While writing my historical fiction novel I have found that dropping into my own memories and the feelings of particular moments in time, allow me to create fictional emotions and memories for my characters. The memories felt in the 1800’s won’t be the same circumstances as crossing an ocean in steerage, however, placing myself back in a situation where I was worried and scared about my future enables me to tap into that uncertainty felt by my characters.
Sometimes I use visual cues to evoke layers of memory. Each morning before writing I searched YouTube for video loops with sensory soundscapes—such as the calm relaxation of a beach sunroom getaway or an ominous dark Victorian Harbor. The creak of the timber, the slap of the water against the hull, the distant cry of seagulls, and the rhythmic clop of horse hooves on cobblestones take me to a past I had not experienced.
Drawing on your own memories can also provide emotion for your characters. Recently I spotted a container of dark cherries at the grocery store. It triggered the wonderful memory of my grandmother’s house located on a busy street in San Jose. The house was cream-colored with a long driveway going to the backyard and separate garage. Down the driveway away from the noise of the street was my grandmother’s back porch and the largest cherry tree I had ever seen. (I was about eight years old).
The tree would yield the darkest deep red cherries. I couldn’t get enough of them. The birds ate their share as well. Those that fell on the ground stained the driveway with deep red sticky marks. The cherries were part of summer at my grandmother’s home, sitting on the back porch, feeling the breeze and working on mosaic picture craft kits to inspire creativity (and keep me busy). I was after all, an only child surrounded by grown-ups. I’m sure those mosaic pictures were the start of my love of crafts, sewing, and embroidery.
Memory can be a funny thing as you get older you can remember every detail of certain parts of your life or hardly any at all. It depends on your experiences and what you want to wipe away and what you want to keep. We keep painful memories hidden or remember every detail for the same reason: to protect ourselves. But, intertwined in those memories you want to forget are those you want to hold onto forever like the vivid memories of summer at my grandmother’s house.
I have found that if I think back and remember one memory from my childhood, other memories will come into focus. I remember going to the back door of my grandmother’s house and asking for bread with mayonnaise on it. Just that, bread with mayonnaise. Not sure where that came from, but I loved it.
Additional memories that came to mind:
· Special touch: My grandmother made three ceramic girl statues, and she let me play with them! Again, I was only about six or seven years old and later realized the special gesture.
· A Christmas chocolate that bit back: Watching my grandmother make so many cookies at Christmas time they filled the large counter. I grabbed a round one. It was a rum ball—I didn’t eat those ever again until I was an adult.
· Laughter and fun: I remember the dark wood dining room furniture at my grandmothers’ home. I would purposely sit at the table to the side of my uncle so that my left-handed knife cutting would elbow him.
Now I have a few questions for you.
How do you sit with your character and immerse yourself in what they must have felt during a particular moment?
How do you conjure up those emotions for them and what childhood memory do you hold that will create a feeling you wish to convey?
Hello Ann, thank you. I am very excited. It's really nice to meet a fellow history buff. You aren't overstepping at all. Actually I submitted an article to Genealogy Matters that has recently been accepted. I look forward to getting to know you.
Just read Colin's post about your upcoming novel release -- Congratulations!!!!
Might be overstepping here, but take a look at Robin Stewart's new digital Genealogy Matters magazine https://genealogymatters.substack.com/p/genealogy-matters-magazine-august-4bb?r=2roryu, which might be a place to put a story as part of your launching plan (disclosure: I love what Robin's doing for the family history community and will have a series coming in October, November, and December about my show biz uncle).
When it comes to conjuring feelings for characters, like you, I sit in my own and I watch people. My belief is that, while our technologies and platforms change, our feelings and emotions are deeply rooted in human evolution, that we have access to them in the service of survival and connection. We are a social species.
Grief, joy, shame, annoyance, vengeance, generosity -- far longer in our species than any ancestor we can connect to. What changes for me are situations and events that provoke those emotions. And a character's age. At 10, one might rage at the injustice of a brother getting an extra slice of bread; as a 20 year-old refugee, one might be struck by sorrow and love at handing over a slice of bread to a hungry brother.
Eagerly awaiting your novel!