Use Past Memories As Writing Prompts

I have started writing my memoir a few years ago, from being a shy and bullied child at school up to my marriage and living in Ireland. It was about finding myself who I was and how I become now. I did not continue writing my past memories because sometimes I was in the middle of crying. I was then thinking, my life story is very interesting, well maybe not for the reader but for my grandchildren and their children to come. At least they will know that they are of mixed blood.

Thanks for sharing this awesome and inspirational hub. I´ll continue writing my memoir.Have a great weekend with your family.

Excellent ideas. If nothing else, do it for yourself, just to improve, and do it with PASSION!

Using past life and memories as an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

Somebody have to dig a lot, some less. In any case, there is always something to dig. I appreciate your work. Than you!

I could fill volumes on past memories. I do believe each one has had its purpose. Great writing prompt and suggestions.

You provide not only the facts to improve on our writing, but also the means to set it in motion. Your practical exercises are always clear and interesting.

I don't generally write about my own past as lifewriting but I do use the experiences of people I know, and my own past days in my fiction sometimes. Good advice, thank you.

There you go again giving us wonderful ideas! While I was reading this hub about twenty ideas popped into my head...ideas where there were none. Yes we let the old writer's block slide in and hang around but when we read hubs like this its like someone took a sledgehammer to that block! Thank you my friend.

Voted up, useful, awesome, and interesting.

Thanks for the ideas, and the inspiration! Writing is not an easy profession, but it is indeed a worthwhile one! Without it, I wouldn't be an interesting person at all because I would still be troubled by all of those experiences rather than using them to help others! Keep up the good work!

This is a wonderful hub, Billy. A moment in time, a brief encounter, or a poignant memory, all bear seeds that can inspire us to write. Voted up and sharing. :-)

Hi Billy-your title just grabbed me and pulled me in. I love the prompts you give to help pull out the story inside of us. I relate very much to what Sha said about using the good and bad events in our lives, as we can touch others by telling our story. I had to hit every button here. Your article is informative, helpful and loaded with your classic humor to get our butts in gear. Thanks my friend :-)

Anything in your life can be a source of inspiration. Thanks for sharing, Bill!

Yep, winding down into darkness now. Never mind, the days are getting longer and I do so love it when we have light at 10pm. Roll on the outdoor life again!

Hope the rest of your day is good and that Minerva hasn't flown the coop too far! Ann

Great questions to ask ourselves! It's all there inside us, asking to get out, isn't it?

I still have writing I did when I was 10 and some of it amazes me - did I really write that? Some of it is better than I do now; maybe I'll just put it straight into a hub! My handwriting was also much neater but then I was trying to impress my teacher. How simple life was in the 50s and 60s; innocent childhood.

See how you've got me going down memory lane? So much to write about, my fingers will trip over my keys!

Thanks for the reminders and pulling events out of my head. Ann

Seriously, how right you are. If everyone REALLY thought about their lives, they HAVE had life changing events, some sad, some not so sad. Like childbirth, death of a loved one, etc. These are things people are interested in and us oldies are even more privileged as the time passed has given us more material to work with. I love that your meeting Bev was one of your big ones!

As always Bill, your hubs are a kick in the pants when I am sitting trying to think of a topic to write about. When in doubt just use your memories and own experiences. We always think our lives are boring compared to others, because we only hear about other people's exciting adventures. They don't talk about the run of the mill stuff that fills most of their days. We have all done interesting and noteworthy stuff, we just have to take the time to sit down and open up that treaure trove of memories we've been keeping locked. I did after reading this hub and wrote a poem about my eldest son as a little boy. thanks for the inspiration.

Very inspiring Bill. There was once a news program, I don't remember which one, with a segment that aimed to prove everyone has a story. The reporter would pick someone at random from the phone book, call, and then would be tasked with finding that person's story to profile for the news. Once, a five-year-old girl answered and the reporter thought it would be hopeless. But it turns out, the little girl had lost a loved one, I believe a grandparent, and she had a tradition of releasing a balloon in her family member's memory. No doubt it was one of the most touching stories ever profiled on that show.

So as long as we have memories, we have something to write about. Thank you Bill, for your practical illustrations, your personal list and an overall motivational presentation.

You are way too kind Billy! But I appreciate the support!

Always nice to follow your hubs. Getting to know you more and more with each hub.

All of our lives are just microcosms of the totality of the human experience, so of course they're interesting. I've got at least two or three mailman books taking shape in my head, but no time to write them. Great hub!

