Memory Takes Imagination

"For the older writer, memory and the imagination begin to seem less and less distinguishable. This is not because the imagined world is really much closer to the writer’s world than he or she cares to admit but for exactly the opposite reason: that memory itself comes to seem much closer to an act of imagination than ever before. My brother distrusts most memories. I do not mistrust them, rather I trust them as workings of the imagination, as containing imaginative as opposed to naturalistic truth.” ~ Julian Barnes



Choose three memories.  Reflect on one from early childhood.  Muse about a frustration in teenage years. Single out a thrill from your adult life.  


Freewrite about each.  Create dialogue with another person to bring in details. Add sounds and scents. Do not judge or evaluate during the writing. Keep it simple.


Notice as you write how your imagination works to fill in or adapt the experiences.  Let yourself go and flow in this freewrite.   Take advantage of all possibilities that arrive in your writing. How far do you wander from what you perceive as the "truth" may assist you to gain insights about the events.


Share your experience with us about how memory and imagination mingle.