1. What incident makes a good personal narrative?
Criteria for choosing a story to tell
from all the incidents that your have experienced.

2. Make a list of EVERYTHING
Write down all the memories you can of incidents that had an effect on you.
All should be significant in some way.
Brainstorm!
The important thing - get as many memories on the left side Memory Inventory as possible.
Don’t judge, just write!

3. SORTING YOUR MEMORIES What memory should you write about?
Your personal narrative should not just be an anecdote about a strong memory.
Consider the characteristics of a PN.
Consider what makes a good story.
But most important…
The key to choosing a story for your PN is
CHANGE

4. SORTING YOUR MEMORIES What memory should you write about?
Did this happen to you, not someone else?
Will the story be interesting to a reader? ( Do you remember enough detail for the story to come alive for your reader?)
Does the story have a clear beginning, middle, and ending?
Did the incident have an effect on you – change you - in a way you recognized and can explain?

5. Consider these things:
What did you realize, or come to understand that you didn’t understand before the incident?
How was your future, your attitude, or your behavior changed by this incident?
What do you know now that you did not know before?
Is this change something that effected you in a broad way.
Can you show a clear cause/effect relationship between the incident and the ‘new’ you?

6. Reject or Consider? Reject the incident
If you were not changed, or you cannot explain a change that happened as a result of the incident, it is not a good idea for a PN.
Consider using the incident
If you DID experience a personal change & you can explain it, then this may be a good idea to develop into a PN.