Zinsser's "On Writing Well" chapters 14, 24

Editor's Notes

1. You have permission to tell me who you are. I don’t mean permissive. If you are a sloppy housekeeper or sloppy dresser or sloppy eater, that doesn’t mean you get to be a sloppy writer. Be yourself, but write well. I once knew a sportswriter who was definitely not a sloppy writer. But he was one of those guys who could wear a shirt and tie and still look sloppy. Psalm 139:14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Wonderful are your works;my soul knows it very well. God made you, so be a good steward of what He made. Part of that is being yourself. Not your sinful self, but the self that seeks to worship God. But remember, a thin line separates ego from egotism.
2. “We have to write what the teacher wants.” Do you feel that way? Yes, that is a depressing sentence. But that’s the last thing a good teacher wants. I do not want to read 16 pieces of anything that read like only one of you wrote them. We all want to see individuality. Write about what you know and what you think. Same goes for your presentations. You have my permission to be you. As Zinsser says, you got that permission by being born. With our memoir assignments next week, I don’t want you to think about what I want. Make it what you want. Yes, we have guidelines for word counts. And, I am going to share some guiding principles. But beyond that, write what you want. Be who you are. If you want it to stay private, tell me. Because I might share some parts of some of these with the class .
3. While you are writing about yourself, are you the only influence on your life? Hardly.
4. This gets back to finding a focus. Don’t tell your life story … think slice of life. Four rows of cars have never looked so intimidating. For a four-foot tall four-year-old, the amount seemed staggering and impossible to tackle. What if someone else had a car that looked like the one mom had? What if it wasn’t here at all? What if she left? Reason was in short stock when panic was at hand. The fear must have been visible for just then two old ladies waddled over to ask if I was lost. Through chokes and sobs I agreed that, yes, I had indeed lost my mother. To my horror, they summoned an eager park ranger over for help. “I’m in trouble”,  I thought. But, he took me in his arms, dried my tears and began walking back towards  the preserve’s welcome center. Just then, mom came running only to see me burst into tears once more. I rode home that day, police badge in hand.
5. Four rows of cars have never looked so intimidating. For a four-foot tall four-year-old, the amount seemed staggering and impossible to tackle. What if someone else had a car that looked like the one mom had? What if it wasn’t here at all? What if she left? Reason was in short stock when panic was at hand. The fear must have been visible for just then two old ladies waddled over to ask if I was lost. Through chokes and sobs I agreed that, yes, I had indeed lost my mother. To my horror, they summoned an eager park ranger over for help. “I’m in trouble”,  I thought. But, he took me in his arms, dried my tears and began walking back toward the preserve’s welcome center. Just then, mom came running only to see me burst into tears once more. I rode home that day, police badge in hand.
6. Talk about family history. I recently did this when I was having dinner with my parents. They told me stories I had never heard.
7. From a distance so you don’t have tell all?
8. From close up so you are able to share the good and the bad, the mistakes, the crazy things you do and the crazy thoughts you have.
9. You have to make a series of reducing decisions. Keep narrowing it down to refine that focus.
10. For the 150-worder, it might be best to remember a day or a single moment. For the 800-worder, that still might be true. But you have the room to make it bigger, maybe the recounting of a relationship, something you learned during a particular season of life, etc.