Lesson video

Hi everyone, welcome to this unit, all about creative writing, specifically, the creative writing of memoirs.

I'm Ms Bowling and today we're going to start off by learning what memoir is.

And then over the next five lessons, we're going to be writing our own memoir in five short sections.

I really hope you enjoy it.

Before we get started, you're going to need a nice quite place to work, a piece of paper and a pen.

So, press pause so that you've got everything you need before we begin.

Let's start by learning about what memoirs are.

There are three things we need to know; Memoirs are pieces of writing written from real past experience.

And in memoirs writers often focus on one part of their life.

For example, if I was writing my own memoir about my life I might focus on my teenage years or my childhood.

And memoirs use really powerful language to make the writer's memories come alive.

Well, let's check your understanding.

Here you have those three bullet points, but I have taken out some words.

Press pause, write them out and add in the missing words please.

Off you go.

And let's check your answers.

For the first one you should have put memoirs are pieces of writing written from real past experiences, give yourself a tick if you got that right.

You should have then written, in memoirs, writers often focus on one part of their life.

And finally, they use powerful language to make their memories come alive.

So, in this unit, we are going to be learning all about memoirs, so we're going to be writing our own.

First, we can read some amazing examples, then we going to learn about the writing structures that make these examples great.

And finally, we're going to use what we learn in writing our own memoirs about our lives.

It's going to look a little bit like this; Today, we going to think about who we are and where we are, next lesson we are going to be writing about our first memory, then we going to be thinking about someone really important in our lives and describing them.

Then we're going to learn how to create tension in our writing.

So it's really dramatic.

And finally, we're going to learn how to describe powerful emotions, and then we going to put everything together in one long piece of memoir writing.

So let's get started with today's lesson entitled; Where are you and who are you.

But this is a strange title for our lesson, but I think it's really important.

Because writing about where we are, often gives a really good impression of who we are.

So look around you, where are you at the moment? And what might that indicate about you as a person? Describing our location, is often a really good way of introducing ourselves in a memoir.

And because memoirs are about us, we always use the first person and I'm sure lots of you will remember that the first person means using the word 'I' I did this or I do this.

We try to reduce dialogue or speech in memoirs, we don't want long-lengthy conversations between two people instead we want lots of description, and lots of explanation about your memories and your experiences.

Okay, let's check your understanding, press pause and choose the correct option for each question, off you go.

And let's check your work, number one, what can give a good impression of who you are? Writing about your location, often we can indicate a lot about ourselves just by describing where we are.

Memoirs should be written in the first person, and for number three, writing in the first person means using the pronoun 'I'.

'You' would be the second person and 'he' or 'she' would be the third person.

So the first person is the pronoun 'I'.

And number four, in memoirs we are going to avoid using to much dialogue, instead we want lots of description.

And yes of course, we will be writing in paragraphs.

Well done if you got four out of four.

So, where are you right now? And what impression might this give of you? For example, perhaps you're somewhere like this, nice tidy desk, nicely organised in a very clean room.

If you are somewhere like that, what might that suggest about you? Perhaps you are a very organised, perhaps you like things clean and tidy.

However, you might be somewhere like this, slightly messier, slightly more disorganised.

And so, what kind of person might be in this location? Perhaps somebody a little bit chaotic, a little bit disorganised or perhaps somebody a bit free spirited, who likes to break the rules.

Finally, maybe you are somewhere like this, maybe you are in a classroom surrounded by other people, maybe this is something that you are having a conversation about.

In which case, what does that suggest about you? What does that suggest about your life and your experiences? Now today, the extract we are going to read, does have a very unusual location.

Because the writer of today's extract, is actually situated here, in a kitchen sink.

And I know how strange that sounds.

Today's extract comes from this book, it's called I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith.

Now, it's not actually a memoir, it's a story, it's a piece of fiction.

But in the book, the main character, Cassandra, is sitting in the kitchen sink, writing her own memoirs, she's writing her own experiences in her life.

So, we're going to be looking at that as well, at any way, because this is an excellent example of what it is to write a memoir.

Let's start reading it.

As we read, I would like you to consider what impression do you get of the character from the location.

I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.

That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining board, which I have padded with our dog's blanket and the tea-cosy.

I can't say that I am really comfortable, and there is a depressing smell of carbolic soap, but this is the only part of the kitchen where there is any daylight yet.

