which have an impact not unlike 9/11. You might not think about it every day or even every week, but the right trigger will bring it back as clear as recently cleaned glass - with no division between then and now. All it takes is the right word, the right phrase, a smell, a taste, a picture Pick a date. Not just any date, though. Pick one of those special dates imbued with some kind of meaning, emotional impact or ritual -- Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Veteran's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving Guy Fawkes Day, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Years Eve, etc.

Holidays and other special occasions allow writers to focus on one aspect of life, freeing up the imagination to run rampant within a narrow framework. When writers confine themselves to that one aspect of life, they are then free to go as deeply as possibly within that narrow framework. It's easier to get beyond the obvious -- something that doesn't always happen when we're focused on telling a wider story.

One of my favorite writers tools is memory. Memories are extremely powerful and writers can use them in a huge variety of ways to develop character and plot, as well as create an atmosphere or feeling. Mention 9/11 and in an instant, everything you were thinking and feeling that day and the following weeks comes back as if it was just yesterday.

This also works with personal memories. Everyone has in their life something that happened that they will never forget, many of which have an impact not unlike 9/11. You might not think about it every day or even every week, but the right trigger will bring it back as clear as recently cleaned glass - with no division between then and now. All it takes is the right word, the right phrase, a smell, a taste, a picture o

r special occasions allow writers to focus on one aspect of life, freeing up the imagination to run rampant within a narrow framework. When writers confine themselves to that one aspect of life, they are then free to go as deeply as possibly within that narrow framework. It's easier to get beyond the obvious -- something that doesn't always happen when we're focused on telling a wider story.

One of my favorite writers tools is memory. Memories are extremely powerful and writers can use them in a huge variety of ways to develop character and plot, as well as create an atmosphere or feeling. Mention 9/11 and in an instant, everything you were thinking and feeling that day and the following weeks comes back as if it was just yesterday.

This also works with personal memories. Everyone has in their life something that happened that they will never forget, many of which have an impact not unlike 9/11. You might not think about it every day or even every week, but the right trigger will bring it back as clear as recently cleaned glass - with no division between then and now. All it takes is the right word, the right phrase, a smell, a taste, a picture

ond the obvious -- something that doesn't always happen when we're focused on telling a wider story.

One of my favorite writers tools is memory. Memories are extremely powerful and writers can use them in a huge variety of ways to develop character and plot, as well as create an atmosphere or feeling. Mention 9/11 and in an instant, everything you were thinking and feeling that day and the following weeks comes back as if it was just yesterday.

This also works with personal memories. Everyone has in their life something that happened that they will never forget, many of which have an impact not unlike 9/11. You might not think about it every day or even every week, but the right trigger will bring it back as clear as recently cleaned glass - with no division between then and now. All it takes is the right word, the right phrase, a smell, a taste, a picture

re or feeling. Mention 9/11 and in an instant, everything you were thinking and feeling that day and the following weeks comes back as if it was just yesterday.

This also works with personal memories. Everyone has in their life something that happened that they will never forget, many of which have an impact not unlike 9/11. You might not think about it every day or even every week, but the right trigger will bring it back as clear as recently cleaned glass - with no division between then and now. All it takes is the right word, the right phrase, a smell, a taste, a picture

which have an impact not unlike 9/11. You might not think about it every day or even every week, but the right trigger will bring it back as clear as recently cleaned glass - with no division between then and now. All it takes is the right word, the right phrase, a smell, a taste, a picture or a certain song on the jukebox to erase the years since the event.

Events like Veterans Day or Memorial Day are an excellent time to open the toolbox and take out the memory drill. Originally Memorial Day and Veterans Day were designated as a time to remember the women and men who died during military service - primarily WWII and then unfortunately expanded to include all the other wars.

Often people use it for a three day holiday, but there are those for whom the original intent still applies and they dutifully go out to the cemetaries and lay flowers, listen to speeches and watch the parades and set aside the day to remember and honor those who died in the service of their country.

Now your character may never have lost someone, but chances are she has - grandparents, siblings, cousins, a friend or close relative of some kind. It doesn't really matter who it was, only that the character had a relationship of some kind with that person -- whether good or bad. Maybe it was someone who bullied her in school and then got killed by a drunk driver or a beloved grandfather or …

In each case, the character has some kind of feelings about that