Memories

Have you noticed how we generally rely on a protagonist’s memories in fiction to give us a full picture of who they are, and where they came from – their back story? Whether we use flashbacks once the reader cares enough about the story not to put the book down, or when characters talk about their past or even remember snippets only, to give readers clues, it provides an effective mechanism to get to know fictional characters and ultimately start to root for them.

But how does this translate to the real world? What do we as regular people, who live outside of fictional worlds (if we’re not editing, that is) remember?

Truth is, our experience of the past in itself, may skew how we remember something. And over time, affect the way in which our memories change or evolve as little bits of information escape us.

It should be quite confusing. But it isn’t. Because we’re the protagonists of our own lives. We don’t reflect on the things we have forgotten.

Nonetheless, who hasn’t had a conversation with someone about an event of the past, only to discover the different way in which they view the world and, let’s be honest, facts in general. This can be very impractical in arguments, though somewhat enduring in life.

Everyone has their story and they’re sticking to it.

Just imagine for a second that our characters had the same need for objectivity we all do, and that they remembered things with this interesting view and personal bias, especially if revealed to readers in Flashbacks that assume a certain level of accuracy. How impractical would this be for our readers?

It’s been a bit quiet in the blog sphere for me, I must admit… largely due to running around after a very busy toddler and being quite exhausted a lot of the time. That’s the reason and I’m sticking to it.

Though, let’s not mention the television shows I still manage to watch and best of all, how often we venture out to have little adventures as a family. This is important stuff.