Noting that the study of intrapersonal communication (inner speech) is increasingly recognized as an integral part of communication education, this paper argues that introspective writing, such as memoirs and personal journals, can be studied in communication classes for the confirmation they offer of theoretical descriptions of internal communication. Specifically, the paper argues that this kind of writing can be analyzed to discover common patterns in intrapersonal communication, such as helical thought development and chronology revision. The first major section of the paper discusses the helical model of communication, which uses the helix as a representation of the spiraling nature of intrapersonal communication, a continuing process that builds on past experience and affects future interactions. It illustrates this form of reflective writing with examples from the memoirs of Linda Leonard, Lynda Van Devanter, A. L. Rowse, Rosalynn Carter, and May Sarton. The second section of the paper deals with chronology revision as it appears in the writings of Hilary Masters and Eudora Welty, while the third section looks at reordering chronology to develop a personal myth, which is illustrated in the works of Masters and Sarton. The paper concludes that memoirs and journals are particularly useful because their writers sometimes reflect on the very mental processes they are recording, giving insights into the very nature of human thought. (FL)