Memoir First Lines–A Contest for Readers of this Blog

Rooted in the land. Tree near Bellingham, WA.

Recently I had an inquiry from a writer who asked if I had a list of excellent first lines from memoirs. That sounded like something I should have. First words contain the vital “hook” that overcomes the reader’s resistance and skepticism. Think about how you challenge a book to speak to you when you gaze at its cover or open its first pages.

A really great memoir does more than hook the reader in the beginning. The first sentence takes you right to the heart of the matter, announcing one of the themes of the book. Often, the first paragraph in a work of art is like a haiku. It says in one breath what the whole book will say more fully as we follow the red thread of meaning.

Most of the lists of best and most famous opening lines come from novels. I shared some, and readers offered others, here. But what about memoir-specific opening lines?

Here are the first lines of some of the memoirs I selected as favorites in my personal top ten list.

Tell Your Travel Story–Win a $3,000 Vacation

Can you tell a great story in 450 characters- just about three Tweets?

If you entered the six-word memoir contest a few weeks ago, you should be in good shape to try this new contest from GoAhead Tours. They will give away 20 trips to lucky (and skillful!) players, so why not give it a try?

Contest ends February 5–that’s this Friday!  Don’t delay.

Announcing the Winner(s) of the Six-Word Memoir Contest

The six-word memoir contest ended at 5 p.m. today. There were 28 entries, three of which were posted on Facebook  and added into the comments section of the original post by me. Click here if you want to see all 28.

I have selected the entry of Chin Pheng Oh “Watching her grow, I see myself” as the grand-prize winner of the contest. She tugged at my mother’s heart. Parents learn so much about themselves from their children. Chin explains one reason for this–as adults we are able to stand outside and observe closely our child instead of staying inside as a child sees himself or herself.

I found five entries worthy of prizes also! In the same vein as the prize winner above, Lanie Tankard wrote, “I am still that little girl.” Lanie names a universal truth for all memoir writers. Our childhoods never disappear completely. All that we are and will become was there from the beginning. The statement suggests we sometimes need to be reminded to be kind to ourselves.

Donna, you hit me with the statement, “I’d like to do it again.” Your statement has a kind of delicious ambiguity. It could be a regret for not having done what you wanted to do in the first place. It could also be the result of so much joy of living that, like the kid who has just dived off the board and resurfaced, you want to go a second time.

Sally Rogers appealed to my 60-plus years sensibility with “Nearly all is said and done.”  Again, the interpretation is bitter/sweet. Life is passing fast. This could be spoken with gratitude and anticipation, with resignation, and with bitter regret.  It could also be about novelty rather than the passage of time–another way of saying with Solomon that there is nothing new under the sun.

Adam Tice, on the other hand, offered “There’s always something more to say.” Another lovely statement redolent of multiple meaning. Could be the memoir of a talkative person. Could be a philosophical statement about the impossiblity of endings. Could be just getting in the last word.

Finally, Grandpa1 amused me with “Still looking for my pivotal event.” I’ll admit that the statement would not have attracted me as much if it had come from teenager1. From a grandpa, however, it made me chuckle. I can interpret it as a spoof on developmental theory. I can interpret it as genuine yearning for transformation even at the last stages of life. And, above all, I see it as active yearning rather than passive acceptance. Go grandpa!

I loved all the entries, of course. And I thank everyone who commented. If you disagree with my judgments, let me know–or start your own contest.

Prizes

Chin wins her choice of books from the six on my shelf that I am giving away. I have added to the Judith Jones book five others.  I know four of the winners, but Donna and Grandpa1, you are new to me.  To all six of you–if you write to shirley.showalter@gmail.com, we can discuss the books and how to get them to you.

I’ll leave you with Paul Simon’s phrase that happens also to be a six-word memoir: “Still crazy after all these years.” You can substitute any other adjective for crazy and make your own statement.

Let me know if you enjoyed the contest whether you entered or not. Shall I do this again sometime?

Six-Word Memoir Contest

Have you tried to tell your life story in just six words?  Smith magazine discovered a gold mine with this concept a few years ago and now has published several popular books listing these short narratives.

The whole concept derives from a single story. Supposedly Ernest Hemingway was challenged to tell a story in six words and chose these:

For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.

The fact that six words can punch you in the gut or make you laugh out loud has led to many book and magazine sales and many conversations around the dinner table and at work. Here is a video that offers more illustrations.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACJboxe-8QY&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

Now for the fun part. A contest. Please offer your own six-word memoir below. I will send to the winner a copy of a lovely hardcover book, The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food,  a book I reviewed here on a previous blog post.

Here are the rules: tell a truth about your life in six words. No more. No less. I will pick the one I find funniest or most profound. If more than one bowls me over, I reserve the right to dish out more prizes of recently published books. If the winner doesn’t want to read the memoir of Julia Child’s editor (pictured on the left), I’ll offer some other tasty book morsel.

You can enter as often as you wish between now and Sunday January 17 at 5 p.m. Go!