Prompt #4 - Memory Brainstorming

This week's prompt is simple, but will hopefully lead you to a lot of more complex writing and reflection.

This week I want you to simply brainstorm. I want you to get out a notepad, or some loose paper in a 3-ring binder, and I want you to simply write down a bulleted list of all the memories you can think of that you would like to record in more detail down the road.

I want you to do this for two reasons:
1) It helps to draw out the stories that are just aching to be told.
2) Having even a short phrase about a memory can help to ensure it isn't forgotten later.

Okay, three reasons:
3) Having this list means you'll always have something you can write about, and when you (miraculously) have a few minutes to write, you won't have to spend all of that time thinking about what you want to write about.


Here are just a few from my 5 minute (if that) brainstorming session:
• Wonder Woman undies and my big wheel
• Chickens in the back yard
• Jerry the scary hunter
• The first time I ever saw someone’s mom force them to blow their nose (Matthew)
• Playing Contra at Jim and Liz’s
• Buying my first house
• Chicago with Hap
• Nauvoo with the whole awkward crew
• Thomy and his “harem”
• Being so proud when I had the fastest “fun run” time in P.E., and then the next week when someone ran it faster, acting nonchalant so her win would seem kind of anticlimactic
• Sister Eyre
• Baking pies
• Discovering different ethnic foods
• Playing soccer
• Clogging. Dear me.
• Loving art. Always loving it, since I was little.

This list could keep me writing for weeks and weeks. And the best part is, once I get writing, I know these memories will spark others.

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Thanks for joining me in my journey to write my personal history! If you participated in this prompt and would like to share your memory, email me!