Grabbing the reader

1
Writing Memoir Leads

• Grabbing the readers attention with an
  interesting opening

2
Types of Leads Descriptive

• Descriptive leads These set the scene by
  painting a picture in the readers mind.
• The doorman of the Kilmarnock was six foot two. 
  He wore a pale blue uniform, and white gloves
  made his hands look enormous.  He opened the door
  of the yellow taxi as gently as an old maid
  stroking a cat.       --Raymond Chandler

3
Suspense Leads

• Suspense leads create curiosity in the readers
  mind and leave them wondering what will happen
  next.
• Suddenly everything stops.       --Alison
  James
• You must not tell anyone, my mother said, what
  I am about to tell you.       --The Woman
  Warrior
• Every so often that dead dog dreams me up
  again.       --Stephanie Vaughn

4
Question Leads

• Question leads immediately draw the reader into
  the memoir, inviting the reader to ponder the
  events that lie ahead.
• Why on earth had she shown up after ten long
  years, and what was that expression of fury on
  her face?
• If I had a crystal ball to predict my day ahead,
  would I have done anything differently?

5
Leads that introduce the narrator

• Narrator leads introduce the reader to the
  narrator, acquainting the reader with the main
  character in the memoir.
• The name my family calls me is Morning Girl,
  because I wake up early always with something on
  my mind.       --Michael Dorris

6
Conflict Leads

• Conflict leads present the central conflict to
  the reader for immediate consideration.
• At the age of six, our family was faced with a
  beast of a threat that would proceed to tear us
  apart, piece by piece.

7
Thematic Leads

• Thematic leads hint to the reader at the life
  lesson that the memoir will teach.
• I was six years old when my mother taught me the
  art of invisible strength.       --Amy Tan

8
Writing Closing Lines

• Create a final mood for your reader with a
  thoughtful closing line

9
Closing Lines

• Closing lines can be poignant, cliff hangers,
  melancholy, optimistic, open ended, nostalgic.
  They can cause the reader to ponder the future,
  reflect upon the past, walk away with optimism
  and a sense of finality or defeat and tension.

10
From The 100 Best Closing Lines from Books

• "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne
  back ceaselessly into the past. -The Great
  Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzgerald
• After all, tomorrow is another day. -Gone with
  the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
• But wherever they go, and whatever happens to
  them on the way, in that enchanted place on the
  top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will
  always be playing. -The House At Pooh Corner,
  A.A. Milne
• He is coming, and I am here. -The Time
  Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
• In the meantime, she would just live. -P.S. I
  Love You, Cecelia Ahern

11
Closing Lines cont.

• He loved Big Brother. -1984, George Orwell
• Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I never
  can wish you a greater happiness than this.
  -Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
• A LAST NOTE FROM YOUR NARRATOR. I am haunted by
  humans. -The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
• The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen
  years. All was well. -Harry Potter and the
  Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
• Are there any questions? -The Handmaid's Tale,
  Margaret Atwood
• "I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a
  smile as wide as the valley of Panjsher on my
  lips. I ran. -The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini