Your memoir needs a book dedication

 

Question #1: Do you know who you’re writing your memoir for?

 

If you’re still early in the process of writing, you might not know who you’re writing it for.

 

If that sounds like you, Biff Barnes at Stories to Tell explains why it’s important to ask yourself: “Who am I writing my book for?” and “Why are those people special to me?”

 

Biff says that knowing your audience will help you pin down your voice, your tone, your vocabulary, what stories to include, and how to shape your book. (Click on “Memoir or Family History.”)

 

Question #2 (which is related to Question #1): Do you know what a book dedication is?

 

The dedication appears on one of the first few pages of a book and often begins with “For” or “I dedicate this book to” followed by names of people for whom you’ve written your memoir.

 

So, tie #1 to #2 and there you have it: Besides all the reasons Biff listed above, you need to know who you’re writing your book for so you can write your memoir’s dedication.

 

Even in the early stages of writing your story, compose a rough draft of your dedication, knowing you can revise it later, just before you publish.

 

A word of caution: Don’t confuse a book’s dedication with your acknowledgments page. Lucille Zimmerman at WordServe Water Cooler says the book dedication is not “the acknowledgments page where you thank everyone who ever helped you” write, revise, edit, and publish your story,  but rather it’s “that mostly blank page tucked in the beginning of a book, after the title page and publishing credits.”

 

Lucille is fascinated with book dedications. Her blog post, 7 Ways to Do Book Dedications, includes charming examples for you.

 

A book dedication should be personal. Joseph C. Kunz, Jr., emphasizes the emotional connection a book dedication can create and writes, “Whether your book’s dedication is only a few sentences or an entire paragraph, you shouldn’t miss this opportunity to give the reader a small look into your life’s story.” Click here to read his post, Book Dedications to Spur Your Imagination, which includes a dozen examples.

 

Study dedications in books you have on your shelves, or go to the library, or check out the “Look inside” feature on Amazon.com. These will give you added inspiration.

 

When it comes time to craft your final version of your memoir’s dedication, keep this in mind: It doesn’t have to be dull and formal. Get creative. Give your dedication some charisma, some pizzazz. And have fun!

 

Also consider including an epigram below your dedication. An epigram is a concise statement that illuminates or summarizes your message. If used following a dedication, an epigram helps make your dedication relatable and memorable. It can even make your readers curious.

 

An epigram can be a parable, a proverb, a quotation, a Bible passage, or something clever. It can be a line from a poem, an adage, a maxim, a witticism, a precept, or a prayer.

 

Here are a few examples of epigrams:

 

“The Masaai have a saying, Meata nkerai lopeny: A child is not owned by one person.”

 

“Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping . . . will return with songs of joy” (Psalm 126:5-6).

 

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

So, craft a dedication for your memoir.

Make it special.

Create a dedication with grace and charm and wit.

 

Your memoir: Does it have a dedication page yet?

Have I convinced you to give family and friends an early edition of your memoir for Christmas? —as a preview, a sneak peek, a promise of your completed memoir soon? I hope so! (Click on this link: You might already have the perfect Christmas gift for your family.)  

You can do it! Even if you have written only a few vignettes so far, you can print them and make them into a meaningful gift—a gift of yourself.

In Tuesday’s post, we looked at your need to pin down a title. (Click on If you’re giving your family an early edition of your memoir for Christmas, it needs a title.)

Today we’ll look at the dedication page.

Do you know what a dedication page is?

It often begins with “For” or “I dedicate this book to…” followed by names of people for whom you’ve written your memoir.

But if that seems too spare and dull, get creative—give your dedication some pizzazz!

Lucille Zimmerman over at Wordserve Water Cooler is fascinated with book dedications. She says the book dedication is not “the acknowledgments page where you thank everyone who ever helped you,” but rather it’s “that mostly blank page tucked in the beginning of a book, after the title page and publishing credits.” Her blog post, 7 Ways to Do Book Dedications, includes charming examples for you.

A book dedication should be personal. Joseph C. Kunz, Jr., emphasizes the emotional connection a book dedication can create and writes, “Whether your book’s dedication is only a few sentences or an entire paragraph, you shouldn’t miss this opportunity to give the reader a small look into your life’s story.” Click here to read his post, Book Dedications to Spur Your Imagination, which includes a dozen sample book dedications for you.

Study dedications in books you have on your shelves, or go to the library, or check out the “Look inside” feature on Amazon.com. These will give you added inspiration.

In crafting your dedication page, ask yourself: Which special people did I write this book for? And why did I write it for them?

