MEMORY EXERCISE #1

Jot down a few words or phrases for each memory so that you have a brief record of which incidents you are recalling (don’t worry at this point if your brief record won’t make complete sense to someone else).  “Crazy man in green hat” works just fine.  They don’t have to be from childhood necessarily.

1.  Recall a pleasant time in the past.
2.  Recall a building in which you once lived.
3.  Recall a secret you once had.
4.  Recall an extremely interesting person from outside your family from your childhood.
5.  Recall an incident that filled you with dread.
6.  Recall something dangerous you did when you were young.
7.  Recall something bad you did when you were a child.
8.  Recall something that happened during a school vacation.
9.  Recall something that happened in a schoolroom or schoolyard.
10.  Recall your first romantic infatuation.
11.  Recall something funny that made you laugh happily.  

Choose one of these moments, one that calls up strong emotions and that has consequences for your emotional life, but also one that HAS A STORY that might be interesting to tell.  Close your eyes and try to “replay the movie” of the incident in your mind.  Try to remember and write down as many details as you can about it:  Not just a poster on the classroom wall, but the colors of the clown’s hat in the poster; not just a man with an illness but “ankles clotted beneath woolen socks.”  Write down everything you remember of what things looked like, what you heard, what people said, etc.  

Then ask what significance the incident had in your life.  Why are you remembering this particular thing rather than some other secret or building or dangerous thing you did?

Using as many of the details as you can, and WITHOUT saying the emotions you want to evoke, write a brief poem or prose piece pulling out these emotions from the reader by showing the reader things.

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