The Misremembered Past: Let Characters Recall the Same Event Differently

This technique mirrors how real memory functions — not as a recording but as a reconstruction shaped by emotion, identity, and need. Psychologists call this 'reconstructive memory,' and fiction that harnesses it feels startlingly authentic.

Kazuo Ishiguro built 'The Remains of the Day' around this principle. Stevens revisits key moments, but each retelling subtly shifts — details appear and vanish, motivations are reframed, and the reader understands Stevens has been rewriting his own history to avoid confronting his deepest regrets.

Toni Morrison uses competing memories in 'Beloved' to extraordinary effect. Different characters carry different fragments of trauma, and no single perspective holds complete truth.

Practical steps:
1. Choose a pivotal shared event — an argument, a departure, a moment of betrayal.
2. Write Character A's version, noting which sensory details they fixate on.
3. Write Character B's version separately, letting their personality select different details.
4. Place versions far enough apart that readers feel nagging dissonance rather than obvious contradiction.
5. Never arbitrate — resist telling readers which version is 'correct.' The tension between versions is the point.

This technique is especially powerful in stories about families or long partnerships — any relationship where shared history has calcified into competing mythologies. It transforms exposition into drama, because every memory becomes an argument about who these people really are.