What is a WABB-LAB?
We are delighted to introduce Wabb-Labs!
Wabb-Labs are a weeklong deep dive into a specific form of writing. Today we will kick off the first: Memoirs!
Memoirs may sound like a later in life type of thing. Something for people who have lived a long life and are looking back into a long forgotten past, and it may be just that.
If you are a senior and want to share your memories with the younger generation these exercises are a great way to get you started. But they can be used by anyone of any age who is looking to preserve memories or who want to reflect on a specific period in life.
Maybe you are survived a struggle with an illness or had a special experience during your childhood. These exercises help everyone who wants to share their personal story and will help you put your memories to paper.
DAY 1 – A PLACE YOU REMEMBER CLEARLY
Is there a place that you still remember clearly? Not a big place, like a city, a lake or a house, but a small place, like the picnic blanket your mum took everytime you visited the lake or the highest branch you could reach in that tree you used to climb.
The exercise
Choose one specific place from your past.
Not:
- “my childhood home” that is too big
But:
- the corner of the kitchen
- a stairwell
- a bus stop
- a seat in a car
If you do think of something bigger like your childhood home, try to chop it up into smaller pieces first: The hallway, the kitchen, your bedroom, the shed, the place where the animals slept, find those little corners that made it special.
Describe the place using physical detail only.
No emotions.
No meaning.
No backstory.
Rules
- Set a timer for 10 minutes and don’t stop writing until the alarm goes off.
- Don’t use metaphors.
- If it turns boring, keep going anyway
Precision beats beauty here.
Tip: Give yourself permission to not write in full grammatically correct sentences. If you just use a list of words of fragments of phrases it is perfectly fine!
