Post #91 – Women’s Memoirs, Writing Prompt – Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler
MEMOIR WRITING, MEMORIES AND EMOTIONS
Last week, I blogged about my trip to Penzeys. I know, it sounds like an exotic destination and in a way it was. Fortunately for those of us who love to cook, there are many locations as well as online access to this passion-for-spices store.
I often use fresh mint and rosemary in my all-day memoir writing workshop because scents trigger emotional memories. The acrid smell of smoke in the air still reminds me of the scary fire on our property. The sweet cinnamon aroma wafting through the kitchen hints of the years I made sticky buns in a condo near the ocean. The roses fill the air with their citrusy notes in the rose gardens of my new home state, Oregon.
You can use spices to help you remember.
Memoir Writing Prompt: Head to the Kitchen
1. Feeling stumped in your memoir writing? Or, just want a change of pace in your memoir writing? Then head to your kitchen and open your spice drawer or cabinet. Take out three spices. Let one of them be a spice you use in baking desserts, one be a spice you use in your savory cooking, and the final one be your most unusual spice. Take them back with you to your desk and settle into your chair.
2. Open the first spice jar, close your eyes, and take a sniff. Not too much, you don’t want to start coughing. Let your mind linger on the scent and see what memories it triggers. Then write for five minutes about your memory. This might turn out to be about a special person in your life, a holiday occasion, a meal you prepared. Just go with the flow.
3. Repeat with the other two spices and embrace those special memories.
If you missed last week’s writing prompt about my trip to Penzeys, here’s the link:
Memoir Writing Prompts: Sniffing Out Our Emotions
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