The Rule of “So What?”

Good writing in every genre answers the question SO WHAT?  Writings should a purpose, a point, a reason it was written.

Sometimes, the SO WHAT? is subtle and implicit. Sometimes it’s explicitly stated. But always a reader will find something to think about because a writer has found something to write about.

If you don’t find deep meanings in your characters lives, your readers wont find them either.

The Rule of Thoughts and Feelings

In a memoir, the reader needs someone to relate to. If the writing piece is a short story, the someone is the main character. If it’s a memoir, that someone is you, the writer.

Knowing your thoughts and feelings is crucial if a reader is going to be able to participate in your story. Personal reflections- thoughts and feelings- help make a story engaging: interesting to read and vicariously experience. Personal reflections in memoirs are often the source of the best so what's?-the themes and significances of your experiences or of those of your main characters.

A revised verson of an article by Nancie Atwell from Lessons that change Writers (c) 2002

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