There are TWO KEY CONCEPTS to memorizing a long list of items:
1) Converting each item into an IMAGE as RIDICULOUS and STRIKING as possible.
2) LINKING those images to one another through ACTIONS as RIDICULOUS and STRIKING as possible.
For example, tonight after I returned from work I intended to write 10 more ezine articles.
However, I needed to get out and do my run as well. So I didn’t have the time to sit down with a pen in hand and meditate on the list.
I used this very same method to make up a list while I ran. By the time I got back home I had a nice 10-item list of all the articles I wanted to write tonight and there was no way I was going to forget it due to the strength of the embedded images.
This is how I did it:
First of all I wanted to write an article on running and especially on how to find the TIME to run in this busy world of ours. So my first image was of MYSELF RUNNING out of the house in such GREAT HASTE that I was leaving behind a trail of flames and a foul-smelling smoke! That corresponded to article number 1.
Secondly, I wanted to write an article on my LOVE OF BOOKS, especially on the JOY of collecting AUTOGRAPHED BOOKS (I do have modest collection of them).
Now I conjured up the image of an OPEN BOOK as BIG as the road I was running on. I imagined the pages of the book started to burn because of the TRAIL OF FIRE and SMOKE that I left behind when I ran out of my house in a hurry, remember?
Thus the first two images connected nicely, reminding me the first two items on my list (running, collecting books). That took care of the article number 2 as well.
A third topic was RESTORING OLD CRUMBLING BOOKS. So in my imagination, I’ve jumped from the first burning book to a SECOND BOOK CRUMBLING all over. I was having difficulty running on this book because the book needed RESTORATION, see? That was article number 3. That connected the first three images and list items.
Then the page collapsed like a house collapsing in fire and in my imagination I went right through it and fell on a fluffy white hair-like stuff.
Actually, yes, IT WAS GRAY HAIR! I fell into the hair of TAYLOR HICKS, the fifth winner of American Idol. Now this was great because the next article I wanted to write was about how GRAY HAIR is in as a fashion statement. That was article number 4.
Then I saw Taylor Hicks wearing a brown hooded monk robe and fingering his prayer beads because my next article would be on HOW INCONVENIENT SPIRITUAL TRUTHS CAN BE. That’s article number 5.
The visual connection to article number six was a piece of cake. I saw the monk in brown hooded dress get fried by a blue bolt of electric current. He was in great agony and could not stop the DIVINE ELECTRICITY surging through his body. Perfect. Because I wanted to write about the power and danger of the mysterious KUNDALINI as article number 6.
Kundalini is always represented by a COILED SERPENT. In my imagination the coil transformed into CONCENTRIC CIRCLES and the aisles of a supermarket organized as CONCENTRIC CIRCLES, which brought me to article number 7 - a BETTER WAY to organize the existing SUPERMARKET FLOOR PLANS.
The same concentric circles, when looked from above, also resemble a HUMAN BRAIN. I saw numbers and words swimming in the brain which brought me to article number 8 - how to memorize a long list of things (which is THIS article you are reading right now!).
Then I saw the brain gunning down and shooting forward at a great speed like a VOLKSWAGEN (the VW Beetle’s profile resembles a brain, doesn’t it? Well, I’m taking a lot of poetic license of course).
Which brought me to CARS and the BLACK BUICK I saw earlier today. Yes, I wanted to write something about Buicks and the way Buicks are modeled these days. Article number 9.
Finally, I remembered where I saw the BUICK - at a parking lot in STERLING, Virginia. Yes, I also wanted to write an essay about STERLING, VIRGINIA and that concluded my list of ten articles.
Even three hours after I finished my run I still remember the "List of 10" very vividly and there is no way I’m going to forget them any time soon until I replace this list in my mind with another equally RIDICULOUS list -- or equally ridiculous gallery of images.
As you can see, "memorizing" long lists can be a lot of FUN because of all the stupid images that you have to come up with and link to one another.
Try it today and you’ll be surprised how easily you can keep in your mind long shopping lists and other lists that you had difficulty with remembering before.
THINK RIDICULOUS and LINK IMAGES. It’s as simple as that.
Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases, movie reviews and hi-tech documentation. He has worked as a Technical Writer for Fortune 100 companies for the last 7 years.
In addition to being an Ezine Articles Expert Author, he is also a Senior Member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), and a Member of American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI).
You can reach him at writer111@gmail.com for a FREE consultation on all your copywriting needs.
You are most welcomed to visit his official web site http://www.writer111.com for more information on his multidisciplinary background, writing career, and client testimonials. While at it, you might also want to check the latest book he has edited: http://www.lulu.com/content/263630
