Creative Exercises for Memoir: Accidental Connections

The Writing ProcessWriting Craft
Written By Brittany Ackerman
 

I have to admit that this exercise is adapted from one of my creative nonfiction professors in graduate school, Kate Schmitt.  We were given a version of this assignment as we were writing toward a braided essay, a piece that ties together multiple threads in order to write an essay that works as one cohesive whole.  The components of such a piece may include a personal story from the past, research or study around the subject of that personal story, and perhaps a personal story from the present.  It was easiest for me to understand the braided essay as the “challah essay”-- three equally important narratives that all flow into one and form something truly delicious.

The exercise I’d like to share takes place in three parts.  For each, I suggest putting ten minutes on the clock and writing as much as possible.  Then, move swiftly along to the next, and then the third, until all are completed.  After, you may go back and edit, cut, add, revise; but make sure to get all your free-flowing thoughts out first.

Each part can be interpreted many different ways, so try to write whatever comes from the heart.

Part I

Write about something broken

Part II

Write about something lost

Part III

Tie them together

De-briefing

You may choose to keep your parts separated in sections, or to combine them into a more traditional essay.  Either way, I’m sure you’ve made some accidental connections along the way.  This exercise is one I return to with my students and with myself, as it always continues to surprise me and teach me something new.

Brittany Ackerman

Brittany Ackerman is a writer from Riverdale, New York. She earned her BA in English from Indiana University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Florida Atlantic University.  She has led workshops for UCLA’s Extension, The Porch, HerStry, Write or Die, and Lighthouse Writers.  She currently teaches writing at Vanderbilt University in the English Department.  She is a 3x Pushcart Prize Nominee and her work has been featured in Electric Literature, MUTHA, Jewish Book Council, Lit Hub, The Los Angeles Review, No Tokens, Joyland, and more. Her first collection of essays, The Perpetual Motion Machine, was published with Red Hen Press in 2018, and her debut novel, The Brittanys, is out now with Vintage. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

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