Think of your earliest memory…
Day 10: Think of your earliest memory…
Welsh translation: Atgofion cyntaf
Hello! I’m Michael Rosen. I’m a writer and broadcaster – You might know me from my books for children which include “We’re going on a Bear Hunt”and “Chocolate Cake”. You might know me from the BBC Radio 4 programme that I host called “Word of Mouth”.
Younger people seem to know me as “the meme guy”, as some lads in America edited a poem of mine about hot potatoes into a meme of me saying the word “Nice” in my North London accent. I get stopped all over the place by lovely young people asking me to say “nice”!
https://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/MichaelRosenYes
Helo! Michael Rosen ydw i. Ysgrifennu a darlledu yw fy mhethau – efallai eich bod yn nabod fy enw o’r llyfrau a sgwennais “We’re going on a Bear Hunt” a “Chocolate Cake”. Efallai eich bod yn nabod fy llais o’r rhaglen dwi’n ei chyflwyno ar BBC Radio 4 “Word of Mouth”. Mae pobl ifanc fel pe baen nhw’n fy nabod fel “the meme guy”, am fod llanciau yn America wedi troi cerdd gen i am datws poeth yn “meme” ohonof i yn dweud y gair “Nice” yn fy acen Gogledd Llundain. Dwi’n cael fy stopio ymhobman gan bobl ifanc hyfryd yn gofyn imi ddweud “nice’!
https://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/MichaelRosenYes
Do
What are your first memories? Can you tell someone what these are and ask them to write them down as you tell them? Can you write them down as if you’re telling them to someone?
These first ways of talking are often the best ways of writing them down – but not always. You can, if you want to, use them, as a way of writing poems.
What is a poem?
A poem is a way of writing that makes what the writing memorable.
What does memorable mean? Easy to remember and worth remembering. Can you make your first memories sound memorable? One way to do it, is to not write in sentences!
What?
Yes, as we’re talking about first memories, these are often like fragments, impressions, blurry sensations. Sentences are not very good for expressing that.
You might just want to play with these fragments putting them down on the page, one below the other. If you can remember what someone is saying, put that down exactly as you remember it. You may remember what you said or thought. Put that down exactly as you remember it. (Don’t forget to put these under each other on the page.)
What other ways do you know which can make writing memorable? Using repetition to give things a rhythm. Songs do this all the time. You can imitate the way songs repeat phrases and lines. (a phrase is two or more words)
Rhythm and rhyme are ways we make things memorable too. One way to help you with this is to think of a song you like and imitate how the song uses rhythm, rhyme and repetition. Think of Bob Dylan or Adele or Stormzy or anyone you like.
Another way to work on your first memories, is to pick a word or phrase from that first memory and play with it. Play with it? How?
Let’s say if your first memory is sitting on a beach. And you remember the sand and the wind. You can play with those words and that phrase:
Sand and wind Wind and sand. Sand in the wind. Wind in the sand
There! It’s that easy!
Another way to think about first memories is to look at an old photo. What can you see in the photo? Imagine yourself talking about the photo but instead, you’re writing it. How do we talk about photos? We say things like ‘There’s Grandpa…’ or ‘Who’s that sitting behind Nanny?’ Use those kinds of expressions that we use in speech to talk about the photo.
One thing about memories that’s really interesting is that you can write about them as if you are IN the scene from the past, or you can write about them from now, remembering what it was like. Or you can write about both. I call this ‘writing about yourself as if you’re looking at yourself in the swimming pool’. So, you can think of you IN the memory. You can write about it along the lines I’ve suggested. But mingled with it, or after it, you can write about, how you think about it now. Maybe your view of the other people in your memory has changed? Or your view of yourself has changed? Or you view of time has changed?
Beth yw eich atgofion cyntaf?
Allwch chi ddweud wrth rywun beth yw’r atgofion hyn a gofyn iddyn nhw eu hysgrifennu wrth i chi eu dweud?
Allwch chi eu hysgrifennu fel pe baech chi’n eu dweud wrth rywun?
Y ffyrdd hyn o siarad yw’r ffyrdd gorau o’u cofnodi yn aml – ond nid bob tro.
