How to write memory loss?

[amethystore]

It's self-explanatory ..., how?

I write something in the Adventum Contest, it's Bluestone Castle and it has been about 21 chapters as of now. The story becomes too much too difficult to rewrite again when the MC wiped his own memory in fear he lost his sanity.

I know, memory wipe is risque. But I can't write an entirely broken character. So I come up with that idea.

I have pre-planned what would eventually happen, and thought that this decision was necessary if he wanted to keep his mind not insane. But, then ..., I fear for the worst and didn't want to disappoint my readers who have kept up with me until now.

As such, I need your guidance about how to make it interesting while also not destroying the story ...,

 

[Xiaoshen]

How much of his memory is getting axed?

 

[amethystore]

All of it. Though, he has made some kind of backup plan for it. And yes, it self-inflicting amnesia.

The MC gets too much of OP because he underwent some kind of samsara cycle yet he is not cultivator so his brain couldn't keep up with that many live cycles. He keeps some kind of backup(like a note or some kind of that) on a device to make him remember, and then wipe all of his memory.

 

[Alienix]

I can reference you to a good memory loss story in SH. Search Simulacrum. Maybe u can get inspiration

 

[Xiaoshen]

All of it. Though, he has made some kind of backup plan for it. And yes, it self-inflicting amnesia.

The MC gets too much of OP because he underwent some kind of samsara cycle yet he is not cultivator so his brain couldn't keep up with that many live cycles. He keeps some kind of backup(like a note or some kind of that) on a device to make him remember, and then wipe all of his memory.

Maybe just switch to a different character's point of view till' he gets his memories back. Just start a whole other thing in another part of the story's world that eventually ties back in with the original MC.

 

[BenJepheneT]

I would tell you, but I don't remember.

 

[Bugi]

Hmm... Never thought about that.

 

[Talverty]

Tough, so tough. You’ll have to ask what the character does actually remember and how they do the memory wipe.

A full wipe would be incredibly difficult to write, even if the character leaves information behind. Language is learned, same with mathematics or anything really. You could write it as your character making a mistake and not knowing how to understand the instructions but that would change the entire dynamic of the story.

A partial wipe would show what your character did care about. What they think was important enough to spare. Reveals their thoughts in a way. If you're not deleting information and only memories of experiences, keep in mind that any development or changes of personality from those is probably gone. Back to square one so to speak. That holds true even if they have systems in place to tell them what happened. They would be a passive observer not necessarily facing the same emotional shifts, kind of like watching a movie about war compared to actually fighting one.

As for the story and the way you write it? The best way might be giving it elements of a detective story. Add mystery and don’t explain the systems the character put in place, let the reader experience it with the protagonist. You could have a direction your character wants himself to go after the wipe and your new protagonist may or may not follow it because functionally they’re different people at that point.

Best of luck! It’s a tough subject!

 

[gaylolis]

i usually write amnesiac characters because i'm too lazy to decide on their back story first.

i will just write whatever i want, with them as a blank slate, and do the reveal based on what i think is the most plausible (or not, since i wrote nonsense anyway).

 

[GhostlyArtz]

It depends on how you are doing the memory loss, I am assuming even though you say it is a complete wipe it isn't really going to be a complete wipe. It'll be more like amnesia where people just don't remember events/names/people? Versus, if it is a complete wipe, well. There's the whole language thing that'll put a hamper, knowing how to use things, etc etc. So, figuring you are meaning more of the wipe of memories and what not.

Things to keep in mind: Events you go through change your personality and perspective, so your MC will probably be doing a 180 in terms of personality and it'll probably be crafted through things that happen to him shortly afterwards. So there's probably like a few innate personality traits, but they'd probably be like tiny things? More like a blank page with a note at the very top.

Difficulty with doing a wipe would be that all of his prior motivations. Yeah, he'll probably want to know about hit life but it'll make the story make a drastic turn and he'd probably end up with the goal of getting all his memories back- defeating the purpose of him losing his memory to begin with. I am assuming he's going to have other people involved in the process right? Otherwise, he's blindly hoping he'll look into a device that he most likely can't remember nor know what the function is.

Either way, it'll end up with a drastic change in your story because someone with majority of their memory wiped is pretty much an entirely different person. So in the end, everything depends on how much memory you wipe and what exactly you wipe and the situation in which it is wiped. (What does he wake up to? Is there anyone there? Where is he? Will he be familiar with any of the technologies available?)

Anyways, best of luck on writing your amnesiac MC! Should be a fun challenge.

