RevisingTheMemoir

The most important revision advice is to re-read your writing, think about what you are trying to say, and try to say it more clearly and with more impact. Also, test your writing out with real readers to see if it comes across the way you want it to.
 * Revision Suggestions for Memoir**
 * The most important thing:**

Here are some specific things you can work on to improve your memoir.

1. The Hook: I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved. 2. Scene setting: When I was fourteen years old, we lived in a six-story brick building in a cul-de-sac of Flatbush Avenue, in Brooklyn, called Westbury Court. 3. Telling detail: There on the pavement was a small child’s tennis shoe. 4. An action: The phone rang five times before he got up to answer it. 5. Character sketch: “I feel like I’m part of this damn thing,” Frank said. He carried himself like a large man even though he was short. A dead cigarette dangled from his half-grin. 6. Dialogue: “I feel like I’m part of this damn thing,” Frank said. 7. Related moment or image that establishes theme: Some boys taught me to play football.
 * Beginnings (some ideas)**

1. Circle: End where you began. 2. Ah ha!: Sadder but wiser, or gee, look what I learned. 3. A feeling. 4. Surprise: The strange twist at the end. 5. Reflection: What it all means. 6. An image or telling detail. 7. An action.
 * Endings (some ideas)**

1. Storyboard: Write an outline of scenes, like the scenes of a movie. You can even draw pictures if you are a visual thinker. 2. Think about the number of scenes, the order of scenes, the length of scenes, transitions between scenes.
 * Order and Flow**

1. Add more snapshots (showing) 2. Add dialogue 3. Add inside information (thoughts) 4. Add details that clarify writing that may be vague or confusing 5. Add details that add to the impact of the story
 * Adding Chunks**

**Moving Chunks** 1. Scenes: Shuffle the story. 2. Movement/flow: Pacing readers, making them play your game. 3. Paragraphs: Have some. Keep them relatively short.

**Deleting Chunks** 1. Nice, but doesn’t fit. Save it. 2. Not nice and doesn’t fit either. Cut it. 3. Eradicate chaff words: adverbs (-ly words) and being words (is, was, are, were) 4. Compact and compress: Cut the “telling.”

1. Concrete detail: Add sensory stuff. 2. Specificity: Name stuff. 3. Strong verbs: Use them. Get rid of adverb props. (He ran quickly raced.) 4. Search and destroy the //is//’s and //was//’s.
 * Sentence and words**

It should be interesting and should reflect the theme of your story.
 * Title**

1. Verb tense: Pick a tense (past or present) and stick with it. If you switch tenses, do it with purpose. 2. Comma splices/run ons: Look out for sentences fused together with a comma where you should have a period. 3. Proofread: Fix any errors in punctuation, spelling, and formatting.
 * Edit**