All wonderful ideas for getting a hold of something about which to write. Using different words, you gave the same advice my English professor gave our class - write about what you know. And what do we know better than ourselves and our experiences? I love when people write hubs based on their life experiences. It not only shows me they're "real" people, they may discuss something I'm going through and by seeing one person who successfully overcame something I know can too.

I think the things we could write about are probably endless if you have lived a fair number of years especially. However, most of the most interesting things I can think of to write about happened when I was younger. I like your idea of making a list. Very useful hub.

Been there, done that (had the blisters)... 'Ello, 'ello Bill. Memories and musings again? I took a trip down Memory Lane shortly after starting on Hub pages and wrote the piece I gave the title 'On The Beach' (after Chris Rea's song), it's in the 'STORYLINE' series, No.2. Care to visit Redcar? (the place will appear in one of the later books in the RAVENFEAST series as 'Redekarre', a single row fishing hamlet isolated by a marsh - in local language a 'carr' or 'karre'). See ya.

Making a list is such a good idea... it can at least get you started when you have nothing to say.

Hi Bill, do you know I never thought of it like that? lol! how dumb am I? I always say what the heck can I write about? you have definitely given me something to think about, so this is great!

Thanks Bill, you have given me an idea or two or three.

I think often people, including myself, find it difficult to open up. Perhaps people will think, "Why didn't she see that coming" or "What kind of idiot would do that?".

Maybe it could be titled, "learn from my mistakes".

Now I am off to complete the exercises you have set, you may have created a monster! LOL

Great ideas as always, Bill.

Thanks a million,

DJ.

These exercises are necessary if we want to bulk up our writing skills. Thanks, Billy!

Now you're talking ... I mean writing! This is my kind of inspirational piece, especially to those who say such about their lives? Goodness gracious is right! I am sorry I am late for the party, but I did not get in until late last night and went straight to bed LOL. But I am here now, and truly enjoyed your suggestions as to making a list and looking back. Life itself is an inspiration and we have all experienced much, whether we believe we have or not, but if we are still here, then we have!

Up and more and sharing.

Blessings for a lovely day,

Faith Reaper

Great ideas for writing and about past experiences sounds even better.

Hi Bill. Another forceful gem here. Just carry on and make 'em 'ave it. Your efforts are appreciated by so many hubbers.

Graham.

Thank you Billy for these suggestions. I rarely ever write anything but poems and never think I have the skill to do so. I am willing however to perhaps try to do it more often after reading this!

Teaching for almost twenty years and counting may be a place to start! Thanks for sharing!

Good evening Bill (from slightly warmer south Ontario.)

You hold a secret to my question : Why this article could be read so effortlessly and fluently, unlike any other before ? As if seeing through my thinking, you have good time making me uncomfortable - comforting by hitting right target… And you are right. My problem with this "Michael isn't less troublesome than before. He bears the weight almost all those symptoms listed ,knowing that moment to says something good or important enough to justify effort readers time just didn't arrive yet…

One thing thou can I do : before the moment " later" comes, I want to THANK YOU - now , just in case . . .

Voted up, useful and interesting.

All the best , my friend be blessed.

So true! We each have a unique story and also our own way to see it. It may be the problem that some people can't see how different events of their life can be a source of inspiration for writing!

May be some people don't see themselves as interesting because they were never encouraged to appreciate the little moments in life. Some people are just tired of running all the time even if it could be a great subject to write about.

Who knows... you might wake up some potential writers!

What great advice! I'm glad I ran into this as I was beginning to feel a little ...blank. LOL Good stuff!

Bill, they do say there's a book in each of us. The human experience is diverse and fascinating, each unique, but we have so much in common. Sometimes the most apparently ordinary people are the ones who have lived the most extraordinary lives. I do write down my memories and experiences, often in poems some in stories. However; I tend to find it difficult sharing some things that are too personal, mostly because it's not just my story but so many others also. I'm writing it all as fiction, I'll simply change the names.

Another very useful and informative article. I hope all is well with you, take care and my best as always.

I love to read personal stories, happy times or sad times, we've all had some of each. When i first started writing, i wrote about my troubled childhood and marriage, then after i got it all out of my system, i started to write poetry, which is my passion. Thank's again Bill.

I think I bring a lot of myself, my past, all those feelings; into my writing and for me it has been such a cleansing therapy that if I never did anything big it has been so worthwhile just for that.

