--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A word of warning here. The events as you…" description: "\"“A word of warning here. The events as you remember them will never be the same in your memory once you have turned them into a memoir. For years I hav..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/judith-barrington-45112_creative-writing_a-word-of-warning-here-the-events-as-you_886772.jpg" --- # A word of warning here. The events as you remember them… ![“A word of warning here. The events as you remember them will never be the same in your memory once you have turned them into a memoir. For years I have worried that if I turn all of my life into literature, I won't have any real life left - just stories about it. And it is a realistic concern: it…” quote by Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/judith-barrington-45112_creative-writing_a-word-of-warning-here-the-events-as-you_886772.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/judith-barrington-45112_creative-writing_a-word-of-warning-here-the-events-as-you_886772.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/judith-barrington-45112_creative-writing_a-word-of-warning-here-the-events-as-you_886772.jpg) > ““A word of warning here. The events as you remember them will never be the same in your memory once you have turned them into a memoir. For years I have worried that if I turn all of my life into literature, I won't have any real life left - just stories about it. And it is a realistic concern: it does happen like that. I am no longer sure I remember how it felt to be twenty and living in Spain after my parents died; my book about it stands now between me and my memories. When I try to think about that time, what comes to mind most readily is what I wrote.”” [Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Turning lived experience into narrative can distance us from the original feeling, making memories feel like stories rather than lived moments. **In simple terms:** Writing can separate memory from feeling. Key Takeaway Be aware of how storytelling reshapes memory. Themes memory writing identity reflection Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical personal When to use this quote - memoir writing - therapy - personal reflection Key Concepts Narrative identity memory reconstruction Questions to Reflect On - How does writing change your perception of past events? - Can you retain feeling while documenting? A Different Perspective Stories may replace lived experience, limiting authentic recall. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creative writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-writing/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Memoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memoir/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) ## Related quotes > [I would never do a printed memoir. I've been asked to publish a memoir from years by different publishers and literary agents. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-merchant/i-would-never-do-a-printed-memoir-i-ve-been-asked-to-publish-a-memoir/) [Natalie Merchant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-merchant/) > [“Rick's memory turned to fantasy as his mind took a different path than what reality had already turned into history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-cothern/rick-s-memory-turned-to-fantasy-as-his-mind-took-a-different-path/) [Brenda Cothern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-cothern/) > [There is so little to remember of anyone - an anecdote, a conversation at a table. But every memory is turned over and over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/there-is-so-little-to-remember-of-anyone-an-anecdote-a-conversation/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“But every memory is turned over and over again, every word, however chance, written in the heart in the hope that memory will fulfill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-every-memory-is-turned-over-and-over-again-every-word-however/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Maybe in this nation of the flesh, Distance will hold us together, as I try to remember her bent low to the bleeding heart’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-gloria/maybe-in-this-nation-of-the-flesh-distance-will-hold-us-together-as-i/) Eugene Gloria > [“Those who did remember probably shrugged off the chill of her memory, turned their heads down to the sports page or up toward the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/those-who-did-remember-probably-shrugged-off-the-chill-of-her-memory/) [Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/) > [“It is...difficult to describe someone, since memories are by their nature fragmented, isolated, and arbitrary as glimpses one has at night through lighted windows.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/it-is-difficult-to-describe-someone-since-memories-are-by-their/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“The quality of any author’s effort at personal writing and thematic commentary hinges upon the author’s intrinsic limitations, personal vantage point, and personal capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/the-quality-of-any-author-s-effort-at-personal-writing-and-thematic/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [“Human beings innate complexities resist reduction into simple sentences and neat paragraphs. The stories that come nearest to expressing the ambivalent nature of people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/human-beings-innate-complexities-resist-reduction-into-simple/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [“Storytelling gives form to the metal dialogue of the mind and in doing so, reveals our self-fiction. Memory and imagination fills part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/storytelling-gives-form-to-the-metal-dialogue-of-the-mind-and-in/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [My Family and Other Saints echoes Gerald Durrell's classic memoir, My Family and Other Animals, not only in its title, but in its wonderful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/my-family-and-other-saints-echoes-gerald-durrell-s-classic-memoir-my/) [Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) > [“Whether or not you employ humor in dealing with difficult subjects, the tone of the writing is of the utmost importance. Personally, I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/whether-or-not-you-employ-humor-in-dealing-with-difficult-subjects/) [Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) > [I've always written. When I was in school, the only teacher who ever liked me was my creative writing teacher. I used to enter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-townes-earle/i-ve-always-written-when-i-was-in-school-the-only-teacher-who-ever/) [Justin Townes Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-townes-earle/) > [“Take care of your costume and your confidence will take care of itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/take-care-of-your-costume-and-your-confidence-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-then-creative-reading-as-well-as-creative-writing-when-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More by Judith Barrington > [“Whether or not you employ humor in dealing with difficult subjects, the tone of the writing is of the utmost importance. Personally, I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/whether-or-not-you-employ-humor-in-dealing-with-difficult-subjects/) [Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) > [My Family and Other Saints echoes Gerald Durrell's classic memoir, My Family and Other Animals, not only in its title, but in its wonderful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/my-family-and-other-saints-echoes-gerald-durrell-s-classic-memoir-my/) [Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) > [The fact is that writing, like any creative undertaking, carries with it both pain and great joy. The pain is often inherent in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/the-fact-is-that-writing-like-any-creative-undertaking-carries-with/) [Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) > [Just as composers go to concerts and artists visit galleries, writers read. You will learn, in the most enjoyable way, more about style and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/just-as-composers-go-to-concerts-and-artists-visit-galleries-writers/) [Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) > [“Susan Griffin describes it as a time when "there is no intrinsic authority to my words." "I...clean off my desk. I make telephone calls.