 

[amethystore]

Difficulty with doing a wipe would be that all of his prior motivations. Yeah, he'll probably want to know about hit life but it'll make the story make a drastic turn and he'd probably end up with the goal of getting all his memories back- defeating the purpose of him losing his memory to begin with. I am assuming he's going to have other people involved in the process right? Otherwise, he's blindly hoping he'll look into a device that he most likely can't remember nor know what the function is.

Yeah, actually my reader said it made them feel disconnected with the MC prior to the amnesia. And it's like seeing an entirely new character and not the MC they know.

Anyways, best of luck on writing your amnesiac MC! Should be a fun challenge.

Ouuu ..., thanks.

 

[Yairy]

Not gonna lie, this is tough but interesting.

Yeah, actually my reader said it made them feel disconnected with the MC prior to the amnesia. And it's like seeing an entirely new character and not the MC they know.

Probably the best thing to do is to not look at the comments of the readers for the time being and clear your head. This was a necessary step that you as the writer believed you had to take in order to get to the next step/end of your story.

I haven't read your story and don't know what it's about but is the self-inflicting amnesia the end all be all in reality? As you said the main character did this in order to retain their sanity. Mentally, your character is a fundamentally different person because they lack the knowledge they use to have. However couldn't you use that to your advantage and circle around characters who are already established? I'm not sure if you have secondary characters who can step to the plate for a bit and bring out different aspects to your MC. I take it at some point their memory will come back in some way and they'll be the person your readers fell in love with. But you could take this chance to back off your MC for the time being and let others step up to the plate. Maybe you can use this chance to make show the development of a love-interest.

Probably take this time to brighten up your cast so when the MC does return to their old self your secondary characters are more well-rounded.
Kind of like when an MC is gone from the party and you can see how the cast handles themselves without them. However, this shows how much of a key piece your MC is to the cast and how much they need them back.

 

[amethystore]

Probably the best thing to do is to not look at the comments of the readers for the time being and clear your head.

I really do need to clear my head and rest for a bit.

Probably take this time to brighten up your cast so when the MC does return to their old self your secondary characters are more well-rounded.
Kind of like when an MC is gone from the party and you can see how the cast handles themselves without them. However, this shows how much of a key piece your MC is to the cast and how much they need them back.

This sounds like a pretty feasible idea.

 

[Nulzilch]

While everyone opinions here have merit, but many are ignoring the tone/type of story with regards to amnesia. I don't think a serious attempt to deal with it would fit in a story that is supposed to be eroge battle harem.

Having read your story i would suggest giving him selective amnesia is the best solution. Wipe out everything he had gone through in samsara cycle and leave the guy who has just transmigrated into his fav game and wants to steal hero's harem. Of course we can't just ignore the samsara cycle. Aside from giving him more knowledge in his PC, it can also leave him with emotional scars. He for example becomes paranoid and as a result overly cautious like MC of "My senior brother is a bit too cautious". Earlier he wanted to get every girls he saw but after experiencing many betrayels he despite being surrounded by many slaves and noble girls only bothers himself with girls that he really likes. He can also become a bit manipulative and sets up others to take glory/attention to escape troubles himself.

These are my examples. The type of emotional impact the cycle has on MC is left to what you want him to be. Possessive, paraonid, spiteful, selfish etc., but in the end these shouldn't take over the MC main traits of him wanting to enjoy a nice eroge harem life while the hero labours to save the world.

 

[SourDaiDai]

If your story is set in the real world...It's time to research! I think there are 2 different types?
(You can remember the past but can not make new memories and you can not remember the past but can make new memories)
Idk, I don't remember lad.

 

[ChronicleCrawler]

It's self-explanatory ..., how?

I write something in the Adventum Contest, it's Bluestone Castle and it has been about 21 chapters as of now. The story becomes too much too difficult to rewrite again when the MC wiped his own memory in fear he lost his sanity.

I know, memory wipe is risque. But I can't write an entirely broken character. So I come up with that idea.

I have pre-planned what would eventually happen, and thought that this decision was necessary if he wanted to keep his mind not insane. But, then ..., I fear for the worst and didn't want to disappoint my readers who have kept up with me until now.

As such, I need your guidance about how to make it interesting while also not destroying the story ...,

I agree with @Nulzilch. Cut off a certain part of his memory but not all. Bring him back to what he was in the beginning but please don't make him into a wimp. The changes in his values and character must be quite apparent so that we will not have a half-ass amnesiac. It's important to point out the changes in his speech, mannerisms, and even purpose. Hope this helps

 

[Fanfictasta1]

This choose is up to you normally if you write a memory wipe you do it in the third person and if you don't do that you explain how the character would feel and what they say repeatedly when they got there memory wiped for example I don't know who I am