Having trouble with a plot... A character in a fantasy/sci-fi setting has lived here on Earth for about 1200 years. Events happening "now" are linked with her childhood--1200 years ago. I can't decide whether to leave her memory intact and do flashbacks or add in the tension of not being able to remember except in bits and pieces. I would use the "memory faded with time" approach, except that she's a member of a race that doesn't have those problems (yay for genetic enhancement), so it's either "flashbacks" or "cleverly-devised reason for not remembering anything except the past 30 years or so". Thoughts? Preferences?
We cannot decide that for you. Make a choice and stick with it. Or write it both ways and see which one takes you further.
Can the character have amnesia? Or, perhaps, because so much has happened over the past 1200 years (like America, electricity, cars, planes, cell phone, radio, TV, internet, video games, printing press, etc.) his memory has been overloaded with so much new information that its hard for him to remember stone-huts and candle lights. We are talking the year 812 to current date after all.
Well, in terms of ease, remembering would be simpler, but I think it would get a better story to do the memory loss. My biggest worry is how to do it. It's either a deliberate process on the character's part (like visiting a telepath who wipes her memory at her request, or a genetic chemical-tag removal from her brain cells) or an outside force (someone does these things to her or casts a spell to make her forget). If "An Organization" had a reason, they could, or it could be a hidden antagonist, or even an ally with a necessity to keep her in the dark.... I'm having a scatterbrain moment. So many choices!
I'd love an injury, but it's gotta come back in stages, and an injury doesn't fit the character's race. Injuries are for someone else, actually...
Having her remembering everything could also serve the story. Imagine having to carry around memories from 1200 years... all the sorrows, regrets, missed opportunities, thing you wish you'd done differently or not at all... That would be a heavy burden indeed. I mean I'm only in my 30's but still there are things about my past that I wish could just go away, stuff I wish I didn't have to carry with me for the rest of my life. Imagining that feeling times 40 is beyond me. I would probably want to kill myself.
Perhap run with the thought Tesoro had that the memories of 1200 years are overwhelming so maybe she has something done to make them fade. They only resurface with a trigger and then after a bit the old memories fade again. It's sort of like the way our own memories are accessed but ramped up a notch because we don't think about the trip we took to Niagara Falls five years ago until we feel mist on our face or hear the rushing sound of a waterfall.
Memory in bits and pieces is fine, so what he belongs to a super race, 1200 years on earth means he is bound to be affected by earthly laws....or something like that
Plus the effect of someone having seen the civilization evolve, how would it affect a person? Having seen all the wars, tragedies, misery, having lived through all the historical events... That sure would form you into something beyond life. I'm not sure I would feel confident in writing such a person convincingly.
I was also thinking about his biological evolution as well, but I wasn't sure if evolution is the right word here because evolution is synonymous with becoming something better in my mind. So, I would say his genetic superiority sort of gets corrupted by, say, too many cheese burgers , or in other words, if he is anything like human (he should be because he is able to blend in among the humans for so many years), biologically speaking, he will be affected by the environment he lives in. So, his once sharp memory is becoming more and more faded. Why not?
Thanks for the thoughts! I do like the idea of genetic corruption...I mean, it worked for The War of the Worlds.... The muses are poking... I'm done here if you are. Thanks again!! --TM