Os hoffech chi, gallech chi eu defnyddio fel ffordd o ysgrifennu cerddi.
Beth yw cerdd?
Ai ffordd o wneud ysgrifennu yn gofiadwy yw cerdd?
Beth mae cofiadwy yn ei olygu? Hawdd ei gofio a gwerth ei gofio.
Allwch chi wneud i’ch atgofion cyntaf swnio’n gofiadwy?
Un ffordd o’i wneud yw peidio ag ysgrifennu mewn brawddegau!
Beth?
Ie, gan ein bod yn sôn am atgofion cyntaf; darnau, argraffiadau, synwyriadau niwlog yw’r rhain yn aml.
Dyw brawddegau ddim yn dda iawn am fynegi hyn.
Efallai y byddwch am chwarae gyda’r darnau a’u gosod ar bapur, un o dan y llall.
Os allwch chi gofio’r hyn mae rhywun yn ei ddweud, ysgrifennwch hwnna yn union fel rydych chi’n ei gofio.
Efallai y byddwch chi’n cofio’r hyn ddywedoch chi neu’r hyn oedd ar eich meddwl. Ysgrifennwch hwnna yn union fel rydych chi’n ei gofio.
(Cofiwch eu gosod un o dan y llall ar y dudalen.)
Pa ddulliau eraill allwch chi eu defnyddio i wneud ysgrifennu’n gofiadwy?
Defnyddio ailadrodd i roi rhythm i bethau.
Mae caneuon yn gwneud hyn drwy’r amser.
Gallwch ddynwared y ffordd mae cân yn ailadrodd ymadroddion a llinellau.
(dau air neu fwy yw ymadrodd)
Mae rhythm ac odl yn ffyrdd o wneud pethau’n gofiadwy hefyd.
Un ffordd i’ch helpu gyda hyn yw meddwl am gân rydych chi’n ei hoffi a dynwared sut mae’r gân yn defnyddio rhythm, odl ac ailadrodd.
Meddyliwch am Bob Dylan neu Adele neu Stormzy neu bwy bynnag rydych chi’n ei hoffi.
Think
What does thinking of first memories make you think about how time passes and time has passed?
All these are suggestions, they’re not rules, they’re not telling you what to do or how to do it.
It may help you to look at how other people have written about early memories and see if that gets you going with your writing.
Ffordd arall o weithio gydag atgofion cyntaf yw dewis gair neu ymadrodd o’r atgof cyntaf hwnnw a chwarae ag e.
Chwarae? Sut?
Gadewch i ni ddychmygu mai eich atgof cyntaf yw eistedd ar y traeth. A chi’n cofio’r tywod a’r gwynt. Gallwch chi chwarae gyda’r geiriau a’r ymadroddion hynny:
Tywod a gwynt
Gwynt a thywod.
Tywod yn y gwynt.
Gwynt yn y tywod
Dyna ni! Mae’n hawdd!
Ffordd arall o feddwl am atgofion cyntaf yw edrych ar hen lun.
Beth allwch chi ei weld yn y llun?
Dychmygwch eich hun yn siarad am y llun ond yn lle, rydych chi’n ei ysgrifennu.
Sut ydyn ni’n siarad am luniau?
Rydyn ni’n dweud pethau fel “Dacw Taid…’ neu ‘Pwy yw hwnna’n eistedd y tu ôl i Nain?’
Defnyddiwch y math o ymadroddion rydyn ni’n ei ddefnyddio ar lafar i ysgrifennu am y llun.
Share
Let’s have a go at today’s challenge together!
You can join me on a live stream at 2pm on Wednesday 10th January.
Details will be sent to you and be posted online at www.64millionartists.com.
See you there!
#TheJanuaryChallenge
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Gadewch i ni roi cynnig ar her heddiw gyda’n gilydd! Gallwch ymuno â mi ar lif byw am 2pm ddydd Mercher 10 Ionawr. Bydd manylion yn cael eu hanfon atoch ac yn cael eu postio ar-lein yn www.64millionartists.com. Welwn ni chi yno!#TheJanuaryChallenge
