Teller in Residence dances with David

I saw them dancing together today; didn't you?

That's my image for how well today's class dovetailed with Regi Carpenter's description of her process of story creation,   which she called "Going Fishing".  The delving for memories that she does resembles the exercises we have been doing in class.  I loved the varied resources she draws from to steep herself in the place and time she is trying to conjure up, from music of the time to clothing styles to food.  And I ADORE her idea of the Memory Mural!  My little home is littered with scraps of paper and post-its bearing ideas and idea fragments for stories, but they never end up grouped with related ideas; and so, my thoughts remain scattered.  The Mural concept can concentrate them in one fixed place, in relationship to each other (physically as well as thematically/sequentially/emotionally) .  Another advantage is that a huge roll of paper will leave you "white space" to fill in when  you get a new idea, and you can immediately place it in relationship to the items it stands with.

I remain amazed at the fertility of discussing stories and memories with a small group, startled by what the process of questioning and idea exchange produces.  In class today I had difficulty recalling clear memories of the incident I chose to work with.  When I gave my initial description of an elementary school desk, my group's questions released a flood of mental pictures of that desk that I hadn't initially recalled, and I could even remember what it looked like to peer inside that desk to pull out books.

Maybe this class should be renamed Advanced Conjuring.