I remember when…
Soon, graduation will be here and one of my favorite parts of the ceremony is the “I remember when” videos submitted by students and faculty. Funny, cute, poignant memories shared about the current graduating class. Memories frozen in video. Periodically, I have my students do a free write starting with “I remember when” and I marvel every time at the beauty of their responses. At times, when I really can’t think of where to go with a story or a character, I will sit with my journal and just write a list of “I remember whens” or just a stream of consciousness freewrite, trying to cleanse my brain and force myself past the writer’s block. Often, these “remember whens” have inspired characters and scenes that have developed into longer works or been incorporated and adapted to my current books.
That’s the thing about stories—they come from so many diverse and, often, surprising places. Take, for example, the running joke through the trilogy, “Well, apparently, they missed a few.” It’s first said by Sylle in response to Finn’s comment that the Strygoi had been exterminated by the elves hundreds of years earlier (Spoiler alert: they weren’t). This line came from an “I remember when” freewrite I did in class one day while writing with my students. I was remembering a discussion I had with my Grandpa once about my cleaning abilities. I had strewn a bunch of toys around their living room for playing purposes and had hastily cleaned them up when called to the dinner table. Grandpa had stepped on one and tersely mentioned to me that I needed to remember to pick up my toys before leaving a room. I answered that I had done just that. Grandpa raised and eyebrow at me and said, “Well, apparently you missed a few.” He was not amused. Not being funny. Totally serious and displeased. Grandma continued to say something like it to me for years afterwards. The memory came back as I was writing my trilogy and I worked it into the plot. Instead of missing picking up toys, though, the elves had missed killing all the Strygoi and the monsters were able to rebound in the deepest dark of MithTerra.
That’s what I love about my writing. Even though it’s a fantasy set in a completely made up world with characters and beings and magic not found in the “real” world, as I read my books, I smile and become nostalgic remembering the people and events that gave birth to those ideas that make up my stories. Every character has pieces of people I know, have read about, briefly met, etc. Every monster or fantasy race has origins in things I have read, studied, experienced. My plots have been lived not just in my brain. They were born with real situations being changed by a “what if” in my mind or tweaked by a wish in my heart for a different outcome or a thought about a different path I could have taken. Every storyline has an infinite number of paths to take and many in my books have gone through ten or more iterations before making it into the final printing. I still enjoy perusing them in my journals and saved files—reliving what could have been.
That’s the fun of “remember whens",” too. Reminiscing about the past. Reliving the laughter and sometimes pain. We all need those trips down memory lane to rejuvenate, to remind us of our choices and our life lessons, and to give us inspiration for future paths and stories. So, walk through your memories thoughtfully. Right now, I have to finish my contribution to this year’s graduation video, and wow, the stories I can tell.