I first came to the realisation that I had time to spend during my year in Grade 8. Having a minimal workload and a creative imagination, it was almost impossible not to do something. Ever since I conjured up the first sentence of the book, I had been on and off with it. Writing a chapter every 6 months, which, for some people, is a good pace. However, I had no direction and at the time, did not even know how to finish the story. Figuring out the details in which plotlines come together and separate was something new to me. However, when I started writing I knew how I was going to convey emotion. The book is a narrative of the protagonist’s life, specifically his visit to his old hometown of ‘Titok’ and his memories in relation to the place. I wanted to incorporate as much symbolism and metaphor into the book which is why most of the names are words that come from different languages. ‘Titok’, for example, is actually ‘secret’ in Hungarian. I quite like doing this, not only because it incorporates another layer of meaning to the place or person it is referring to, but also because it adds ambiguity to the region, something I want to keep in the book. I wanted this ambiguity mainly because I want as many people to find themselves immersed in it in their day to day lives. Although it is set particular coastal town, the slight alienation and comfort in solitary are themes I want present throughout the novel. After sitting down and deliberating on how to end the book, I discovered that it should not have a happy ending but a bittersweet one. Mainly due to the fact that the book imitates life and the reality of life is that plans go wrong and people go missing. Life is a fickle river, a river you never know how fast it goes, but you have to ride it. However, you decide what raft you ride it on.
What first inspired the idea for the story was actually a prompt in a test. It was a pair of shoes and possibly because of living on an island with beaches around I thought of a sandy background with the wilted pair of shoes. I wanted to anchor the story onto an object, so I rewrote the story from the test into the first paragraph. I took the shoes out of the story after some revising. Although I am not finished with anything. I want my tenure here in UWCSEA to be symbolised by more than just a diploma, but something for myself that I can truly be proud to have created. That’s why I came up with ‘Memories of a Day in the Summer’. Memories of a season without school and with others, without screens and with the sun, without routines and with the surprise that is life in all its capriciousness.