Vignette Books

Format

• Cover Art: Pencil vs. Ink
• Titles: no quotes, centered, Title Case
• Indent first line, align left
• Double space

OPening Lines:
Most effective:
Concrete detail
A moment
Dialogue
Bring Reader right in

Vignettes are not...

• summaries of entire summers, week-long vacations, or entire friendships
• Pure reflection on "why it matters to me"
• explanation

Vignettes Do...
zoom way in
focus on specific memories
unfold in moment-by-moment detail

Show don't tell

telling

• We had a blast
• The weather was so nice
• The food tasted so good
• She is an incredibly supportive person
• I was terrified
• There were many challenging moments
• My room was a mess
• We had a lot of fun doing lots of fun things

Showing:
"My legs quivered like leaves in the wind and my heart raced wildly as we crept toward the summit"

Grammar Basics

• tense consistency
• spell out numbers
• fragments
• dashes
• "My brother and I" vs. "My brother and Me"

Untitled Slide