Your memoir: A gift that will live long beyond your lifetime.

Do you know what a book dedication is—and is not?

Do you know what a book dedication is—and is not?

Have you written your memoir’s dedication—or at least a rough draft? Doing so can help you write the rest of your book. (See below.)

If you haven’t penned even a rough draft of your memoir’s dedication, this blog post is for you.

The dedication often begins with “For” or “I dedicate this book to” followed by names of people for whom you have written the book. But it doesn’t have to be spare and dull: There’s room for creativity and innovation.

Lucille Zimmerman over at Wordserve Water Cooler is fascinated with book dedications. She says the book dedication is not “the acknowledgments page where you thank everyone who ever helped you” but rather it's “that mostly blank page tucked in the beginning of a book, after the title page and publishing credits.” Her blog post includes seven charming book dedications.

A book dedication should be personal. Joseph Kunz emphasizes the emotional connection a book dedication can create, and offers a dozen examples in his blog post.

Stories to Tell workshops include an exercise called “Dedication Page” in which participants answer two questions:  “Who is your book for? Why are they special to you?”

Biff Barnes explains why it’s important to answer those questions even in the process of writing your memoir:

Knowing your audience

will help you pin down your voice,

your tone, your vocabulary,

what stories to include,

and how to shape your book.

If you haven’t thought about your memoir’s dedication page, the time has come! Creating it can be a lot of fun, and even a rough draft will benefit you during your writing.

“When the glitter settles … a pep talk is in order.”

Of all the blog posts on making New Year’s resolutions about writing, one stood out, Resolution...or...Revolution,* by Stacy at Heartprints of God.

Have you declared that 2012 is The Year of Your Memoir?* I hope so! (Read last Wednesday’s post* if you missed it.)

Some of you—Penny, De, and Janet—say this is The Year of Your Memoir! Bravo!

The rest of you can do the same!

Just picture it: A year from now, your memoir could have a title.

Your memoir could have a cover.

Inside, black ink on white pages could chronicle your stories.

Sounds pretty exciting, but how can you make your memoir a reality?

If you’re like many of us, you took time off during the busy holiday season and now need a boost to get busy writing again. Maybe you can identify with Dianne Christner at WordServe Water Cooler, * who says,

“When the glitter settles, I often discover that my creativity has gravitated from the work place to family, friends, and holiday festivities.… Christmas can leave me feeling unmotivated to return to the hard task of writing. When this happens, a pep talk is in order.…” *

Dozens of writerly-types have written blog posts about the need to make New Year’s resolutions, and perhaps most of us have made some—but I’ve heard only one in five people will keep them!

Here’s a quote I recently put on SM 101’s Facebook Page because, if you want to make significant progress on writing your memoir in 2012, here’s wise advice:

"...You have to be driven. You have to have the three D's: drive, discipline and desire. If you're missing any one of those three, you can have all the talent in the world, but it's going to be really hard to get anything done." (Nora Roberts; emphasis mine)

Of the dozen or so blog posts I read on making New Year’s resolutions about writing, one stood out, Resolution...or...Revolution,* by Stacy at Heartprints of God.

Stacy says that a resolution is a decision.

It “starts in the mind. It is making up your mind you are going to do something different.”

“But,” she asks, “is a resolution what you and I are really wanting?”

Then she defines revolution: It is a complete turn in a new direction resulting in far-reaching change.

I picked up The Synonym Finder, by J. I. Rodale, and looked up revolution: a radical change, a metamorphosis, a transformation.

Stacy says, “We don’t just want to decide to make a change, we want the change! We want to make a complete turn and head in a new direction. We want far-reaching and drastic change.

“… How do we turn our resolution into a true revolution?

“By being intentional. By keeping our goals ever before us… always in view. By doing something each day to bring this goal to a reality.

“Change starts in our mind, but comes to fruition in our actions.…

“It’s not enough to decide one time. We must keep deciding and keep choosing and keep resolving each and every day.”

Wow! I like that, especially the word intentional. How about you?

If you have resolved to make 2012 The Year of Your Memoir, let us know. Leave a comment below because, like Kathy Pooler recently said, it takes a village to write a memoir. We’re in this together!

*Resources and links

Wednesday’s post,

http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2012/01/opportunity-for-you-writing-fast.html

Dianne Christner’s quote, “When the glitter settles,”

http://wordservewatercooler.com/2011/12/27/inspiration-to-write

Stacy’s Resolution or Revolution,

http://www.heartprintsofgod.com/2011/12/resolutionora-revolution.html