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Our brains can recognize and attach meaning to multiple forms and combinations of stimuli: the taste and color of baked bread, the sound and feel of crumpled newspaper, the smell and location of a favorite Italian Restaurant. Our minds are capable of making accurate identifications when a single isolated stimulus is presented, however, memories become increasingly indelible when multiple stimuli such as colors, shapes, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, positions, emotions and language are included.

Unfortunately information we have to remember is almost always presented as words printed on a page. While language is one of the most important aspects of learning, it is only one of the many skills and resources available to our minds. Mnemonics are memory tools that allow you to use your whole mind to store and recall information. By coding language and numbers in striking images, you can reliably code both information and the order or structure of information.

Most people are already familiar with mnemonics such as “righty tighty, lefty loosey” to remember which direction to turn a screwdriver or K-I-S-S to recall the axiom “Keep It Simple Stupid”. Those wanting to maximize memory retention can go beyond learning mnemonics to creating their own.

Mnemonics can be written in rhyming verse form or can follow cues from a familiar journey or room. Associating information with shapes, sounds, even emotion and location can aid in memory recall. You can do the following things to make your mnemonics more memorable:

1. Use positive, pleasant images. The brain often blocks out unpleasant ones
2. Use vivid, colorful, sense-laden images - these are easier to remember than drab ones
3. Use all your senses to code information or dress up an image. Remember that your mnemonic can contain sounds, smells, tastes, touch, movements and feelings as well as pictures.
4. Give your image three dimensions, movement and space to make it more vivid. You can use movement either to maintain the flow of association, or to help you to remember actions.
5. Exaggerate the size of important parts of the image
6. Use humor! Funny or peculiar things are easier to remember than normal ones.
7. Similarly rude rhymes are very difficult to forget!
8. Symbols (red traffic lights, pointing fingers, road igns, etc.) can code quite complex messages quickly and effectively

Reachel Bagley is an Interactive Marketing Specialist for Agilix Labs, makers of GoBinder. To learn more about mnemonics and improving memory visit GoBinder.com.

Tags: Forget, Memory, Mnemonics, Recall, Remember, Study, StudyingForget, Memory, Mnemonics, Recall, Remember, Study, Studying

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There are many factors to a successful piece of writing. Not only does it have to grammatically be written correctly, it also has to appeal to the reader. One factor that is often overlooked is imagery. To me, it is one of the most important factors though. Imagery brings the piece to life, and determines whether the reader is just going to remember the writing as a bunch of words with a meaning or a piece of writing that transcends the physical 2D form and captivates the imagination.

One key to livening up the piece with writing is to use more appealing and visual-aspiring words. Increase of effective adjectives and descriptions can create the writing more captivating in the reader’s mind. It can provide more depth to the character, their actions, the setting, or even other objects in the scene. Adding color, location, size, and more personal details to an item can bring it to life. A cobalt and clean shirt or olive and filthy shirt brings the object to life more. Even if it is something as common as a door or key or car or sword, helping visualize it for others with adjectives and description allows it to be more than just a word in the writing. It becomes the object.

Don’t worry if you don’t get it right the first time. Writing is also about the ability to see what needs fixing later. Building up imagery in layers can be a very effective way also to increase the power of the piece. It might take a while before you find your own effective level of imagery. At first you might put on too much, and then when you try to fix it you have too little. But taking it one section at a time, building up these layers, can help you find the perfect amount to strengthen not only the whole piece but also each individual sentence and paragraph.

It is important not to overshadow your writing with imagery. You want the meaning to be the key to the piece, not how you can say it. Imagery is just a refinement, not the actual writing. You don’t want the reader to be wondering what you are saying. So one good rule is to pick words that you know the meaning of. Don’t try to impress. The meaning is how you want to touch the reader’s soul, not the actual words. You want to make the journey from the start of the piece to the end an easy and remembered one.

Using a thesaurus can be a great tool. It can help your mind get over bumps and obstacles when you can’t think of the right word. Maybe ‘red’ just wasn’t powerful enough for that dress or car. Look it up in a thesaurus and choose from other words like ’scarlet’ and ‘crimson’ or even ‘ruby’. People may worry that their writing won’t be their own this way, but as long as they stick with words they know and don’t start to put in words that may sound fancier or more intelligent then they will stay true to themselves.

You can’t forget it’s about the context, too. Just adding adjectives and description to an item doesn’t assure that it will help the piece. What is the focus of your story or writing? Do you want to put emphasis on this object or character? Does it strengthen the piece as a whole? The point here is that not everything in the story should be the main focus. You have main characters and you have support characters. You also have main details and support details. Does the fact that the setting is a cold and dark night give more insight to the story or does it just set up a location? Does the old and worn key have a purpose or is it just there for scenery?

Thinking about how the object will play out for the rest of the story can determine what type of focus you want on it. More important things, things that have a meaning within themselves in the story, are most likely the items you want to pop out of the writing more. Things that are just support, just background scenery, should generally stay simple with details and provide an overall mood to the scene and not a focal point.

Of course, like with anything in writing, it is all about the author’s own preference and style. Maybe you prefer to focus solely on colors in the piece. Don’t use the typical red, yellow, blue, green, etc. Bring the writing to life more with a much more lively set of adjectives. Or maybe you are all about subtle details. You don’t want to overshadow the item with complicated adjectives. A worn building works much better than a dilapidated building in this case.

Whatever the situation is, the style is, imagery brings life to the piece. So it is important to find what is effective and what is not. It is also important to know how to make the imagery more powerful and what to focus on when using it. It can be more than just painting a mental image. It can be letting the reader connect with the writing even more just by having a better focus at what he/she is reading. Don’t be worried about taking it too far or not enough at first. Start off slow and just let the piece speak for itself. Over time you will come to understand your own style of using imagery.

Tags: article marketing, writing, writing articles, writing resources, writing rul, writing styles, writing tipsarticle marketing, writing, writing articles, writing resources, writing rul, writing styles, writing tips

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