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/susan-griffin-describes-it-as-a-time-when-there-is-no-intrinsic/) [Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) > [If you want help in starting to write memoirs, you don't want to fall into the clutches of a famous writer who has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/if-you-want-help-in-starting-to-write-memoirs-you-don-t-want-to-fall/) [Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) > [One thing we can probably agree on is that the truth, however we define it, is often hard to tell. It can be hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/one-thing-we-can-probably-agree-on-is-that-the-truth-however-we/) [Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) > [“One last characteristic of the memoir that is important to recognize is one which also applies to essays, and which Georg Lukacs described as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/one-last-characteristic-of-the-memoir-that-is-important-to-recognize/) [Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) [Explore all 9 Judith Barrington quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) ## More Creative writing quotes > [“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-then-creative-reading-as-well-as-creative-writing-when-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Take care of your costume and your confidence will take care of itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/take-care-of-your-costume-and-your-confidence-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [I've always written. When I was in school, the only teacher who ever liked me was my creative writing teacher. I used to enter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-townes-earle/i-ve-always-written-when-i-was-in-school-the-only-teacher-who-ever/) [Justin Townes Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-townes-earle/) > [When I was at UCLA, a professor there encouraged me to write, and so I looked into specializing in creative writing in the English…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-park/when-i-was-at-ucla-a-professor-there-encouraged-me-to-write-and-so-i/) [Randall Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-park/) > [A creative writing workshop will contain students whose ambitions and abilities, whose conceptions of literature itself, are so diverse that what they have in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-creative-writing-workshop-will-contain-students-whose-ambitions-and/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [“In general, poor is polite and rich is rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/in-general-poor-is-polite-and-rich-is-rude/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“The smell of the sweat is not sweet, but the fruit of the sweat is very sweet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/the-smell-of-the-sweat-is-not-sweet-but-the-fruit-of-the-sweat-is/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Start dating someone who is funny, someone who has what in high school you called a "really great sense of humor" and what now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/start-dating-someone-who-is-funny-someone-who-has-what-in-high-school/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“Creative writer has artistic sensibility. He observes the world like any common men. But his vision observes the world quite differently. He can perceive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/creative-writer-has-artistic-sensibility-he-observes-the-world-like/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [I really think that if there's any one enemy to human creativity, especially creative writing, it's self-consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/i-really-think-that-if-there-s-any-one-enemy-to-human-creativity/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [“We are taken through the pursuit of the American dream, the establishment of the American family, and a smattering of suspense and intrigue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-allgire/we-are-taken-through-the-pursuit-of-the-american-dream-the/) Nikita Allgire > [“Because at night when others are sleeping, I drown myself in poetry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/because-at-night-when-others-are-sleeping-i-drown-myself-in-poetry/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“Don't compare the size of your roof with the size of the sky.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/don-t-compare-the-size-of-your-roof-with-the-size-of-the-sky/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Metaphors are not user-friendly. They're difficult to find and difficult to use well. Unfortunately, metaphors are a mainstay of good lyric writing-indeed of most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-pattison/metaphors-are-not-user-friendly-they-re-difficult-to-find-and/) [Pat Pattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-pattison/) > [All the elements of good writing depend on the writer's skill in choosing one word instead of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-prose/all-the-elements-of-good-writing-depend-on-the-writer-s-skill-in/) [Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-prose/) [Browse all 424 Creative writing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-writing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A word of warning here. The events as you remember them will never be the same in your memory once you have turned them into a memoir. For years I have worried that if I turn all of my life into literature, I won't have any real life left - just stories about it. And it is a realistic concern: it does happen like that. I am no longer sure I remember how it felt to be twenty and living in Spain after my parents died; my book about it stands now between me and my memories. When I try to think about that time, what comes to mind most readily is what I wrote.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith Barrington" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/a-word-of-warning-here-the-events-as-you-remember-them-will-never-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creative writing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/a-word-of-warning-here-the-events-as-you-remember-them-will-never-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/judith-barrington-45112_creative-writing_a-word-of-warning-here-the-events-as-you_886772.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/judith-barrington-45112_creative-writing_a-word-of-warning-here-the-events-as-you_886772.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/judith-barrington-45112_creative-writing_a-word-of-warning-here-the-events-as-you_886772.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A word of warning here. The events as you remember them will never be the same in your memory once you have…” — Judith Barrington", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Judith Barrington", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“A word of warning here. The...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/a-word-of-warning-here-the-events-as-you-remember-them-will-never-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/a-word-of-warning-here-the-events-as-you-remember-them-will-never-be/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```