HOW TO BEGIN YOUR MEMOIR

     There are many times a person might have an interesting memoir to write but they don't have a clue where to begin.  As a memoir teacher I have no magic formula. We have talked about memory joggers but now you chosen your topic, having narrowed it down to a manageable size.  There are times even more reduction is required.  For the sake of example do a story in a well known time period--WWII-1941-1945-FAMILY STORIES. Family stories is a broad topic and needs to be reduced. " How about, "How Shift Work Affects a Household" You lived through this time period and you know the story.  You may be an out liner and here is the time to make one. Perhaps you' re a little fuzzy on some details.  This is a good excuse to call a friend or a family member you haven't talked to in awhile.
You have your outline filled in with just a few gaps. You're ready to begin:

                                                                                                      
                           "HOW SHIFT WORK AFFECTED  HOUSEHOLDS"


                                              WORLD WAR II-1941-45

     The Shortts and Langs were neighbors. Coming from opposite ends of the state to work in the large defense plant, they were different in so many ways. One family moved from the mountainous Southwest, the Langs,the  red dirt of the Piedmont. The adults spoke in the vernacular of their respective areas, and the children snickered, wondering why they talked so funny.  They ate different foods, planted different cops by different methods and attended different churches.
     There was one custom which tied them together and had a great influence on their daily lives.  Shift work! The Arsenal ran  twenty-four hours a day, and there were three shifts.  The first, and desired one was from8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  The second shift and the children's favorite was the evening one  from 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 Midnight. Mother's were more relaxed during these evening hour and the children were allowed to stay up later.  Supper could be breakfast and no one seemed to mind. The third shift was the dreaded one, especially by the mothers. Running from 12:00 midnight to 8:00 a.m., its other name was the "grave yard shift."   Mothers' main responsibility consisted of keeping everyone quiet while the fathers slept. Keeping a colicky baby from crying could cause tremendous stress for everyone.The plant's hours dictated the activities of the families from friends' visits to meal schedules.

     Added to the stressful and changeable schedules were the physical tolls  it took on the men working in the manufacturing of nitroglycerin and other toxic substances.  They were stricken often with migraine-like headaches and other maladies.  Frequently this brought about short tempers and fatigue.  Here, again, the mothers stepped in to smooth over and try to explain why daddy did not feel up to playing with them or for that matter, just being in their presence.  It was understandable how these unreal schedules and added stresses affected the children all their lives.   After the war ended some of the parents became aware of the negatives affects, others didn't see them.  As in all adversity some come out stronger and others never recovered.  So it was with the children of the shift workers.
(Some material taken from "The House of Straw," by Nan Turner, 2006.  ISBN: 0-9791543-0-8)

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