Revising the Draft based on

Desirable Qualities of Well-

written Creative Nonfiction
Lesson 4
 • Starting a memoir includes an outline, key
chapters with specific messages, and
working on developing a writing habit in
How do you order to stick to writing.
• A memoir is a historical account written with
start a personal knowledge and experience
memoir? covering the lifetime of an individual, usually
with a greater purpose or message within it.
How is this different from an autobiography?
Aren’t they the same thing?
MEMOIR

A memoir typically covers one

aspect of a writer’s life (or a
continuous theme through
memories), while an
autobiography is a
chronological account of the
writer’s life. It has to be written
with strong description and
details, and possibly with
dialogue to arouse the interest
of the readers.
Activity 1: Answer the
following questions.
1. The definition of autobiography
is
A. a life story made into film by the
person him/herself.
B. B. a life story that tells the life of
another person.
C. a life story written by another
person.
D. a self-written life story.
2. Autobiographies are important
because
A. they are a good way to inspire
other people.
B. they are a way for the person to
continue healing.
C. they are a way to show others
they are not alone in their
problems.
D. All of the foregoing.
3. A memoir is a type of
autobiography, but
A. they feature the whole life of the
person.
B. they focus on one event or time
period of the person’s life.
C. they focus on other people
instead of the author.
D. None of the above.
4. When writing an autobiography, the
author should remember to
A. use academic language and keep the
ideas simple.
B. use flowery descriptions and a lot of
figurative language.
C. use other people’s thoughts and
feelings to describe him or herself.
D. use strong description, provide
details, and possibly add dialogue.
5. In order to arouse the interest of the
readers, a good creative nonfiction must use
A. strong description
B. vivid details
C. dialogue
D. All of the foregoing.
The 5 R's of Creative Nonfiction
1. Write about real life.
Remember that you are writing about real people, real places and real
events. Visiting the people and the places you are going to write about
will give you the tools necessary to tell an accurate story with vivid
scenery, well-described artifacts and true-to-life personages. Nothing
should be fictional or made up. Everything that makes it into your work
of creative nonfiction must have happened at some time or another in
real life. Never embellish or alter reality.
The 5 R's of Creative Nonfiction
2. Conduct extensive research.
Use every resource available to gather information on your subject. Of
course, where you look for information will depend on the subject
matter, but some great starting places are: Library, Newspaper archives,
Internet, Interviews, Public records, Books and magazines,
Photographs, Immersion (visiting the place you are writing about)
The 5 R's of Creative Nonfiction
3. Write a narrative.
Use the storytelling elements of fiction to create a compelling story
with the factual information you’ve gathered. You could craft your story
this way using the standard pattern:
• Inciting incident
• Conflict (internal or external)
• Climax or turning point
• Resolution
• End of story
The 5 R's of Creative Nonfiction
4. Include personal touch.
The “creative” in “creative nonfiction” comes with the author’s unique
voice and opinion on the matters being related on the page. You, the
author, are the human connection between the subject matter and the
reader. In this sense, creative nonfiction relies much more on the
personality of the author than fiction. You must befriend your reader,
make them trust you, and proceed with your storytelling.
The 5 R's of Creative Nonfiction
5. Learn by reading.
The creative nonfiction writer should read autobiographies,
newspapers, magazines, articles and other nonfiction books to get a
taste for how theirs should be formatted and written.
With these tips, you are more than halfway to creating a great work of
creative nonfiction. Once you’ve collected your information, plotted
your story and taken a unique angle on the subject, you are ready to
begin the hardest part of the process: writing the story. Happy writing!
What Qualifies as a Memoir?
• A memoir is unique in the fact that it covers your life’s events in a
more story-like structure with an overarching theme or message
written in. Memoirs are very specific in the sense that it accounts for
the events of your life with an emphasis on stories and impactful
moments that lead to a great purpose.
• Anyone has the ability and can experience to write a memoir. If you
have a story, then you are on your way to writing one.
How to Write a Memoir with Meaning and
Influence
1. A strong introduction is everything.
Without the ability to hook readers, convincing someone read your
work will be a bit harder than anticipated. Let’s draw those readers in!
How to Write a Memoir with Meaning and
Influence
2. Be relatable.
One major mistake many make when writing a memoir is not starting it
off in a way that makes the readers connect with them. This is one of
the most important aspects of your memoir. Do you really think people
