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The word Memories normally means personal impressions of things that actually happened in the past. But the Dramatica Dictionary emphasizes that the important thing about memories is that they are subjective and internal. A character daydreaming about the future is also having subjective, internal personal impressions. So I think this kind of imagining could also fill the role of Memories, but I wanted a second opinion. Your thoughts? |
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Memory is about recalling and forgetting. In most stories, memories are about something that has happened in the past and is being recalled or forgotten. Daydreaming about the future is still about the future, and daydreaming would not be considered recalling something or forgetting something. Daydreaming aside, there are exceptions in special circumstances where events of the present or future may appear as memories. If you have someone traveling outside of "normal" time, then it might be possible that memory could reflect recollections of something in the present or future. For example, the films "Timecop" and "Millenium" have main characters/protagonists that travel back and forth through time. There are points where these characters' personal timelines are at odds with the Overall Story timelines. Things they should remember that have happened in the OS and which they are part of (as protagonists) in the Overall Story timeline, have not yet occurred in their own main character throughline yet. Meanwhile, other times these main characters remember things in their throughline that have not yet happened in the OS throughline. The trick to using memory in this non-linear fashion is to make sure the audience understands this non-traditional use of "memories," as well as making sure the audience does not confuse the memories with the Future, Present, etc. I remember quite a number of people were confused by Timecop because of the non-traditional flow of time. It was complicated by the "present" constantly being affected by changing events in the "past", as well as events in the present and past affecting the "future." Another example appears the current season of "Fringe." In it a character that was in the previous season was erased from history. This season, that same character pops up again, but other characters have no memory of the character, whereas this character's memories of the present challenge everyone else's understanding of the world. This is a more traditional use of memory, but it often borders on matters of the "present" and "future." So, the short answer is that it can be done, but having memories of the present or future are unconventional, difficult to convey, and probably should be avoided unless you're telling a genre story that allows for non-linear use of time and memory. |
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Memory does not cover imagination or conceptualizations of the future or present. Memory is tied to Knowledge (what the character has experienced) and thus, would not encompass daydreams or personal impressions. This topic covered in more detail here: Memory=Imagination? What about dreams? if someone is troubled by recurrent dreams or nightmares could one say they have a concern of memories? Memories of dreams? Or might that depend on whether the author intended the dreams to be provoked by something from the past - I think Gregory Peck in Spellbound has a troublesome dream prompted by a suppressed memory.
(03 Nov '11, 07:45)
dral49
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As long as that person's issue centered around trouble recalling those dreams, or having dreams they can't stop remembering, I believe the Concern of Memory would apply. Suppressed memories would work as well.
(03 Nov '11, 16:15)
Jim Hull ♦♦
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