Creating characters with repressed memories can add depth and intrigue to your stories. The key is to approach this aspect with a thoughtful, accurate understanding of trauma and its psychological impact on a person. It requires careful research, character development, and a deep respect for the profound effects that such experiences can have on an individual’s life.
Decide its Necessity in Your Story
Before embarking on this delicate narrative landscape, consider if your story truly requires a character with traumatic memory loss. Is it crucial for your plot advancement, or character development, or can the story be told effectively without it? Having a clear understanding of its necessity can make the writing process easier and more meaningful.
Understanding Trauma
Trauma refers to an overwhelming emotional response to distressing incidents, which often leaves a lasting impact on the individual’s ability to cope. It can occur due to a single incident like an accident, or due to prolonged exposure to stressors like abuse or war, leading to conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Be clear about the kind of trauma your character has experienced to have an accurate and sensible depiction of their behavior and reactions.
Understanding Memory Disorders
There are several types of memory disorders linked with trauma, such as:
- Retrograde amnesia: Loss of previously formed memories.
- Anterograde amnesia: Inability to form new memories.
- Transient global amnesia: Sudden, temporary interruption of short-term memory.
- Confabulation: Creation of made-up memories believed to be true by the patient, often to fill memory gaps.
Understanding the specific memory disorder your character suffers from can guide you in shaping their narrative arc, behaviors, and reactions.
Character Development
Keep in mind that your character is not solely defined by their trauma. Create a wholesome backstory for the characters encompassing their likes, dislikes, dreams, and hopes. Their trauma should influence their decisions, actions, thoughts, and feelings, but it shouldn’t entirely define them.
Revealing Trauma
Graphic scenes of traumatic experiences aren’t required to depict your character’s memory loss effectively. Focusing on their emotions, perceptions, feelings, abnormalities in their reactions, or their inability to remember would provide enough context about their trauma. Slow revelation of their past through various plot devices makes the narrative intriguing.
Effects of Trauma
Depicting the emotions, frustrations, depression, and fears is crucial in making the character’s experiences as believable. Strong visceral reactions, irregular behaviors, and abnormal coping mechanisms hint at the depth of their underlying trauma without overtly describing it.
Recovering Lost Memory
Think about how your character recovers memory, if at all. Does the return of their memory make sense for your plot or character development, or do they remain amnesic throughout?
Conclusions
Writing about characters with repressed memories requires thoughtful research, accurate representation, and respectful treatment of the subject matter. It presents an opportunity to delve deep into the human experience, fostering empathy and challenging stereotypes through your nuanced narration. With careful planning and sensitive execution, such character portrayals can enrich the reader’s experience, contributing significantly to your storytelling’s power.