Writing in Reverse, Continued: October 23, 2018

Focus: What can we understand better or differently by writing in reverse?

1. Warming up with a sample essay written in reverse

• Where do you see the writer using multiple senses? 

• Which sensory imagery is the most powerful to you?

• What does the narrator come to understand better or differently by putting this event in reverse?

2. Returning to yesterday's writing (click here for the slides)

Step 1: Sensory Imagery

• Which senses are you using? Which do you need more of to create a multidimensional universe? Enhance what you've written using sensory imagery.

Step 2: Finish the Story

• Finish telling the story. Keep writing the event in reverse until you get back to a peaceful starting point.

Step 3: Find the Epiphany

• Epiphany: A lightbulb moment in which you suddenly see something in a new or exceptionally clear way
• Once you’ve finished writing, think about what you understand better or differently from putting this event in reverse.
• Write your epiphany as the final line.

3. Returning to memoir writing and considering your narrative arc

• Trying it out with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

• Making sure you've chosen your memoir, labeled it "READ THIS ONE," and placed it inside your Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Folder.

• Shaping your memoir using the narrative arc; figuring out which scenes still need to be written
• Try to identify your turning point first; the rest of the arc will fall into place.

HW:
Take whichever memoir starter you got the most out of and spend about 20 more minutes writing the rest of the story. Keep writing until you have one single-spaced or two double-space pages.