Memoir vs. Total Recall
In the political realm, the pundits have been talking about two elderly politicians, the likely candidates for president. They’ve been talking about their memory problems. Both of them forget names. Both of them confuse names. Is it important? Or are the spokespersons for the various political interest groups looking for ways to tear the candidate they disagree with apart.
It is probably a little bit of both, but it’s gotten me to thinking again about memory.
I’ve written about memory before. It is a big deal, when you write memoir. The writer sifts through images, sounds and smells and then decides what to include and what not to include.
Not everything is equally important. If you add too much clutter to a scene, you cease to discern what is really important.
When we replay a memory from the past inside our head, do we remember the names of everyone in the room? Or is it the significance of the event that haunts us?
It is the writer’s job to decide, what to retain and what to discard from that final draft. Good writing takes time.
I start by writing everything down. Then I subtract. Anything not significant is deleted. Two pages of writing easily can be reduced to one paragraph. I’ve learned by reading other people’s work, a story must retain focus.
Try writing an essay in less than 250 words. It’s my weekly practice. And one of the sites that gives me inspiration is River Teeth that on Mondays publishs Beautiful Things, a weekly newsletter. Here is a link to one of their Monday micro essays I liked by Michelle Webster-Hein, titled, “Watercolor Meadow.” It convey’s the depth of a relationship in a few sentences.
Longer and more complicated is this essay by Katherine Zlabek, “If It Wants To Break,” published in the Fall 2023 issue of the Iowa Review. In approximately 2500 words, Zlabek conveys family dynamics and regional American culture while describing an evening fraught with potential danger and conflict. You can read it here.
WRITING EXERCISE: Take an old piece of personal nonfiction and/or memoir writing and challenge yourself to delete all unneeded words and sentences. Underline the phrases that add power. Are you surprised or pleased by the results? Try it multiple times. What did you learn about yourself and about writing?
Smell, is one of the five senses, that can help prompt memory. What daily practices have aided you on your writing journey?
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Originally published at http://nadjamaril.com on February 26, 2024.
