Reach for a Memory
by Nan Marino
When it comes to writing, there are good and bad days. On a good day, you’ve got tons of ideas. Words flow. The sun shines. Everything is easy. But there are times when idea spigot gets a little clogged. Don’t worry. It happens to everyone.
On days when I’m looking for the mental equivalent of bottle of liquid Drano, I reach back to my childhood memories. First I think of a particular moment and try to recall the feelings surrounding it. Then I write. When I’m done, I move things around, alter it a little (or a lot), and turn it into fiction.
My debut middle grade novel, Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me, is filled with altered memories. When I was about ten, a boy who lived on my street challenged the entire block to a game of kickball. All of us against one kid! In real life after about five minutes, we got bored watching him chase after the ball, and we moved onto something else. In my book, that game stretches out for an entire week.
Childhood memories make great writing prompts. Below are more memories I incorporated into my book. Feel free to write about any of them to get your creative juices flowing:
The Ice Cream Truck: When 4th or 5th graders send me drawings of scenes from my book, someone always draws the ice cream truck scene. Everyone connects with Mr. Softee. It’s an iconic symbol of summer. Remember waiting for the ice cream truck to come around? Did you have a favorite flavor ice cream?
Kickball, baseball, handball: Did you play? Were you one of those kids who took it seriously or did you sit on the sidelines?
Barbeques: I like barbeques because they happen over and over again. We eat the same kind of food and gather together with the same group of family or friends. It creates that feeling of endless summer days. What happened at your barbeques? Did you have an uncle who made great cherry pies? Was there a neighbor who sang a special song?
Dandelions: Nothing separates adults and children more than their feelings about dandelions. It’s the first flower you probably picked, and the first one you gave to someone you loved. I dare you to find one person under the age of ten who thinks it makes perfectly good sense to spend your precious weekend hours trying to eradicate them from your front lawn.
Songs and Dances: Madonna or Nirvana? Springsteen or Sinatra? A single song can take you back to that day when you were seven… Need more inspiration? Download it and dance!
Historical events: What happened when you were young? Do you remember the first time a man walked on the moon, the bicentennial, the assassination of John Lennon, the Berlin Wall coming down, the first Gulf War, the Y2K scare? From a child’s eyes, these events are seen differently.
Your secret place: Was it up in a tree? Behind the couch? Or up on the garage roof?
Remembering ordinary moments from your childhood is a great way to begin writing. Next time you need some inspiration for your fiction, reach for a memory.
Nan Marino spent her childhood climbing trees and hanging out on garage roofs in the town of Massapequa Park, New York. Since then, she’s ventured a hundred miles south to the Jersey shore where she works as a librarian and lives with her husband and their dog. Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me, published by Roaring Brook Press (May 2009), is her first novel.
10 comments
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November 10, 2009 at 9:13 am
Laura Toffler-Corrie
Very useful for getting the creative juices flowing!
November 10, 2009 at 9:25 am
Sarah Dillard
Thank you Nan! I was having one of those days yesterday and I think your post just jarred me out of it!
I also have to say this whole thing has been wonderful. A few times I’ve gotten to the end of the day and not come up with an idea yet. I’ve been tempted to just blow it off and do two the next day, but I don’t. I grab my sketchbook, sit down for about 10 minutes and just start writing out ideas, sometimes with help from the prompts here, sometimes just something based on the days events (a wedding Saturday proved pretty helpful idea wise!)
If I wasn’t doing PiBoIdMo, those days I was tempted to blow off working on new ideas, I probably would have.. Hopefully I’m building some great new habits!
November 10, 2009 at 4:22 pm
nan marino
Thanks Laura.
Sarah, glad the post helped. Around the middle of the month is when it’s the hardest. Don’t you think? But keep going. You can do it! And I agree with you. It’s wonderful that Tara is doing this on her blog. Hurray for Tara and for all the PiBoIdMo participants.
November 11, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Sheri Dillard
Thanks for the great post, Nan! I especially liked the dandelion section. You’re so right — kids LOVE those flowers. Why are we adults so ready to get rid of them? How else are we going to learn who likes butter? 🙂 (Isn’t that the flower that you hold under someone’s chin to see if they like butter?) And of course we need them so we can blow off the seeds and make a wish! 🙂
November 11, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Sarah Dillard
Sheri, I think it is buttercups that determine who likes butter, but dandelions are definitely for wishes.
…and are we related?!
November 11, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Sheri Dillard
Oh, you’re right — Buttercups. That makes more sense. (Maybe dandelions tell us who likes lions?)
As for being related… My husband’s family is from Nashville, Tennessee. How about you?
November 12, 2009 at 8:42 am
Jewel
This is a fantastic brain exercise Nan. After reading all your suggestions for some reason the ball games stuck in my head. I had to sit down and write a list of the types of ball games children play. Then I added the ball fights kids engage in. It is still rolling around in my head.
Here are a few from my list: snowball, mudball, spitball, baseball, kickball, football, tapeballs, dodgeball, snowcone balls, paint balls, icecream balls, peanut butter balls, meatballs, cheeseballs, jell-o balls and basketball.
Feel free to add to my list and pass the balls on.
November 13, 2009 at 5:33 pm
nanmarino
Sarah and Sheri (not related?) I forgot all about buttercups. Next spring, I’ll be on the lookout for them. They’re fun too. But dandelions are still my favorites. It’s all about the wishes.
Jewel you got a lot of them. But hmmm let’s see…. bowling ball, ping pong ball, cotton ball, ball of yarn, crystal ball, I’m still thinking…
November 14, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Sheri Dillard
Wiffle ball, bocce ball, cue ball…
Oh, remember the “Magic-8 ball?”
November 15, 2009 at 9:45 am
nanmarino
Magic 8 Ball! It is decidedly so! Signs point to yes! I even remember some of the answers. I also remember taking it very seriously.