Is it possible to pull fragile memories from the archives and deposit that feeling into your book? To Write what we know? (Or what we kinda remember. . .)
Nice piece. You are so right about fractured memories. I think most writers use the past as a springboard for their imaginations. I can't remember incidents--particularly the visual details--well enough to write a memoir. But I can make up things around the emotional heart of what I remember.
So interesting -- the process of trying to pull at the threads of memory and the emotions involved. I have a lot of these little snippets from childhood that are elusive, but quite a few memories that are very vivid. The conversation is always interesting ... and when others say they don't remember vast swaths of their childhoods, I was always surprised by that. Clearly, you remember a lot and it shows ... I loved the evocative way you brought the 1970s alive for me again in "Forewarned."
Photos pull memories to the surface for me. I'm sorting 140 years of family photos to prepare to scan them. Sometimes, I want to pull those memories closer. Sometimes, I want to push them away. It's all so emotional. A record of life's comedies, tragedies, and the in-betweens. And fodder for stories! Thanks for sharing about yourself. I love the childhood photo of you! Can't wait to read Forewarned.
Thank you Sherrill! Don't they though? There are some I want to burn, some I cherish, and some photos I long to know more about. All are fodder for the writer brain.
Nice piece. You are so right about fractured memories. I think most writers use the past as a springboard for their imaginations. I can't remember incidents--particularly the visual details--well enough to write a memoir. But I can make up things around the emotional heart of what I remember.
Thanks Carl! Isn't that the truth?
So interesting -- the process of trying to pull at the threads of memory and the emotions involved. I have a lot of these little snippets from childhood that are elusive, but quite a few memories that are very vivid. The conversation is always interesting ... and when others say they don't remember vast swaths of their childhoods, I was always surprised by that. Clearly, you remember a lot and it shows ... I loved the evocative way you brought the 1970s alive for me again in "Forewarned."
Thanks Val! Oh, there vast swaths I don't remember too. Still, the emotions remain.
I'm so moved by these photos of a younger, more pensive Tracey. You have such a dazzling smile today!
Thanks Saralyn! I haven't seen many photos of me smiling at that age. Not even my school pictures! 😟
Photos pull memories to the surface for me. I'm sorting 140 years of family photos to prepare to scan them. Sometimes, I want to pull those memories closer. Sometimes, I want to push them away. It's all so emotional. A record of life's comedies, tragedies, and the in-betweens. And fodder for stories! Thanks for sharing about yourself. I love the childhood photo of you! Can't wait to read Forewarned.
Thank you Sherrill! Don't they though? There are some I want to burn, some I cherish, and some photos I long to know more about. All are fodder for the writer brain.
Tracey — This post evoked a gamut of emotions from me!
I hope you weren't terrified! 😱😄 Thanks for reading!