Writing, remembering, and dreaming

I've been putting some time into doing some workshop exercises to practice the craft of writing. In some ways, it's like weight lifting or cardio for fitness, different kinds of exercises work different parts of the writing muscles. Like my weight loss program, I'll be most successful if I am consistent.

Yesterday, the exercise was to recall 3 of my earliest (if not the earliest) memories, write them down, and then see if I can create a 3rd person story out of them. What came out surprised me. Of course,what I wrote was non-genre, quite different from the fantasy/science fiction I generally work in, but that's part of the exercise. It got me to looking at a different side of a story.

The memories were all from when I was perhaps 3 or 4, I remember living in an apartment that had a kiddie/wading pool on the other side of the apartment parking area. One of the memories involved around eating some cheerios (yes, the memory is that specific), and trying to explain to an adult (friend of my fathers who was visiting) why cheerios were good for you. Another involved seeing some twin girls, probably 5 or 6 years old (ancient to me) who each had a red scooter that they happily tooled around the parking lot on, taunting me, who wanted desperatly to try it. Third memory involved running to the wading pool one day, after forgetting to put on sandals or shoes, and stepping on a bee in a clover patch. Needless to say, I howled...

SO what can you do with such disparate memories? It turns out, a lot. I got some practice writing in a vastly different voice, describing things from the viewpoint of a 4 year old, even while I added and changed aspects of the memory to make it a story, and not just images. It turned out to be fun, though I will also admit I found myself thinking hard about the exercise. At one point, Irma poked her head in on me, and noted that I was smiling (eek, caught me enjoying myself!)

What can I do with it? Practice polishing it. Turn it around to try different viewpoints (how about the viewpoint of one of the adults?) Alter the genre and use the imagery to create depth in one of my projects. WHo knows...

Anyone care to opine about their own first memories? Call it a challenge, don't worry about a story, just dredge up what you thing you remember and share it. Belief it or not, it's fun.

Clear skies,
Jim