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Writing and Memory: Why It Is Important for Authors

January 10, 2018

Fiction Writing Tips, Writing

experience, fiction, growing up, literature, nostalgia, time, writing

I have talked in the past about nostalgia and reminiscence, and in this article I will emphasize the role of writing and memory in the context of writing fiction.

Many people are under the impression fiction is a process where you just “come up with things”, as if from thin air. This is inaccurate. Deep down, writing fiction is about telling a truth (often a secret or unpleasant one) in a different way.

And so, experiencing becomes an operative element: before you write you must experience. Writing and memory, therefore, go hand-in-hand. The diagram below should give you a quick idea.

Writing and Memory
The Process of Writing Fiction
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The Timelessness of Experience

January 8, 2018

Experiencing

experience, feelings, growing up, identity, life, musings, nostalgia, time

Remember a scene from your childhood: a movie that you saw for the first time, which made a lasting impression on you. Depending on how old you are, it might have been Gladiator, Apollo 13, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, or even something older. Try to remember how you felt watching it, who you were at the time; where you lived, how life was, how the space around you was; what kinds of thoughts you had at that age, what kind of hopes. Hold that thought. Let’s talk about the timelessness of that experience.

timelessness of experience
Time is a construct of our experiencing
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Nostalgia: The Illusion of Space-Time

December 23, 2017

Philosophy

feelings, identity, life, nostalgia, sublime, time

I don’t want to reveal my exact age, but I am not young. I am not old, either – although, perhaps this latter claim would automatically categorize me as old. In any case, I am at an age where I can look back and have a concept of nostalgia, of memories, of childhood.

I also have an uncannily good memory – which is a blessing for a writer. This memory is in fact multi-layered: Not only do I remember the past, but I remember myself in the past thinking about the past.

Nostalgia. Sunset
The place I spent most of my summers as a kid. But nostalgia is neither about the place, nor about me being a kid.
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