Memories

Every time I go home to Arkansas I experience an almost overwhelming surge of memories from my childhood. And often I'll get my mom or my brother started and they'll mention other things that bring the old days back. I tried to get my mom to do this as therapy because she was a bit depressed during and after her recent hospitalization about not being as active as she was used to being. I find that happy memories restore me a bit, reenergize me. At least they are fun to recall. I thought it might work for her too, and she did smile a lot as I brought up things.

I keep a "memory journal" that I put such memories down in. I'm working today on expanding it from my recent trip. You may wonder what this has to do with writing. Well, I think it has a lot. A writer's memories and experiences provide the imagery and detail that he or she uses in constructing their stories in the here and now. I've used scenes or tidbits from my memory journal in many stories, and if you don't keep such a journal I suggest you start. I wish I would have started it when I was young so that I'd have the greater richness of detail, but in those days I was convinced I'd never forget. Don't be fooled. You'll forget too.