will want to read about a person’s life if they can’t relate to them? Did
you understand their pain and triumph and hardships? When others
relate to you and see themselves in your journey, they’ll want to stick
around to see how it plays out. And that means they’ll read your whole
work and any others you write.
How to Write a Memoir with Meaning and
Influence
3. Use emotion by showing, not telling.
If you want to give a play-by-play of your life with nothing more than a
list of experiences you’ve gone through, that’s fine. Just know that
doing it that way won’t hook your readers and it certainly won’t keep
them. A memoir can be a powerful tool for educating others through
your life journeys, but if they’re not intrigued enough to keep reading,
it’ll render your memoir pointless. In showing and not telling, you’ll put
more emotion into your writing.
How to Write a Memoir with Meaning and
Influence
4. Make the message clear right away.
What is it you’re trying to say through your memoir? Why did you want
to start writing one in the first place? Everybody has an interesting life
if you look deep enough. What you have to determine is how your life
experiences can aid and shape the lives of others. Think about how
that will manifest from what you’ve lived through before and make sure
your readers know what it is from the start.
How to Write a Memoir with Meaning and
Influence
5. Write from the heart.
Christopher Moss, author of “Hope Over Anxiety” says the best way to
write your memoir is to be open about your experiences. He
emphasizes to “Write from the heart. Show people your experience. Be
as vulnerable and honest as you can. If it scares you a little, what you
are writing that’s good. The reader has to feel what you are going
through.”
How to Write a Memoir with Meaning and
Influence
6. Narrow your focus .
Your memoir should be written as if the entire piece is a snapshot of
one theme of your life. Your memoir is not an autobiography. The
difference is that an autobiography spans your entire life, and a memoir
focuses on one particular moment or series of moments around a
theme. You want your readers to walk away knowing you, and that one
experience, on a much deeper level.
How to Write a Memoir with Meaning and
Influence
7. Tell the truth.
One of the best tips for how to write a memoir that’s powerful is to be
honest and genuine. It’s important that you tell the truth — even if it makes
your journey as an author more difficult. One more note on honesty:
Memoirs explore the concept of truth as seen through your eyes. Don’t write
in a snarky manner or with a bitter tone. The motivation for writing a
memoir shouldn’t be to exact revenge or whine or seek forgiveness; it should
simply be to share your experience. Don’t exaggerate or bend the truth in
your memoir. Your story, the unique one that you hold and cherish, is
enough. There is no need to fabricate or embellish.
How to Write a Memoir with Meaning and
Influence
8. Employ elements of fiction to bring your story to life.
Think of the people in memoirs as characters. A great memoir pulls you into
their lives: what they struggle with, what they are successful at and what
they wonder about. Many of the best memoir writers focus on a few key
characteristics of their characters, allowing the reader to get to know each
one in depth. Introduce intriguing setting details and develop a captivating
plot from your story. Show your readers the locations you describe and
evoke emotions within them. They need to experience your story, almost as
if it was their own. While your memoir is a true story, employing these
elements of fiction will make it far more powerful and enjoyable for your
readers.
How to Write a Memoir with Meaning and
Influence
9. Create an emotional journey.
Take your readers on an emotional journey that motivates them to read
the next chapter, wonder about you well after they finish the last page,
and tell their friends and colleagues about your book. The best way to
evoke these feelings in your readers is to connect your emotions with
your writing.
 Driving Lessons
By N.G. Ayeng
My father is smiling now. I have just shifted to fifth gear and our
car is cruising at 80 kph along suburban highway. His smile radiates
silent pride as he watches me behind the wheel, confident and totally
in control of the machine at last.
 He had waited long enough for this moment. For several years,
he exhibited endless patience in teaching me how to drive. I was a
lousy student driver. I would recklessly overtake even when there were
four cars coming from the back of the car in front of us. I would even
choke the car’s engine with gasoline by abruptly stopping when a
gorgeous guy crossed the street. I was simply a total headache the
moment I turned on the ignition.
 Through it all my father stayed with me. From his front seat, he
would point out my mistakes and reprimand me for them but he never
left my side. For a while I even thought the only thing he ever taught
me was how to drive. He is too stiff to talk about love and too dry to
talk about life. It took several years of driving lessons under him to
make me realize that I was wrong, completely wrong.
