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the “I Remember” writing prompt

José Angel Araguz Leave a comment

One of the influential writers on both Ruin & Want and my upcoming craft class Rumination as Route is Joe Brainard, specifically his book I Remember. The first draft of what became Ruin was a series of statements each starting with “I remember” using the formal choice as a way into material.

At the time, I was fascinated with the idea of book as reading experience. The challenge of Brainard’s book, of essentially creating a nonlinear autobiography, felt important. As someone who needed to name what I could not yet explain, I dove into memories simply naming what I found at first. Naming and cataloging became survival and foundation.

From these fragments and specifics, I then moved into “I wanted…” phrasing using desire as a way to enter deeper emotional truths. This opened new narrative paths: wants born from trauma, queerness, poverty, belonging. I went from cataloging to exploring memories from different perspectives.

This week, I’d like to share the following prompt:

  • First, write 7-10 lines beginning with either “I remember…” or “I wanted to…” (if you’re really feeling it, you can go up to 20).
  • Then, choose one and follow where it leads. You can choose the most surprising one, or the most obscure one. Trust your intuition. Then ask: What happened before? After? Around it?

Don’t be afraid of monotony in the first step. In fact, invite it in (seriously, try 20). Writing into this prompt quickly becomes a matter of rhythm. Rhythm is the body and intuition here, the inner maps we spend our lives reclaiming.

This is one of the prompts we’ll play with in Rumination as Route, a generative nonfiction class exploring nonlinear personal essays. If repetition and reflection are part of your writing process, you’re not alone, and you’re not doing it wrong.

Rumination as Route: Crafting Non-Linear Personal Narratives

Date & Time: Sunday June 1, 2025 @3-5pm EST
Where: Online (Zoom)
Cost: $60
Register here: https://thenotebookscollective.com/event/rumination-as-route/

Hope to see you there!

= José =

Rumi and the art of wandering

José Angel Araguz Leave a comment

A friend once told me that when he hears the word rumination, he thinks of pigs.

Not in a bad way, more in the way pigs root for truffles. He imagined them with their snouts to the earth, urgent but patient, plodding yet focused. That image totally redefined the word for me.

Before then, I had thought of rumination as something still. Heavy. Almost stagnant. But my friend’s truffle-hunting pig reframed it: rumination as animation. A kind of messy pursuit. A movement that’s spiraling, not stuck.

Later, when my partner gifted me a plush pig, I named him Rumi, short for rumination. That it’s also a poet’s name felt like an additional win.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I prepare to teach a one-day class this Sunday called Rumination as Route: Crafting Non-linear Personal Narratives. It’s a space for writers who don’t always think in straight lines, and who maybe circle a memory again and again, trying to make sense of it.

In this class, we’ll explore different ways of ruminating, of putting intention behind our focus while letting in a little of that truffle-hunting scramble. There’s value in the digression, the double-back, the way our stories don’t go from A to B but somewhere wilder and more true.

If that sounds like your writing brain too, I hope you’ll join us.

[Here’s a short video related to this post, btw.]

Rumination as Route: Crafting Non-Linear Personal Narratives

Date & Time: Sunday June 1, 2025 @3-5pm EST
Where: Online (Zoom)
Cost: $60
Register here: https://thenotebookscollective.com/event/rumination-as-route/

Hope to see you there!

= José =