And I have found that sitting in a place where you have never sat before can be inspiring.

I wrote my very best poem while sitting on the hen house.

Though even that isn't a very good poem.

Drips from the roof are plopping into the water-butt by the back door.

The view through the windows above the sink is excessively drear.

Beyond the dank garden in the courtyard are the ruined walls of the edge of the moat.

So, look at the location, look at where she is, and what impression does that give you of who she is? First, let's check our understanding, you've got eight statements here, some of them are true, and some of them are false.

Press pause and answer them now please.

Well done, when you're ready we'll check your work.

I capture the castle is written by Dodie Smith, true.

It is written in the first person, true.

What was the pronoun for the first person, shout out? Well done if you are saying I.

Number three, the main character enjoys singing, that's false, she enjoys writing.

She is sitting in the sink true, she's comfortable, false.

She's doing what she can to make herself comfortable, but she can't confess that she's actually, particularly comfortable.

The weather is clear and fine, that's false, it's miserable outside, it's raining.

It's written in the past tense, again that's false, she's writing her memoir right now, in the present tense.

And it doesn't include dialogue, that's true, we don't have those lengthy conversations, instead we've got description to create an impression of the writer.

Well done if you've got all of those right.

Now, I really like the first line of this memoir.

She starts with, I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.

Now this is a really powerful way to start a memoir, because it's quite unusual isn't it, that she is in the kitchen sink? But it does give us a really nice picture of her location, so we can picture her there.

And it's also a really strong simple sentence.

We've got our capital letter at the beginning, and we got our full stop at the end.

Now we're going to practise writing three more similar simple sentences in the same way.

I would like you to press pause and write three different sentences, that could continue that sentence starter, I write this, For each one I'd like you to choose an unusual location, and I'd like you to check your capital letter at beginning, and your full stop at the end.

Press pause now.

And let's check what you might have written, my examples are these; I write this lounging on the sofa, full stop.

I write this squeezed into a tight corner of the spare room, full stop.

I write this bumping up and down on the Number 61 bus, full stop.

Check your work, check all the capital letters, and check all the full stops, check if you've got an unusual location.

Good, now this first sentence works so well because, it's a nice clear simple sentence with a full stop.

And then its followed by a more complex sentence.

Let's have a look at that complex sentence now.

I write this sitting in the kitchen sink, full stop.

That is, comma, my feet are it; semicolon.

The rest of me is on the draining board, which I have padded with our dog's blanket and the tea-cosy.

Now, there are lots of good things going on in this second more complex sentence.

First of all, we have that nice introduction, that is, comma.

Which is going to explain the first sentence with a little bit more detail.

Then, we've got a semicolon here, we could have had a full stop.

Because as you might know, semicolons can replace full stops when the two parts of the sentences are connected or linked.

So here, we've used a really nice semicolon, that is, comma, my feet are in it, semicolon.

The rest of me is on the draining board, and the we have a really nice additional clue as to get extra information, comma, which I have padded with our dog's blanket and the tea-cosy.

Now, if I were to continue my first sentence about being squeezed into a corner, using the same sentence structure, it might've been like this.

I write this squeezed into a tight corner of the spare room.

That is, comma, my back is pressed up against the cold walls, semicolon.

The rest of me is folded underneath the wooden desk, comma, which at times gives me splinters if I get up too quickly.

Again have a look, we have got our nice and powerful simple sentence at the beginning and then we've got our longer complex one which really shows off our punctuation.

Now, it's your turn.

You're going to choose one of your sentences from the first task, and then you're going to continue it, using that sentence structure, that is comma, semicolon, which and continue.

Press pause and write one now please.

Good, check your work, check the capital letter, check the comma, check the semicolon, and check that comma before the which.

Well done.

Now, I'd like us to go back to having a quick look at this extract, because she does something very clever with the description here.

Look at the phrases I've put in a colour, we've got our dog blanket and our tea cosy, we've got the smell of soap, we've got drips from the roof, and we've got the view from the windows.

Can any of you spot what the writer is doing here? Well done if you've noticed that she is using different senses.

Now humans have five senses and here they are; your senses are what you see, what you feel, what you smell, what you hear and what you taste.

And when we write about a combination of those things, we call it sensory language.

Sensory language is writing using the different senses.

