Pick one of your fictional characters and imagine she keeps a photo album. If she’s from a genre or time period without photos, figure out what her equivalent is (a journal? Scrapbook? Memory shelf of mementos? Private store of memorized moments that she occasionally mulls over?) or what her photo album would be like if she could have one. Write about this album, either following the wisdom of your own pen or answering one or more of the following questions:
- How selective is she about what she chooses to memorialize? The most important moments? Everything she can? Something in-between?
- How detailed or simple are the moments she captures, how complex or straightforward?
- How artistic and well-rendered are those moments?
- How accurate are those moments? If they’re colored by experience and emotion (as they undoubtedly are), in what way are they altered, and by how much?
- Are there many images of your character in these images and memories, or does she prefer to focus on others? Why?
Most of us view our memories (of one kind or another) as precious. But we choose to immortalize those moments in different ways, and we choose different moments to set down in our histories. This process and these choices can say a great deal about your character.
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