I seem to come up with a new prologue with each revision. What’s this book about really? Who’s it for and why? The old rhetorical triangle I used to teach.
Thank you for this, Aimee. I've been grappling with the front matter for my memoir about three years living at a Zen temple and martial arts Dojo. Reading Strayed's prologue and your front matter feels like it's given me a bit of clarity!
Hi, Aimee, I agree with Turner---having the definition and examples of different sorts of front matter DOES matter to those of us writing--- I love the opportunity to see how your mind behind the writing works, although I'm not sure it fits with the memoire...it is wonderfully cerebral but I like memoir (just a personal quirk) to be less cognitive and more emotion based with vivid imagery. Hence my preference for an opening is the vignette in which you and your Dad sit up all Christmas eve working on the jigsaw puzzle and your culminating interchange. That is what gives me a deep connection with you, your Dad, and the way you see the world. I would want that to be my first contact with you and this memoire. Patty Cogen....still in Seattle
Patty! How fabulous to hear from you. And this is a wonderful idea that I hadn't considered! I've been so fixated on the box... but I can see this working in a different and maybe better way. Thank you! Wow, a crowd-sourced memoir. Who knows where this will lead?
Much love to you-- alas, I will have no more residency trips to Port Townsend. COVID did us in there, and then I left the college. I'm still grieving for our faculty, our residencies, our program.
Glad you like the idea...and it really connects to the box because the Box is a metaphor for your Dad...so it all goes beautifully together. I was deeply touched as I think you were about the foster child they left behind by moving to Connecticut. You're Dad must have adored her...and how different would your life have been had they kept her....all those "what if's.."
Such a powerfully moving preface/intro/ pitch, Amy. And so valuable to me, a memoirist struggling with my own preface/foreword/intro. I had never fully understood or contemplated these choices before , so I thank you.
I seem to come up with a new prologue with each revision. What’s this book about really? Who’s it for and why? The old rhetorical triangle I used to teach.
Love that: Rhetorical Triangle! Did you come up with that on your own, or did you borrow the term?
And yes, sigh, I do with beach revision, too. Hopefully drilling deeper, but sometimes I wonder...
Aristotle beat me to it: https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/businesswriting/chapter/the-rhetorical-triangle-ethos-pathos-and-logos/
Ha! I've been circling this with my 3Us and 3Ms and not even realizing it!
Thanks for this, Peter!
Aristotle knew everything.
Thank you for this, Aimee. I've been grappling with the front matter for my memoir about three years living at a Zen temple and martial arts Dojo. Reading Strayed's prologue and your front matter feels like it's given me a bit of clarity!
Glad to hear it, Cristina!! Thank you for the feedback, and good luck with your memoir!
Hi, Aimee, I agree with Turner---having the definition and examples of different sorts of front matter DOES matter to those of us writing--- I love the opportunity to see how your mind behind the writing works, although I'm not sure it fits with the memoire...it is wonderfully cerebral but I like memoir (just a personal quirk) to be less cognitive and more emotion based with vivid imagery. Hence my preference for an opening is the vignette in which you and your Dad sit up all Christmas eve working on the jigsaw puzzle and your culminating interchange. That is what gives me a deep connection with you, your Dad, and the way you see the world. I would want that to be my first contact with you and this memoire. Patty Cogen....still in Seattle
Patty! How fabulous to hear from you. And this is a wonderful idea that I hadn't considered! I've been so fixated on the box... but I can see this working in a different and maybe better way. Thank you! Wow, a crowd-sourced memoir. Who knows where this will lead?
Much love to you-- alas, I will have no more residency trips to Port Townsend. COVID did us in there, and then I left the college. I'm still grieving for our faculty, our residencies, our program.
Glad you like the idea...and it really connects to the box because the Box is a metaphor for your Dad...so it all goes beautifully together. I was deeply touched as I think you were about the foster child they left behind by moving to Connecticut. You're Dad must have adored her...and how different would your life have been had they kept her....all those "what if's.."
Such a powerfully moving preface/intro/ pitch, Amy. And so valuable to me, a memoirist struggling with my own preface/foreword/intro. I had never fully understood or contemplated these choices before , so I thank you.
Love hearing from you Turner! Yes. Who knew?!
Thankfully, YOU knew. And now, so do I.... and I feel like I can progress a bit more with my book.