Scrapbooking for Writers

Posted by Dulcinea Norton-Smith Aug 3, 2008

On my memoir research travels I kept stumbling upon the word “scrapbooking”. It has been one of those things where I have acknowledged the word and stored it in my brain but only after several months of noticing the word subconsciously did I stop and think “Hang on. What is this scrapbooking craze and what does it have to do with memoirs?”.

It seems that scrapbooking is preserving memories in a creative way using a scrapbook. It is a messy memoir! Whereas a memoir about high school would usually be a pretty detailed account of the subject's life in high school with some in depth emotional ponderings, a scrapbooker would write briefer journal style entries over laid with movie ticket stubs, party invites, corsage petals, photos and such like.

So who should scrapbook? Well I guess scrapbooking is for the more creative journal writer. The type of person who still has the first movie ticket from the first movie they saw with their husband and the random leaflet they found on the floor the day their first child was born. Wait a minute – that is me! Perhaps I should turn the memory boxes I made for my children into scrapbooks.

So why am I telling all you literary memoir writers out there about scrapbooking? Well it is not only useful for the sentimental type but also as a portable thought board for biography and autobiography writers to store and organise their research. If you take a risk and write and stick in a non linear way it can also present interesting new ways to view your work. Just grab an empty scrapbook or notepad and get started.

For more articles on scrapbooking check out the Suite 101 craft section.