Backwhen: Storytelling Hints by Professional Writers and Others

Bill G’s Tips for Writing Readable Memories
I struggled mightily to create some brief instructions on better writing for our readers. Then I woke up one day and realized that folks like Mark Twain have already said it all! So I grouped some of their advice together and called it a day. Sometimes, in writing, less gives you more.

Why Should I Write About It? “There are thousands of “stories,” lying within your mind, that you will not know are there until you pick up your pen. ” William Thackeray "Each life is a mosaic of personal events and experiences, never to be duplicated again, and unless written, are lost forever. ”Anonymous “We do not remember days, we remember moments.” Caesar Pavese

Is the Title Important? "The Ancient Mariner” would not have fared so well, if it was called “The Old Sailor.”
"Start fast, as you will have little space and short attention span readers.” Anonymous "It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.” JD Salinger “Marley was dead, to begin with.” Charles Dickens

How Long and How Much Should One Write? "Use the Rule of Three -Three Headings or Ideas with Three paragraphs each having Three sentences per paragraph yielding 500 words total is perfect.” Unknown Editor "The most valuable of all talents is never using two words when one will do.” T. Jeffe "If I have to turn the page, I will read it later.” Churchill

“Write the first draft from your heart and edit later with your head.” G. Forrester “Proofread carefully to see if you left anything out.” Author Unknown “Grammar and spell checkers are proof God loves us.” Anonymous (Bill Gates?)

How Do I Finish an Article? “The secret is to start a story about and near the ending.” Chris Offut “Two sentences, no more, that tie a bow around it.” Anonymous “Don’t! Reread the piece again tomorrow. Then celebrate.” Bill G.


More Tips from Bill G. for Writing Your Memories
These are tips I have used in writing my memories. They are not going to make me an author, or even get agreement in a school of journalism. They are simply small tools that help me. The most important rule is that the only rule you have to follow is to enjoy retelling your memories. Having fun and a bit of brevity will always create a better story.

Decide On Your Audience Decide who will read your stories. It may be just you, friends, kids or generations from now when they do genealogy. From there decide on the general messages you want to convey. Lessons learned; the way we lived; just sharing experiences; inspiration; understanding between the generations, just having fun remembering, are just a few of the possible reasons.

Create Your Story Plan Start with a Theme or Thread as a foundation for your story. For example, "My Travels" is a Theme. Then list the top highlights you want to capture (don't write, just list key points). Underline those that are unusual, for example: it was fun, it was a valuable lesson, or it changed your life? Look through your photos, or use our BackWhen website to decide which pictures best support your story?

More about a Theme or Thread Every piece of writing must have a message or thread of meaning running through it, and this theme is the skeleton or framework on which you hang your facts, characters, setting etc. For example: Homes Where We Lived, My Parent’s Stories, Growing Up Days, My Travels, Our Honeymoon, My Kids School Days, Work Day Memories and Holidays. As you write, make sure that every word is related to this theme. Don't try to be a John Steinbeck writer, just be you and tell about your memories. Cut down on the words you use. Every excess word is a word that dilutes the impact of your story and reduces readership. The best short stories are the ones that follow a narrow subject line and cover a small number of points (3). Therefore, it is better to have multiple themes, each with several short stories, than to have a large theme with many stories. Break it up so it is interesting to read in one sitting. (Churchill said, "If I have to turn the page, I will read it later". Earlier, we decided on the key ideas or points of your story, and now you must stick to describing those points. Otherwise, you end up with a mish-mash of ideas that add up to nothing.

Time Frame for Your Story An effective short story covers a very short time span. It may be one single event that is momentous in your life. The story may one of several small events that spread over a longer time that this theme is covering. For example, if you use the technique of a timeline, you would have a theme for growing up, one for school days, one for career, one for married life and so on. Within each segment, you could have a series of stories covering key events in that period. Another technique that some folks use is a simple calendar grouping. Maybe discuss each decade's highlights. Another way is to pick a thread and tell stories along the thread timeline. For example, you could choose to tell "Christmas with My Family" and tell highlights through the years. Another is to use "Homes We Loved" and tell what happened when you lived in each home. Limit the stories to key events. No one cares that you painted the house, but if you fell off the roof and broke the porch roof, that might be interesting.

People Try to limit the number of people in each story as it takes too long to describe a person. It is better to label a picture with the person's name and save words in the narrative.

Make Your Story Live Remember, this is your story about your memories. Try to recall and express the emotion, feelings, pain, anxiety, pride and pleasure that you experienced when it happened. If you can do that, you will be amazed at how well you can write.

Writing Your Story There must be a beginning, middle and an end. Mark Twain said, “The closer the beginning is to the end, the better the story." Begin with an arresting first sentence or paragraph, enough to grab the reader’s attention, and make him curious to know what you are going to discuss. Then, keep your paragraphs and sentences short. If you keep it short, you can almost feel a rhythm like music, a tempo that makes it fun to read. Keep a nice steady pace, and avoid being herky-jerky. Try to limit your sentences and paragraphs to the rule of three. Three thoughts with three paragraphs each, with three sentences each. Finally, tell them what key points you told them, so the reader will remember the story later. Make it stick.

Above all, "Have Fun"!