Vignette Prewriting

Assignment: You will be writing at least three vignettes focused on a particular topic. This should be bio-fiction in nature.

“Fact and Truth really have nothing to do with each other.” William Faulkner

“Beauty—of form, of language, of meaning—always takes precedence over mere accuracy, truth over mere facts. The successful memoirist respects facts, uses them, rigorously represses the human impulse to lie or embellish, but knows that truth is different from facts, and greater than facts, and not always their sum.” Bill Roorbach

“Fiction is already at work in what he remembers. No deception is intended, but he wants to see clearly what is invariably, intrinsically vague. So he imagines. Image-making is indivisibly a part of remembering.” Wright Morris

Prewriting Strategy

1. If you had to summarize your personal belief essay in five words, what they be?

2. Use the clustering technique to write brainstorm vignette ideas. Begin with a word that has meaning for you (from #1) and write it at the center of the page and circle it. Then brainstorm other words, writing them in circles and connecting them with lines to the center word. (webbing)

3. Decide on one idea to write about. It could be a single word from your cluster exercise or a group of words related to one idea.

4. Pick an image that represents the idea you want to explore in your vignette. For example, write about the bravest person you've ever known if you want to explore courage. Find a quiet, comfortable place to free write for 10 minutes. JUST WRITE; don't stop; don't worry about grammar, spelling, etc.

5. Post some portion of your prewriting on your own blog. Share what you feel may give us a sense of your direction but also a possible direction of our own.