Writer's Prompts | Memory and Self-Identity

In this episode of Alchemy, the gang takes a deep dive into the fascinating (and often frustrating) ways memory shapes our self-identity. Tim, LeeAnna, and guest Seth explore how memory distorts over time and how these imperfections influence how we see ourselves and others. With amusing tangents about LeeAnna’s kangaroo hat and Homer Simpson’s identity crisis, the episode highlights how unreliable memory is, affecting both real people and fictional characters. Writers are encouraged to lean into the messiness of memory, making their characters’ memories and self-perceptions as flawed and complicated as the human experience itself. It’s all about embracing the chaos and letting characters’ identities evolve through distorted recollections and shifting perspectives.

Which makes it time for a new challenge for you scribblers. The prompt: Keep it under 600 words.

Prompt 1: Your main character, whether by chance (or deliberately by a secondary character) is informed that their personality is seen entirely differently by the people around them, and not for the better. How does the other character make their case based on what incidents the main character has misremembered. Is this some kind of intervention?

Prompt 2: Your character, in talking to another person, realizes they’ve remembered an event entirely incorrectly. Or are they being gaslit by that other person? Or perhaps that other person has remembered the situation incorrectly?

Write whatever inspires you—just keep it under 600 words (we’re not running a novel factory here). Pop it over to us through the submissions page, and who knows? We might even feature it on the podcast. Extra points if you can work in a scent memory—because nothing says “authenticity” like the smell of pumpkin pie or horse manure to really bring your character to life.

Go to Submit Your Work @ Effigy Press