In my current WIP, Chains of the Sciell, most of my cast has had their minds altered. They spend the first part of the story reclaiming those memories. I wanted to portray this realistically, though I didn’t do any research. I use what I’ve seen in movies. My beta-reader says they believe how the characters are regaining their memories. For the story, memories can’t be erased. They’re put someplace the person can’t reach without help.
I’ve been using senses stimulation. The characters see, feel, smell or hear something. It’ll spark a memory. Emotions also play a big part it in. For instance, a character could’ve been deeply hurt by someone they don’t remember. They hear that person’s name, feel the hurt and get some fragmented memories of why that name causes them pain.
One character, Divine hears the name Nocturne and thinks “mommy” because of the warm feelings he gets from that name. That same character hears the name Dawn and is wrecked with a violent need to kill something.
The recovered memories are always fragmented.
Since a group of characters are missing their memories, they usually talk it out. If one person says something, it’ll trigger another person’s memories. They’ll start talking, which will trigger another person’s memories.
How do you show a character recovering lost memories?
Update: Chains of the Sciell is now available.