Hi Bill, and then there's the earliest memory. If nothing else, your earliest memory can get the ball rolling in remembering all those other ones. As you know, on my blog, I wrote about my earliest. It certainly keeps the writer block monster away. I can imagine that if someone couldn't think of anything else to write on a given day, writing about a memory and then looking at it and trying to find a place to use that information either in a current work or a future project would be a great first step to scaring the writer block monster away.

Bill, I am a classic example of one who thinks that my life is not interesting to others. To me, maybe. To others, I don't think so. However, knowing that and feeling that way doesn't preclude me from "using" life events (mine and other people's) in other ways. I have managed to weave some of my FYI events into some of my hubs by using the events mingled with health hubs since the events I have shared mostly have to do with health. The trick is making the events interesting enough for others to read and, for me, that is hard. Hence, the health hubs.

I also try my hand at flash fiction and short story fiction and while they are works of fiction, mostly all ideas come from some life event - either of my own or someone I know. I do not think I am unusual in where the germs of ideas come from. In fiction, I just choose to not own up which ones are part of my life history. LOL I think others can do the same in their writing, especially if they feel their life events are not interesting to others. Presented in the first person as their own story can sometimes be emotional, go long and lose the reader along the way, whereas presented in another voice (and weaved into a fictional story) can interest and hold a reader's attention.

Once again, your hub provokes good thought processing, conversation and motivational ideas to improve the content and quality of a writer. Voted up and sharing.

Is it alright for me to say "This is your best one yet?" ;-)

Of course, I haven't read them all... but, this is so "right on."

My only comment would be - it doesn't have to be the five most, best... etc.

Just look at some photos you have kept. Those memories are great starting points.

Anyway, a really useful and great hub! Thanks, again, for all of us! ;-)

How true, how true. All of my desktop bibles are written by men who earned a living baring their asses to the faithful. I read them over and over again because it is so damn comforting to know you're not alone, no matter how screwed up you think you are.

Hey, Bill! I'm working on my next blog (a 2 day effort these days) so I'll keep this short, but wanted to check in.

Even if someone doesn't think they are interesting, someone else more than likely does. We have to step outside of ourselves and be objective rather than subjective.

I have written so many hubs about times in my life - both good and terribly ugly. Those hubs not only served other people in some way but they helped me rid myself of the ribbons of doubt. They also helped to throw the demons off my back.

I actually find it hard not to write about myself or at least put a part of my being into my articles, stories, reviews - whatever. Shoot, I could write a book about my life. My life has been interesting as hell and I wouldn't trade a moment. Even the bad experiences helped me discover who I am, who I want to be and are a part of me whether I like it or not!

I'm giving this a go just for the fun of it. Who know maybe I'll get a recipe or craft idea from it and, as I type this, I think I have. Some of my recipes are based on memories. Cool Bill. Great hub.

Thanks for the kick in the behind, Bill. I needed that!

Bill - another great hub! I've been struggling with some writers block recently and was away from hubpages over the (busy) holiday and these tips are a great help and well timed.

Take care.

Heather

I just posted an article like this today,trying to motivate myself.

I think that sometimes I need to put some of this in the third person as readers think it is about me, but really it is about us and I am just an easy example of both cherished moments and disaster.

I need to mull this over. Thanks for the wisdom.

Great examples. Everyone is interesting, absolutely everyone. We need to look at our own traumas, secrets, battles, the underbelly of our own conflicts, and our triumphs for inspiration. For years, I had the pleasure of talking with people candidly, openly regarding their worst work moments as I investigated allegations of misconduct. As a condition of continued employment, they had to talk with me, had to answer my questions and give me the information I needed. I grew so much from learning about who people are behind their facades. These were folks who had been bullied, done the bullying or watched from the sidelines (!), people who had finally been reported for illegal harassment or theft, people who knew how to work the system because they helped construct it, and those who would let it destroy them. It was intense, both ugly and beautiful, and it's provided me with such a palette of complex characters and experiences from which to write. Your hub reminded me of many of the people who have blessed my life. Yep, the mean ones blessed it too in some ways. They'll show up somehow in my written work, if they haven't already.

Haha, ya know, I never did think my life was dull. ;)

I hope you're having a wonderful day! Since my life isn't dull...well...as soon as I get into the groove of the semester, don't have course syllabi coming out my ears, and get into a routine, I should be able to write some more...right now, I'm trying my darndest to crank out a hub once a week, but...hehe...