Memory and Mind—a Brief Scene with Dialogue

Relying on memory to write a memoir may not be the best approach. You can experience long stretches of nothingness—no images to grab onto as a way of entering the story. Unfortunately, when memory has nothing to offer, thinking mind steps in.

“Did we take a train directly from Florence to Helsinki?” it asks. Obviously thinking mind sees itself as a colleague of memory.

When memory shrugs her pretty shoulders, thinking mind responds.

“Probably not. That’s a long distance for a single train ride, right?”

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When Memory Doesn’t Speak

Several months ago I began writing a piece based on memories from a long ago journey I took. I decided I wanted to write strictly from memory, and not consult the journals I kept during my travels. It’s challenging, it’s interesting, and it’s fun even though I don’t know if most of what I’m writing is what really happened or something I made up, or something I’m making up even as I write.

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Writing Memory: Did It Really Happen or Am I Making It Up?

I’ve started a new writing project, one based on a journey I took many years ago. It was a long journey: seven months, and a challenging one. I’d sold pretty much everything of value I owned—business, home, car—bought an around-the-world airline ticket and set off with little more than one suitcase and a  handful of plans. I still have the journals I kept of my travels, as well as packets of letters I received at various locations, a few photographs. But I’ve decided not to reread the journals as I’m writing, but to just let the memories and the images appear in daily writing sessions.

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