Getting in bed with my characters

Empathy plays a major role in method writing. My job as a writer is to first understand the way my characters feel and how they react to circumstances before I write anything. Rather than forcing specific attributes on my characters, I attempt to allow them to take a more natural path in development. Not only can this result in the most perfect combination of attributes for each character, it also ensures that all the pieces for that character fit together in a logical, believable way.

Sense Memory is an exercise in which I choose one specifically defined experience - emotional or physical - to recreate from my own experience. Then I channel the feelings from that experience into the context of my story, scene and character. Here’s how I do it:

1. Choose a scene or character for the exercise. Only one.
2. Identify the problem that the character/scene is facing. You can also focus on a problem with your story arc as a whole.
3. Pick a very specific place, person, or object from your personal life (i.e. extreme cold, bedroom, ex-girlfriend, homeroom…etc)
4. Close your eyes (unless you’re really experienced) and stop thinking about all else except that one experience
5. Recreate the environment - however basic or crazy - one object at a time by asking questions of yourself. For example, what does it smell like, how heavy is it, what is it’s texture?
6. Once you are immersed in the feelings associated with the environment you’ve created and you can’t think of anything but the moment, you channel it into the scene or character we defined at the beginning
7. Allow the environment to morph in your imagination, one object at a time or all at once but don’t lose yourself or the emotions you’ve conjured. Stay connected to the feelings.
8. You are suddenly with the character in its own context. Force yourself to deal with the purpose of the scene and begin writing everything that happens in first person. React as yourself or as you watch the character reacting.

Sense memory is a core tool for the method actor. I’ve adapted the basic theory behind it for writing. If you say blasphemy, I say sure. It helps me write, though.

DISCLAIMER: If you permanently damage your psychological state as a result of this rather care-free exploitation of sense memory, please don’t blame it on storyrules.