What do a dictionary, the Bible, and Titanic have in common? It’s definitely not content. But as unrelated as these three things may seem, they all utilize a basic and overlooked writing skill: organization. A dictionary is alphabetized, the bible is arranged into testaments, books, chapters, and verses, and the movie Titanic is told via flashback. Organization plays a key role in these examples, as well as every book and movie. A prime example of how organization and style can be used to improve a story is found in the memoir All Tomorrow’s Parties by Rob Spillman. It is a strange and captivating story of a boy who grew up in West Berlin, but spent his adolescence moving from Virginia to New York to Baltimore to Colorado. From there, he moved to New York City, married in his early …show more content…
The main way the author utilizes an organizational style to enhance his memoir is the strange chronology he uses. Instead of writing about his life in a linear fashion, Spillman instead chose to alternate between two nearly unconnected storylines. The chapters switch between documenting the author’s childhood and telling the story of his adventures in post-wall East Berlin. The result is a constant change in protagonist: a confused boy with a strange family life, or an adventurous twenty-year-old who goes to extraordinary measures to live for art. For most of the memoir, the reader is unable to see how these two storylines could