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.

Front matter: Have you created it for your memoir?

After you’ve finished writing your memoir’s chapters, or maybe even while you’re still writing, develop the following front matter, important documents to place at the beginning of your collection of stories:

The Title Page is the first page your readers will see. Your memoir’s title* will appear on the front cover as well as on your Title Page. Give yourself a by-line, too, such as “Swimming with Sting Rays,” by Buck Alexander. (I know people who used to swim with sting rays, including my husband and children!)

The next page is your Dedication Page where you name those for whom you’ve written your stories and why. Consider adding an Epigram on the Dedication Page. An Epigram is a saying, poem, Bible verse, or quote that pertains to what your readers will discover; an Epigram adds depth or clarity or pizzazz. (You can also include Epigrams at the beginning of your chapters. Read more in our earlier blog post, “Add Richness to Your Memoir’s Chapters.”)

Next, develop your Table of Contents (optional). If your memoir is a collection of vignettes or chapters, you will have given them titles. If so, list them for your readers and include page numbers.

After that, write your Introduction. Think of this as writing a letter to your readers. State why you wrote your stories (see especially Deuteronomy 4:9 and Psalm 66:16). You might want to share why you chose your title. Explain that your memoir is merely one slice of your life (a collection of stories pertaining to a certain theme—review What is a memoir at this link).  Include what you hope people will discover by reading your accounts. And here’s a bit of good advice from Frank P. Thomas: “Avoid making any apologies in your introduction for your life, for your writing, or for anything else. You are better than you think. So be positive.” (How To Write The Story of Your Life)

Some authors include a Prologue which gets the reader ready to begin Chapter One. A Prologue might include your memoir’s setting, date, and other background information. A Prologue can help readers settle into your story—which makes it more likely they’ll read it all the way to the final page.

Another optional feature is a Timeline. Why? Think back: You have a good grasp of the order of your life’s events. Probably your kids do, too, but how about our grandchildren and great-grandchildren? They probably won’t have a clue.

If you arrange your stories in a non-chronological order, or if you have flashbacks or insert backstory, a Timeline can be important for your readers.

Your goal is to make it easy for readers to follow along with you.  A Timeline can clear up anything that confuses your readers or hiders your stories’ message.

Keep your Timeline simple—a list with dates should work just fine, or you could create a horizontal line across two facing pages with key dates marked.

OR: Here’s a simpler way to organize your front matter: 

• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction—In this case, your Introduction would include the following from the above list: Dedication (and Epigram if you’re using one), Introduction, and Prologue.  Some authors write two or three pages of introductory material.
• Timeline (optional)

Look through other memoirs for front matter ideas—you probably have a few memoirs stacked on your bedside table, right? You can also browse the shelves at libraries and bookstores.

Enjoy developing your front matter.

Give yourself permission

to write in rough draft form,

knowing you can come back later

to tweak and polish.

*For  more on titles, click on these recent blog posts:

Does your memoir have a title yet?

Craft your memoir’s best title

Your memoir’s title: The art part

Your memoir needs an outstanding subtitle

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.