[Anah] Weeks 9 & 10: Writing Backstory

This is James' back story take two, because I realized I forgot a few things I wanted in it. I forgot things anyway. Again. Going over this stuff is a great reminder to me of how lousy the mind really is at keeping track of all this. There's no way for us to remember all of it, not once we're knee deep in stories and looking at writing a minimum of four novels a year.

Not noted specifically—James is the only sibling not to have some kind of disability. Once back in the US, Graham and Marjorie continued to adopt, but with their newfound stability they decided to give homes to children who might not otherwise have them.  What I forgot to include: a move to the liberal wilds of the East Coast somewhere between '86 and '89—I meant to put it in both times and both times I got caught up in counting kid ages.

Scanning the list, it's probably easy to pick out the things that shape James. Even someone without a yen for writing can imagine the twists and turns of a boy's life as each defining event occurs.

The Story So Far: This is necessary not only as an exercise to develop deeper characters from the start but as a means of keeping track of these meaningful pieces of the characters we write. I've been lucky so far in that, for all that I complain about my memory, I have a fairly good contextual memory. If I see a trigger, I'll have a bunch of important, linked information pop up. That's great for writing. But with sleep deprivation, pain meds, the Weeb, and life in general, I've hit my limit a long time ago. I need to do this stuff, and for me it's best to do it on paper. The tactile and somatic memories link me to the things I was thinking at the time and even if I didn't capture it all, I'll retrieve most of it that way.