 Now it’s my turn to smile. Pressing harder on the gas pedal, I
remember how my father’s driving instructions would keep coming
back in some difficult times during my undergraduate years. It was easy
for a girl from the province to get intimidated by the near-death
experience of entering the University of the Philippines. However,
without knowing it at first, I had a survival weapon with me. In every
desperate situation I got myself into, my father’s voice would come
back to save me. And always it was framed as driving instructions.
 During my first year in college, I was forever tormented by
homesickness. It came to a point when I seriously considered throwing
a lasso at every plane that was flying by so that I could get a ride home.
Amid this terrible aloneness, I heard my father’s voice saying. “Never
let the machine control you. You must control the machine.”
Immediately, I’d stop sulking. And in time I resolved to be ready to take
on life as it comes, I had to be in control.
 Wrestling with my academics was my next problem. When full-
blown research papers, long examinations, and teachers of the terrorist
kind threatened to drive me crazy, I looked for reasons to justify giving
the whole thing up. But then my father’s instructions again came back
to strengthen me. When I felt overloaded with academic requirements,
I would remember him saying, “The trick is in the approach. When you
see bumps, be ready to move sideways.”
 When I thought of rebelling against some teachers who were
blissfully power-tripping, I would hear him say, “Just be extra cautious
at night and during rain. Your vision is limited and the roads are
slippery.”
When I feel like crawling under the chair because my classmates
were so naturally brilliant and my insecurities were eating me up, I
would hear him say, “It’s a matter of shifting your gears at the right
time.”
 As I tried to survive an
oppressive atmosphere, I got to meet all
kinds of people with all kinds of attitude.
My father’s instructions was: “Don’t be a
headache to other drivers. Always stick
to your lane. Follow every one-way sign.
Don’t box in other cars when you park.”
I did exactly as he told me, and
most of the persons I met thanked me
for the respect and consideration I gave
them. I made a lot of good friends along
the way.
 In my last year as an undergraduate as I was working on my thesis, I
heard my father’s voice again, “Check everything before you start the
engine,” he was saying. I did, and I was able to answer all the questions my
adviser threw at me.
Soon, the dark and dreary thesis nights started to deprive me of
good times in dreamland. I was staring at the computer screen 24 hours a
day. I was close to a nervous breakdown when I heard my father say, “It is
very important for you to know where the brakes are.” Well, I found them, I
went to see a movie for the first time in so many months since I started
working on my thesis. Afterwards, I never felt so relaxed in my whole life.
 Time flew swiftly and I graduated from the university. When I look back
at those trying times, I fondly remember the special instruction my father gave
me when he let me drive alone for the first time. It never failed to lift up my
spirit no matter how confused or downhearted I felt. “If worst comes to worst,”
he said. “Leave the car and find your way home.” He told me I was more
important than any machine ever will be.
In my last year as an undergraduate as I was working on my thesis, I
heard my father’s voice again, “Check everything before you start the engine,”
he was saying. I did, and I was able to answer all the questions my adviser threw
at me.
 I know now why this instruction
is a very special one. The unfathomable
parental love that comes with it has
made the driving lessons he gave me
unique. His instructions I will always
recall to mind. His love, I will forever
hold in my heart.
My father’s smile and mine have
become full. Our car is still breezing
along at 80 KPH and we are enjoying the
ride. It’s like his final instruction: “Relax
while driving.” Indeed, the only thing my
father taught me was how to drive. But
the lessons that came with it were
innumerable.
 Billows of dust rail our car as I glance at the rearview
mirror to check on the distance I have traveled. I have gone
quite a long way.
I step on the gas pedal a little bit harder, and the car hit 90
kph. How did that song go again? “Magda-drive ako hanggang
sa buwan….” (I will drive until I get to the moon) With all my
father taught me, I can drive much farther!
 The following topics and ideas may help
you get started.
1. The Most Interesting Thing that Ever
ACTIVITY Happened to You
2:Write 2. Major Life Events
your own
3. What Makes You, You
memoir
4. In Your Dreams
Requirements:
• A well-written 3-6 paragraph memoir with a strong lead and a strong conclusion.

• Typed in 12 point Arial or Tahoma font, double-spaced. If you don’t have a

computer at home you can write it legibly on a piece of bond paper.
• A creative and reflective title centered at the top of your paper with your name,
grade level and section centered under the title.
• Imagery and figurative language throughout your memoir should be present.

• Review the requirements listed on your rubric.