I've been thinking a lot lately about memory and memories, especially the different kinds of memory we all have- short term memory, long term memory, sensory memory, kinetic memory, and I'm sure there are more that don't come to mind (pun intended). Then, combine that with the stories we have that are our memories.
Short term memory can be quite a challenge at times. What did you have for lunch yesterday? There were three things you were supposed to pick up at the store and you came home with only two of them. How many lists do you make in a day? I often forget where I put the list so I could at least check off one item. Of course age has a lot to do with those challenges (I really am not THAT old). Overload, fatigue, plus a myriad of excuses all add to the puzzle.
Long term memory is plays a different role. I can remember our phone number when I was in first grade. Not impressive, you say? My family moved 11 times before I went off to college. That's a lot of phone numbers. But, I can recite it in a moment--the address too. Why? Why does my brain retain such a trivial piece of information more than 50 years later?
Sensory memory we all relate to. Sitting around with your family telling stories of "remember when," inevitably starts the tales of the day mom burned the dinner and you still can't stand the smell of those peas. We had a family disaster with bad scallops. I won't go into the details, but to this day I can barely look at one of those little white things without flipping my calendar back to age 10. My husband loves them, but kindly only orders them in a restaurant so I don't have to face the prospect of letting them in our house. That's sensory memory!
Kinetic memory I find fascinating. How do musicians play intricate pieces that go on for many minutes without needing to glance at their scores? I am a rapid typist, but only if I don't pay attention to my fingers. Once I think about it, all of my accuracy is lost. Combined with that is the sense of spacial memory. I have more than one computer. If I switch among them, it takes time for my fingers to readjust to the very slight difference in the spacing of the keys. Somehow I make the transition, but how does that happen?
I am rambling about this, for on this blog we talk about writing. We have had discussions about how to translate our lives and our experiences into print. I'm completing the final edits for my current manuscript and have been working at how to be descriptive without overdoing the explanations. That means I have to draw on what I have felt, seen, and done. Memories.
Do you have any you are willing to share as to how they have shaped your writing?
12 comments:
Interesting post, Cassy! Good luck on finishing your edits on your WIP. I love that stage of the process....starting a new WIP, however, is so much harder. Ugh! Guess I'd better get back at it.
Kari: You are SO right. I think I might actually be dragging out my edits....keeps the next one at bay. But today with the snow piled higher than you can imagine, it's a day to finish this changes.
Cassy, are you close to building an igloo like I am? Yikes. Where is all of this gonna go?
I'm glad my brain has packrat tendencies, so I have a lot of different memories I can draw on while writing. It does seem hard some days, though, to remember where I mentally filed a vital piece of info!
Good luck on your edits. :)
Hi, Donna! Great to hear from you. Igloo-- we can't see out some of our windows. All time record in the history of Connecticut. My Golden Retrievers are delighted as they disappear into the drifts.
As for memories, I hear you. I have so many that creating a mental filing system is a challenge.
I think those memories form the basis for voice. Perhaps what we write in fiction is an assimilation of those memories into a meaningful gestalt.
Marilyn
Ah, the old memory thing. I can remember some things as far back as my childhood, yet I cannot tell you someone's name for the life of me. (Even if I just met that person the day before.) It's amazing, though, how all my heroine sleuths have amazing memories!!
Nice post, Cassy.
Sorry Cassy, what were you talking about?
Great post Cassy.
Memory? I don't think I have a memory. I have to write myself notes to remember everything.
Pictures help me from trips. When I'm writing, if it's set somewhere I've visited I usually pull out the pictures from that trip.
Occassionally I'll have a long term memory. Most I like to keep to myself but every once in a while one will slip into my writing. And I might not even change the name to protect the innocent or guilty.
Nothing like making someone squirm.
Mary: I hear you about pictures. There is something very emotional about seeing certain images. I also understand why some people cut pictures out of magazines and pin them up to keep their writing on a visual track. I don't do that, but maybe I should start!
Lindsay: I can hear you now, giggling as someone figures out just WHO you were describing.
Cassy...great post!! I'm a little late to the party, as I was re-tooling a chapter in my WIP. I have about 3 more chapters and then will begin the editing/layering process where those memories you talked about will come into play. Your post reminds me that it's something to look forward to...LOL
Joni
:o)
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