To make your memoirs (or any writing) more interesting to readers, try to use descriptive words. Avoid the bland and meaningless words like “nice,” or “good” or “bad.” Think about using similes or metaphors. “I loved my blanket because I could feel my mother’s love in the quilting.” Explain things, add in descriptions that will help your reader picture a scene or feel an emotion, really understand what you are talking about.
Remember that you have five senses. You not only visualize (see) stories as they are being described, but you can also mentally smell, taste, touch, and hear them if you make use of all of your senses in writing your stories. The details you record will make your stories even more interesting, so take your time and rewrite and edit as you go from one section to another. You want readers to feel as though they are living the stories with you.
I attended a senior’s group writer’s club this month and was excited about where these ladies and one gentleman had been in their lives and of the experiences they’ve had. I mentioned these simple writing tips to encourage them to write their stories more fully, with dimension, so that readers could feel as though they were standing in their shoes. These same tips work well with children as they write stories and poems in class. The five senses go a long way.
