The Double Perspective

Recording a memory

The first thing we try to do is remember an event exactly as it was – every detail accounted for, every truth verifiable. We look for evidence: pictures, notes, a ticket stub or receipt. In the digital age, we check screenshots: time stamps, locations (the meta data).

Sometimes to remember we close our eyes and try to relive the moment through a movie in our brains. Our minds are constantly kneading the memory.

Curating a memory

Partnership of selves

The character showing the situation + The narrator telling the story

Past + Present

Perhaps our most valuable asset is the passage of time which creates room for retrospection. If a memory made an impression on my five year old self, it would make a different impression on my 15 year old self and my 50 year old self. And each impression would be a different copy of the original event.

Reactive + Organized Thought

The character experiencing the situation is always going to have reactive thought because they don’t have the privilege of distance to create retrospection. With that distance, we are allowed the space to organize our thoughts about the situation and create meaning.

The character is allowed to be messy and the distance allows us to be a judge through retrospection.

Blind spots + Self Awareness

The narrator is given the authority to be a judge because they have developed self-awareness. The character is not privy to hindsight, they have blind spots. The narrator has the full picture.

Objectivity + Subjectivity

The narrator has to allow for objectivity in the character. The character doesn’t know anything yet, they are just experiencing it. It is the narrator’s job to bring the subjective value, the emotional weight of the situation by performing objectively through the character.

Performing objectivity is done through the five senses. Moving through the situation as closely as possible to what can be verified.

It doesn’t offer any interpretation of the situation, it just reacts to it.

Veracity + Authenticity

Authenticity is added by creating that subjective emotional lens. This is what separates an anecdote from literature. The narrator offers insight and meaning.

Showing the Situation + Telling a Story

It is a partnership between what happened (the context of an event) and the insight (the value of a story). These have to work together not against each other.