Why write remembrances?

Sometimes little phrases will stick with you for years. I guess they strike a nerve. One such phrase consisted of only two words. It was said during a TV interview. I'd just started to write, and was considering launching into a full blown novel, when I heard Andy Rooney interview Studs Terkel. Andy Rooney is a favorite of mine, and I was especially interested to hear his interview with Studs. It was a classic 60 Minutes interview, since both of those guys were slightly off the wall. They joked back and forth for a few minutes, and then Andy asked a rather straight forward question, "Studs, what would you tell a new writer to write about?" Well, I picked up a pen and paper and got ready to make notes, but Studs just smiled and said, "Write remembrances." Well, I thought why and then who? If you think about it for a few minutes, it makes sense. Remembrances are an integral part of your life---and they're things you know about. John Grisham writes a lot of novels about lawyers--he was a lawyer. He also wrote A Painted House--Northeast Arkansas---1950s cotton farm---he lived it. Angela's Ashes---remembrances again.

I don't remember anything else about the interview, but after it was over I started to mull over my remembrances. Those remembrances inspired what I call The Richard Series. The Red Scarf is the first to be published. Those remembrances from my childhood on a small south Arkansas farm were the backbone of my novels---yes, novels---Remembrances can be stretched, added to, and embellished just to make entertaining reading. The chapter in The Red Scarf about a close encounter with a skunk actually happened, but not in the hilarious way I wrote it.

It seems to me, when Rick Bragg writes about growing up in the NE Alabama foothills, his writing rings with authenticity---because he lived it. Of course, Rick's books about his childhood are non-fiction, but the same principal applies to fiction. I think The Richard Series captures the flavor of my hectic childhood and even though I've taken a great deal of liberty in describing many events, I was able to maintain a authentic flavor in the novel because of my remembrances.

So, write rememberances---something you've lived.