The Creative Power of Childhood Memories

by Katrina Martin

Sometimes writer's block hits and it seems like new ideas will never find their way to your doorstep again. These moments present the perfect time to take a good look at your life, and I don't mean in that introspective "what is it all for" way. Search your childhood and teenage years for material. I've found this is my treasure trove of ideas.

My second children's picture book came directly from experiences I had with a new friend in first grade. I remembered the details of our interactions, the feelings, the smells, the sights. I sat down and wrote out everything I could remember about my friend - her big, gleaming-white smile, her tightly braided hair, her quiet nature and her wild imagination.

Then I began to recall other things - how her house smelled when I first walked in, the feeling of dread I got in the pit of my stomach because her house was so different from mine, the way I avoided returning to her house. Eventually the memories melded together into a book about making friends and accepting differences.

Once I tapped into that memory, others from my childhood flooded back. I thought about my imaginary friends, the day my brother was born, and the hours we spent playing with our stuffed animals and Matchbox cars. It seemed the memories wouldn't stop, and I realized how valuable they will be in my writing. The adage goes, "write what you know," and what do you know better than yourself?

Your idea list will quickly grow long when you tap your childhood. Write about your first trip on a roller coaster - were you scared, fearless or trying to show your older brother your courageousness? Or what about the last day of sixth grade when you knew you'd be moving on from being a kid, leaving friends behind and becoming an adult? Describe your first slumber party, your first major fight with a close friend, or how you felt when your pet died.

But, you're thinking, these ideas sound like subjects for children's books - and not everyone writes children's books. So how can these memories help me write something other adults will want to read? Many of us have similar childhood experiences and enjoy the nostalgia that comes with reading about what games others played or how it felt to be yelled at by a teacher. That's what this issue of Mosaic Minds is all about. The key is to write about the bad stuff along with the good stuff. By not always sticking to happy memories and instead recalling instances that made you lonely, sad or shocked, you'll get down to the real emotions that affect us all and write something accessible to a wide range of readers.

And writing about your childhood doesn't have to be for publication. It can be a good way to work through the emotions of your fictional characters - if you felt a certain way about a situation it's likely that other children/teenagers did too. Recalling childhood memories could lead you toward a feature article on helping children get along with their peers. Sometimes it's hard to imagine that others will want to read about what happened to us, but if it's done right, that can be some of the most engaging writing out there. Unearth your treasure box of childhood memories and see what stories lie waiting to be told.