Nothing Goes to Waste - Every Experience Counts!

By Shirin Shamsi

Sometimes a smell, a taste, or even an old song can bring alive a memory that has lain dormant in the deepest recesses of my mind. Moments like this stop me in my tracks. They’re a powerful reminder that we have treasures within us, treasures of memories that can be repackaged and used in our writing. In fact, I believe everything we experience can be used as writing material.

I’m not saying we should all be writing memoirs. What I mean is simply that all the rich material, that is stored in our memory banks, can be recycled and used in many ways. An example of this can be found in my current work-in-progress, a middle grade novel (happily I have just finished a rough draft!) I was stuck on a scene. It didn’t quite resonate, and wasn’t working for me. It wasn’t authentic enough, in fact it left me feeling emotionally distant. I figured I wasn’t able to put myself fully into the protagonist’s shoes. After struggling for a while, I dug into my memory banks for the emotional and sensory details of something parallel to what I wanted my protagonist to feel. And Voila! It added layers of emotion to the scene, and brought it to life (I hope the editor feels the same way about it)! I must say, it was a gratifying moment. 

By using sensory details and emotions from memories of long ago, I was able to bring the character’s experience to life on the page. What gold nuggets will you find in your memory banks?

Shirin Shamsi has lived on three continents. She moved to the USA over three decades ago, where she has raised six children - three human and 3 feline. She now spends her days writing, sketching, painting and reading. School visits and reading to children are some of her greatest joys. Shirin has twelve published books, and is working on numerous works-in-progress.

Laila and the Sands of Time (Clear Fork Publishing, 2019) is her middle grade novel.
Planting Friendship: Peace, Salaam, Shalom and Building Bridges: Peace, Salaam, Shalom (co-written with Callie Lovvorn and Melissa Stoller, illustrated by Kate Talbot 2021)
Zahra’s Blessing: A Ramadan Story (Barefoot Books 2022)
The Moon From Dehradun (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2022)