Now I would like you to pause your video, and from memory, write down the five senses of humans.

Off you go.

Now, when you are ready, let's check your work.

You should have written what you see, what you feel, what you smell, what you hear and what you taste.

Give yourself a big tick if you got all five.

So let's go back to our extract.

Have a little look here, which colour links to the sensory language of smell? Say it aloud, and well done if you said turquoise.

Which colour links to the sensory language of hearing or sound? And well done if you said pink, the drips from the roof are plopping.

Which one links to the sensory language of what you can see? Perhaps far off in the distance? Well done if you said purple.

That view from the windows above the sink, what could she see there? She can see courtyard, ruined walls and the edge of the moat.

All of those things give us quite an interesting depiction of where she is, perhaps seeing quite grand in a grand location, but it is a little bit ruined now, a little bit crumbling isn't it? And finally, which one uses the sensory language of a feeling or seeing something closer? Well done if you noticed that dark blue one, our dog's blanket and the tea-cosy.

That's very close to her, so she can see it and she can feel it as well, can't she? Good.

So, let's review this memoir, here, I'd like you to copy out the grid, and complete it with the example that we've read.

We'll do the first one together, in the example, where is the writer? She's in the kitchen sink.

Press pause, copy out the table and the first row please, off you go.

And let's check your work.

In the example she's in the kitchen sink, what can she see and feel? She can see the dog blanket and the tea-cosy near her.

What can she smell? She can smell carbolic soap.

What is she doing? She is writing her memoir.

What can she hear? The rain drops falling outside.

And what can she see out of that window? She can see ruined walls and a moat.

Without these questions for the extract, now we're going ask these questions for ourselves, right now.

For example for me, Where am I right now? I'm squeezed into that corner.

What can I see or feel? I can feel the rough wooden material of the desk, could give me splinters if I stand up too quickly.

What can I smell right now? I can smell soup cooking in the kitchen reminding me that it is almost lunch.

What am I doing? I am planning a lesson of course.

What can I hear? I can hear my cat purring, curled up just down there on my feet.

And what can I see outside? I can see sun reflecting off the cars and the house opposite mine on the other side of the road.

Now it's your turn.

Press pause and I'd like you to complete the grid for you.

And where you are right now, what's going on in your location.

Off you go.

Right, now we're going to use all of our ideas about our location, to write a short a short section of our memoir now.

For example, mine might look like this; I write this squeezed into a tight corner of the spare room.

That is, my back is pressed up against the cold wall, the rest of me is folded underneath the wooden desk, which at times gives splinters if I get up too quickly.

When someone opens the door too quickly, it hits against my left shoulder and almost sends me flying.

It's not the most comfortable spot to plan my lessons, but it's quiet and peaceful.

The smell of the bubbling soup reminds me it's almost lunch time.

Gentle purrs are emerging from the cat, curled up on the rough patch of the carpet near my feet.

The view from the window ahead of me draws my eye.

Cars speed by, but beyond the busy road, bright sunlight bounces off the windows of the house opposite.

So, this is my opening to my memoir.

You can see the first sentence is powerful, and the second one has more complex sentence structures, including that lovely punctuation that we've already practised.

I've embedded lots of sensory language; in purple, I've got feeling, in dark blue, I've got smell, in green, I've got the sense of sound or hearing, and in pink, I've got what I can see outside my window.

Now it's your turn to write one really similar, but for you.

I would like you to press pause and spend about ten to fifteen minutes writing the opening to your memoir.

I'd like you to describe your location, and so that location can give an impression of who you are.

You need to include everything that is in the pink box that we've already practised.

Those of varied sentence lengths that we've already drafted, sensory language, where you are, what you're doing, what you see, what you feel, what you hear, what you smell, and what you can see outside.

Press pause and get writing now.

Well done everybody, you have written the opening to your memoir, that's absolutely fantastic.

Today, we've done lesson one, who are you where are you.

So, next lesson we're going to be moving on to continuing our memoir by writing one of our earliest memories.

I look forward to seeing you then.

I hope you enjoyed our first lesson in creative writing, and that you enjoyed writing your first piece of your memoir.

I will be building that up, across the next few lessons.

I'll see you next time, but in the meantime, don't forget to take the extra quiz so you can check your understanding of today.

Well done, bye bye.