Your memoir and the power of photos

“Listen to the music of the carousel,

The tinglelingle, lingle of the ice cream bell,

The splishing and the splashing of a moonlight swim

The roaring of the waves when the surf comes in.…

“Summer time is here wake up and come alive,

Put away a scarf and glove.

Here come summer sounds,

The summer sounds I love.”

(excerpts from the song Summer Sounds, Roy Bennett/Sid Tepper)

The day my mother died a month ago, my daughter Karen sent me those song lyrics in response to a picture I’d posted of her and her brother, Matt, with their grandma last summer. To my surprise, that photo generated one of Karen’s most vivid memories of happy times with her grandma.

Several times when my kids were little, Mom loaded them into her car and drove across the state to Spokane, Washington, to visit their great-grandmother and lots of other beloved relatives.

Mom sang all the way across the state, and the kids sang with her. Especially memorable was Summer Sounds. All these years later the kids can still hear her singing those words.

Matt, upon seeing the picture and reading Karen’s words, wrote: “When I hear this song, I can also smell Grandma’s Mercury Bobcat and hear the crinkle of brown paper sacks that had rewards in them for each 50 miles of the Seattle-Spokane trip.”

When I read my kids’ memories, I could picture my mom behind the wheel singing at the top of her lungs—and she’d be leaning forward.  She rarely sat back against the seat, being the high-energy, intense person that she was.

And that led me to another memory. Mom’s energy and intensity reminded me that she sprinted through life. If the phone or doorbell rang, she leapt to her feet and jogged to see who was there.

And that led me to another memory: Her fellow school teachers used to call out during recess, “No running on the blacktop!”—but they weren’t hollering to students, they were calling out to Mom. She hurried through life at a trot—until she had one leg amputated, but that’s another story.

Just think, all those memories were generated by that one photo.

Photos can trigger your memories, too—memories that are crucial in the development of your memoir’s significant people. That’s important because you don’t want—and especially your readers don’t want—lifeless characters, what Carly Sandifer calls “cardboard characters.”

So, find a photo of a prominent person in your memoir. Take time to look at the picture and let it stir up memories.

Rediscover that person’s quirks, gestures, body language, habits, appearance, talents, strengths, and weaknesses.

What relationship did you have with that person?

What emotions does the picture bring to mind?

Set the photo aside and let your brain and heart work in your subconscious for a day or so.

Then let your photo help you dig deeply into your story. Let yourself revisit your relationship with the person.

Think back: Who were you back then?

Let the picture remind you of sights, smells, tastes, feels, and sounds.

What was going on under the surface? What difference did that person make in your life? What if you hadn’t had that experience with that person? How would you have turned out differently?

Write life and personality into your memoir’s main characters. Create multi-dimensional, memorable, compelling characters. Your readers will thank you.

Related post

Let no cardboard characters creep around in your memoir

What inner qualities define your memoir’s main characters?

Today we’ll dig deeper into the exercise of bringing life to your memoir’s main characters—people who shaped your life, for better or for worse.

Why is that important?

First: You want people to read your stories. The more interesting your characters, the more likely readers will keep turning pages.*

Second, related to the first: Writing your memoir is more than a hobby. It is an important ministry to your family.* Your stories contain important messages, lessons, and values you want to pass on to your kids, grandkids, and generations to come. If they don’t read your stories, however, they’ll miss the wisdom and significance you want to pass on to them. 

Look through your rough drafts for vague, one-dimensional strangers. When you find them, add details so that your main characters—not every person, but key people in your vignettes—have personality and emotions and traits.

How?

Last time we focused on sensory details* because they help readers feel they’re standing beside you, participating in your story. Write so your readers experience what you saw, smelled, felt, heard, and tasted.

For example, did he have body odor? Did she talk with a Scottish accent? Were his hands leathery? Did she comport herself like a ballerina?

It’s important, however, to go beyond sensory details, beyond physical qualities: Dig deeper and flesh out central people.

To do that, enlarge upon individuals who played significant roles in your life. What inner qualities define him or her? Tell readers about her moral fiber. What was going on in his heart, soul, spirit, mind?

How did she make decisions? What did his faith inspire him to do? Did he show you what courage is?

Did she model faithfulness? What did he teach you about forgiveness? Grace and mercy? Integrity? Honor? Tenacity? Hope? Self-control? How did he react in a crisis?

How and why did she turn the other cheek? How did he handle failure? What heartaches did she live with? What crosses did he silently bear?

Roy Peter Clark says it this way: “To bring a person to literary life requires not a complete inventory of characteristics, but selected details arranged to let us see flesh, blood, and spirit.” (from Keeping it real: how round characters grow from the seeds of detail, by Roy Peter Clark, at http://niemanstoryboard.us/2011/01/24/keeping-it-real-how-round-characters-grow-from-the-seeds-of-detail)

Sometimes a person’s negative character traits influenced you as much as another person’s positive attributes: 

What did bitterness do to her?

What prejudices did he hold and how did they impact family gatherings?

Did she act one way in public and another way at home?

What did her timidity prevent her from doing?

How did his fear hinder his faith in God?

How did she let disappointment shape her attitudes?

What were his blind spots?

Was she cold-hearted? Mean-spirited?

While you work on your central characters' "flesh, blood, and spirit," keep in mind the definition* and beauty and purpose of memoir:

Memoir includes pondering, examining, unraveling, musing, and retrospection. 

In light of your current knowledge, look for lessons God had for you in the people and events you write about.

How did key people—whether positive or negative influences—help you learn about yourself?

Did a vignette's main character strengthen your faith or turn your life around? 

Did he pull you down with him, or convince you to live your life differently? 

What did your experience teach you about God and His involvement in your life? 

Select details that pertain to your story and its focus. Write so your readers feel they’re acquainted with your most important characters.

Want some help? In this blog’s right sidebar, scroll down and click on The Bookshelf Muse icon. Once there, look through The Character Traits Thesaurus in the right column. You’ll have a lot of fun meandering through those resources!

*Related posts:

Write life into your memoir’s characters, http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/10/write-life-into-your-memoirs-characters.html

Are your stories important?

http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/05/are-your-stories-important.html

What is a memoir?

http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-is-memoir.html

Your story is important, but will anyone read it? http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/06/your-story-is-important-but-will-anyone.html

Capture your readers’ interest,

http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/10/capture-your-readers-interest-so-theyll.html