I have a notoriously bad memory. I can barely remember the events that happened a week before most of the time. I literally have to write down character details so I don’t forget as I write whenever I write longer stories so I don’t bother my writing buddy with questions like, ‘What colour eyes does he have again?’ or ‘What’s their last name again?’. Any memories that do come back to me are usually sense related. A song. A smell. They can bring back the moment I experienced them with startling clarity. But actually trying to recall anything? Doesn’t work for me.
So, I’ll tell you about one of my first writing memories.
In sixth grade, the teacher decided she wanted us to write a daily journal. I didn’t feel as though there was anything worth writing about in my daily life so I asked if I could write a chapter a day of a story instead. She said yes and I started immediately working on a story about a girl who meets a unicorn who takes her into an alternate dimension. I don’t remember very much about the story itself, just that it was obviously a fantastical romp through a magical world. The teacher kept the story for our time capsule. That we were supposed to have opened years ago at a reunion that sadly never happened.
Maybe I should revisit that world again?