content well and therefore know what you are going to write about, posting a weekly blog is not only the best way to keep on top of the job but also to keep your audience happy. If your readers are looking forward to your next post you don't want to disappoint them (or lose their support) simply by failing to stick your schedule.
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Could you write your life story on a postcard? Chris Lightfoot Life stories can be told in many different ways but the usual advice is to write your life story chronologically, starting with when and where you were born, where you went to school, your first job, marriage, children and so on. The chronological approach may appear to be the most logical way to recall and write about your life but for many people it is doomed to failure simply because writing an entire life story from the beginning to the end is just too daunting. There must be many unfinished life stories out there.
Writing your life story in bite-sized pieces It is because of this risk of failure and disappointment that I always encourage people to write about their lives in bite-sized pieces and (perhaps more importantly) in no particular order. In my ongoing attempts to find new and different ways in which to inspire and encourage people to adopt the bitesized approach (an approach which can be applied to any type of writing), I stumbled across an American writer called Michael Kimball.
Creating a life story as a performance art Back in April 2008 Michael Kimball was at a performance arts festival in the US and was asked as a joke why he wasn’t participating. The reason he gave was that as a writer he didn’t do performance art but this led to a discussion about what a writer could do as performance art and he came up with the idea of talking to people about their lives and writing it on a postcard as they waited. “I thought it would be fun and funny, and that I’d ask a few questions and write a few postcards and that would be that… When I looked up, a line had formed.”
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What started out as a bit of fun turned into a longer-term project and by 2013 Michael Kimball had written over 300 postcard life stories some of which were subsequently published in his book Michael Kimball Writes Your Life Story (On a Postcard). Both the Kindle edition and the paperback edition are available from Amazon.
How long is a postcard life story? Michael Kimball’s postcard life stories are all under 600 words which fit neatly on to a standard 4” by 6” (c.10cm by 15cm) postcard - anything longer than 600 words and you risk missing the point of a life story on a postcard.
Try condensing your life story onto a postcard Scribble down who and what you care about most and how the people around you have influenced your life. Make a note of some of the challenges you have faced in your life and what motivated you to keep going. Make a list of any defining moments, event or decisions which affected the course of your life. Don't worry about how many words you use at this stage. When you have some ideas to work with, try summarising them and putting them into some sort of order. Check how many words you have written - if you are using a word processor switch on word count so as you can check how many words you are writing as you go along. Then, when you are ready, grab a blank postcard and write your story on it. Don't worry if you can't fit it all in (you could always do a bit of editing and then write it again). The most important thing is to have a go at trying to convey as much as you can about yourself and your life in as few words as possible. If you really can't squeeze your life story onto a postcard, try concentrating on significant turning points, events or periods, focusing on people who had an important influence on your life etc. etc..
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Your letters If you have got anything you would like to say about the articles in the magazine or if you would like to share some of your own writing experiences, please email the editor at: office@i-scribbles.com We welcome your comments and opinions so long as they are polite and constructive.
Would you like to write for our magazine? We are looking for anything from writing, editing and publishing tips to bite-sized stories about your own life and experiences, stories uncovered while doing research into your family or local history, nostalgic memories, travel stories etc, etc.. Articles or stories submitted should be between 400 and 800 words and must be original. You can include pictures/photos but only if you own the copyright. We are unable to publish images for which you do not own the copyright. If you have a finished article or story or you have an idea for an article, do get in touch at office@i-scribbles.com. We would love to hear from you.
A final message from the editor We hope the articles in this edition of the iScribbles online magazine have inspired you to get scribbling. If you know of anybody else that might be interested, then please forward them the link. There aren’t many magazines or websites devoted exclusively to the craft of writing non-fiction and so we are hoping that with your support and interest this magazine will grow into something non-fiction writers will come to for help, advice, encouragement and entertainment.
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