The Writer’s Memo

For background and details on the Writer’s Memo, see Jeffrey Sommers’s "Behind the Paper: Using the Student-Teacher Memo," College Composition and Communication 39.1 (Feb. 1988): 77-80.

Rationale for Writer’s Memo

• Encourages a feeling of agency and responsibility on the part of writers with regard to their work
• Requires writers to set the agenda for response to their work
• Maximizes the efforts of writers’ respondents by helping them focus on those points most important to writers
• Requires writers to assess their own work critically
• Requires writers to assess their own work appreciatively
• Requires writers to develop awareness of writing processes, both those they have used and those they haven’t used

How to use the Writer’s Memo

Any time you prepare a draft for response, compose a Writer’s Memo and attach it to the draft.

What to include

• Standard memo headings: To, From, Date, Re
• Briefly state topic, angle, purpose, audience, and any other rhetorical considerations that will help to orient and focus your reader. If the piece you are submitting fulfills a particular assignment, state clearly which assignment it fulfills. (1 brief ¶)
• Briefly discuss your writing process on this piece up to this point; what interesting things have happened so far? Unexpected turns? Discoveries? Frustrations? Urgent needs for resources? Satisfactions? (1 brief ¶)
• What do you like best about this piece in its current form? (1 sentence)
• Where are you headed with this piece? What do you plan to work on next? (1 sentence)
• Statement on recycling: Explain whether and how you have done or will do work on this project in some other class or other setting. If, for example, you have submitted or will submit a related project for course credit in a course other than this one, you must say so. [This item is mainly relevant and necessary for the course instructor. It is not necessary for Writer’s Memos addressed to peers.] (1 sentence)
• Questions and/or points for focus. Indicate two or three specific aspects of your piece on which you want your reader to focus her/his responses. Research? Style? Tone? Pace? Organization? Ideas? Lead? Conclusion? Other aspects? (1 sentence for each point)
• If there is a specific approach to response that you find helpful, request it of your readers.  For example, some people benefit from a balance of affirmation and challenges or suggestions.  Other people prefer to receive only bracingly critical responses.  Others revise best when their readers offer them lots of questions and/or pointers toward what else could happen in the piece. 
• Designate in what form you want to receive your readers’ responses: in a written memo, in a conference or meeting, or in an audio recording (mp3 file).

Other tips (and requirements) for submitting your written work

• Write page numbers in the top right corner of your draft (if you are submitting actual paper draft; not necessary for electronic submissions)
• Include a Works Cited section if you cite published works

Click the links to view a sample 1 or sample 2 of a successful Writer's Memo