Reading Signposts: Memory Moments
Greetings and salutations Scribblers!
Memory Moments are another reading signposts discussed in the book Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers, and Robert E. Probst. This book is designed for classroom reading and ELA teachers, but the reading signposts they talk about are excellent for authors to be aware of as well. Not only are they elements of good storytelling, but if you’re hoping your novel ends up as part of a classroom curriculum, taking note of these six signposts could help convince educators to give it a try.
We’re on our third signpost this week. We’ve chatted about Words of the Wiser and Again and Again and how being cognizant of them can help develop your theme or character. This week, we’re looking at Memory Moments.
As a signpost, Memory Moments are breaks in the narrative where the character remembers something from their past. This can be a quick recall of one line or it might be a bigger flashback taking up a paragraph or two. It often indicates a shift in the character’s perspective because they are remembering a time when they felt or thought differently than they do in the present tense of the story. Sometimes they’re easy to spot because they start with transitional phrases like “My first memory of…” or “I remember when…”
As readers, we know that something important is being revealed about why the character is the way they are or an internal struggle they might be going through. The backstory that’s revealed might also foreshadow something that will happen later in the manuscript. A Memory Moment can also help to reinforce the theme you have in your book.
From an author’s perspective, memory moments are a fine line to walk. In my first drafts, I tend to delve into way too much backstory on the page and I have to go back and edit out a lot. But in my initial draft, I need that backstory to understand my character and the world. As I revise, I really have to pull back to only the most essential backstory elements and I try to pare it down to just a line or two. If I allow the Memory Moment to grow, it has to be essential to the story.
You want to be very intentional about backstory and character’s memories. If it doesn’t serve an essential purpose to the narrative, it might need to be cut. Which, hurts, I know. But all that other backstory you’ve developed is perfect for newsletters, blogs, and interview behind the scenes moments once your book is out in the world. You can apply the same question the reader should ask about Memory Moments to your own novel. Ask “why is this memory important.” If you can’t pinpoint why it’s essential to the story and plot in that moment, you probably need to cut it.
For the Memory Moments you keep in your novel, make sure they are immediately relevant to the story. What does it reveal about the character or their conflict? Memory Moments, like every other element in writing should be used with intention. If you overuse them, they’ll lose their impact on the reader.
As always, your mileage may vary! Take what helps and leave what doesn't! Tell us about your favorite examples of Memory Moments from a novel or your own writing.
