Memoir Making: From Artifact to Archetype

“These fragments I have shored against my ruins”
― T.S. Eliot

A client of mine is writing a tribute to his late wife in a memoir, and he is going through boxes from the garage and finding his late wife’s dolls and dresses and her father’s flight suit from WWII (the dad was forward observer (FO) in the Battle of the Bulge).

There are four levels to approach these items, and they differ like Single A baseball differs from the Major Leagues. Just ask Marcel Proust and his madeleines.

Single A: Name-check the artifact.
List it in your prose by its noun or a unique product name that places it in time (Schwinn Stingray bicycle with a banana seat; Hai Karate after shave, WWII rationing coupons).

Single AA: Elevate the artifact.
Describe the artifact using as many of the senses as possible: color, smell. Describe the flight suit in great detail What does the flight suit feel like to the touch? You can’t hear the sound of the flight suit, but what might have been the sounds surrounding it when it was worn on a WW II bomber? Obviously, you can’t taste a flight suit, but you get the idea. Anchor the artifact in the physical world of the senses.

Triple AAA Durham Bulls: Imbue Personal Meaning.
What does the WWII flight suit mean in the context of the narrative? Interestingly, my author served as a Captain in Vietnam and was severely wounded. His late wife worked as an intern at the Pentagon in 1962, and JFK came there to speak to them. Their 25-year marriage was grounded in military heritage. The wife’s Dad and the author both were members of the Scabbard and Blade, a military honor society. Look at all those connections my author has at his command to tell the story of his late wife.

Major League Baseball — Yankee Stadium. Universal Meaning.
This is mostly beyond the effort of the writer, but the first three (Artifact, Elevate, Imbue Meaning) must be present for universal meaning to occur. This also relates to the author’s ability to tap into archetypes and Jung’s Collective Unconscious. This is where a book really takes off. Back to the flight suit. A military veteran loves his daughter. A wounded military veteran marries her later in life. Two great wars: valor, death, loss of friends (surely) create a 1943–1970 connection over time. War, Belgium (Europe) Vietnam (Asia), echoes of history. Primal stuff.

What tiny artifact can you take and blow it out into a novel or memoir, the way Proust did with the madeleines?

Up to you. Get going on it today. Take an object from your past and riff on it for 300–400 words.

Let me know how that goes.