1. You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
For who will testify, who will accurately describe our lives if we do not do it ourselves?
--Faye Moskowitz
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
An 8th Grade Narrative Writing

2. What is a Narrative?
A narrative is written about an important event in the author’s life that affected them in some way.
Written in 1st Person
A plot that is focused on a small moment (seed) (Plot Elements)
A setting the reader can see, smell, and understand
Characters with feelings and thoughts—who grow in some way (Characterization)
Dialogue that is meaningful
A conflict or struggle to overcome OR a point that needs to be made (Theme)

3. Problems make
Great subjects.

4. Brainstorming Memoirs from Life
Planning
Start by thinking of some important event in your life – try to think of something memorable; something you’ll never forget, something that changed you or taught you something.
Need an idea? Click on the link below,
Brainstorming Memoirs from Life

5. Your Home & Neighborhood as Inspiration People and Moments Places and Moments Things and Moments The Time I… I remember when... Pets and Moments

6. Planning Start by jotting down a memorable event
Then, list what happened moment by moment
Finally, write down what you learned from this event or how it changed you in some way
Event: When my cat got lost
What Happened:
Misty disappeared
All of us wondered what happened to her
My brother and I began searching the forest calling her name
By noon of the second day I had given up hope that we would ever find our cat
Then
What I learned: To never leave a friend behind

7. Reflecting on our Moments
The lists you have created are of moments that are special or important to you. Now we need to think about why they are memorable. Knowing this BEFORE we write helps us create a better story. We call this REFLECTING.
Things to Consider About Your Ideas
What did you learn about yourself, others, or life in general?
Looking back on the situation, what would you do differently, if anything?
What would be the theme or message or point of your story?
Think about the themes/messages in books and movies—do they apply to your story?

8. Good Writing Has a MESSAGE
*Kindness can take place when you least expect it.
*We love our siblings although they can be annoying.
*We’re stronger than we think we are. OR
It Illustrates a UNIVERSAL TRUTH
(an idea most people can relate to)
*Kids don’t always think about consequences.
*True friends are hard to find.
*Sometimes things just don’t go as planned.

9. Your “What I Learned” Can Start with These Phrases:
This was the first time I realized ________
I learned I could ______ if I just ________
I never knew ______________
If I had only __________, I would have seen that ____
Looking back, I can see now ____________
This idea is about one of the times I _________
I realize now that _________
This was when I first felt _________
I remember this because __________________

10. SAMPLE BLURB 2: (At least 5 sentences)
There was a pond—Hankin’s Pond—about 6 blocks away, and one summer it was absolutely loaded with tadpoles. There had to be hundreds of the little buggers swimming around, and they were big enough to just fit in the palm of your hand. My brother and his friends got the idea that if they caught them and kept them in buckets of water, we could all watch them hatch into frogs and keep them as pets. They kept the buckets in the “fort” they built out of spare lumber next to our garage.
RELFECTION RESPONSE (At least 3 sentences. Use the Reflection Responses.)
Looking back on this now, I can understand why my mom was mad about it. We didn’t know that tadpoles squished into buckets would die before hatching into frogs—and we didn’t realize the smell they would create. I remember it because the smell was incredibly bad and then nobody knew what to do with the dead tadpoles. Plus, nobody wanted to get rid of them! The message of this story might just be that kids don’t usually think things through and then don’t want to clean up the mess they made.

11. A plot that is focused on a small moment (seed)
Good Narratives Have:
A plot that is focused on a small moment (seed)
A setting the reader can see, smell, and understand
Characters with feelings and thoughts—who grow in some way
Dialogue that is meaningful
A conflict or struggle to overcome OR a point that needs to be made

12. Writing: Lead Introduction
A “lead” is how an author starts their memoir in order to grab the reader’s attention.

13. Writing: Middle- Body Paragraphs
The INSIDE story is the most important!
Writing: Middle- Body Paragraphs
After you’ve written your lead it’s time to write the story – this is where you’ll write about the actual experience or event.
Remember:
Use the 1st person point of view
Tell the OUTSIDE story – what’s actually happening
Tell the INSIDE story – what you were thinking and feeling.
Use dialogue to add impact
Tell details that only you, as the author, could know (what you felt, what you wanted, etc. . .)

14. Writing: Ending- Conclusion
If you can’t tell me how this experience changed you then you’ve chosen the wrong experience to write about!
The ending of a memoir is where you reveal how this important event changed you and what you learned from it.
A Good Ending Includes:
A memory of the main event
Your feelings about it
How you think/act differently because of this or how this changed you.

15. Writing: Ending A memory of the main event Your feelings about it
How you think/act differently because of this or how this changed you.
I’ll never forget the crack of the bat as I hit that homerun and the way my heart pounded as the ball flew out of the park. Suddenly, I knew that I was more than just the names they called me. I knew that it wasn’t just baseball I could be good at. If I worked at it, I could do anything.

16. Writing: Ending Terrible Ending Awesome Ending
So that’s the end of the story about my big baseball victory.
I’ll never forget the crack of the bat as I hit that homerun and the way my heart pounded as the ball flew out of the park. Suddenly, I knew that I was more than just the names they called me. I knew that it wasn’t just baseball I could be good at. If I worked at it, I could do anything.
Don’t write terrible endings! Your goal is to make your reader understand not just WHAT happened, but WHY it mattered to you.

17. Revise & Edit

18. Final Draft
After revising your essay, you’re ready to write your final draft.
It’s also a good idea to have someone read your memoir to make sure you’ve shown your INSIDE story about how you were feeling and how this experience changed you.