6The Link Method

“‘Objects in pictures should so be arranged as by their very position to tell their own story.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832)

LET IT COME TO YOU

If you found it difficult to memorise the list of words in chapter four, it was because there was no obvious connection between the items. So the answer is to create an artificial one by allowing your imagination to get to work.

This is known as the link method. It is a simple way to memorise a list of items. This can be particularly useful in a subject like history, in which you may need to remember a long chain of events. Even if the subjects you are studying do not require you to absorb lists of material in order, the link method is nevertheless a useful memory exercise as it utilises your creative imagination and, in particular, your powers of association. And you need never worry that some unconnected words just can’t be linked – you will see how easily strange and memorable images will just come to you.

Take a look at the chapter four list again, but this time link each word together by featuring them in a bizarre story. To start off, imagine using a large pointed diamond to dissect a brain. As you start to cut open the brain, you discover a multicoloured hairbrush buried deep within the cerebrum. As you remove the hairbrush you notice that some of the bristles have been singed, possibly by a fire … and so the story goes on.

Using the list below, take up the story using your own narrative. To help make your account memorable, exaggerate the scenes and try to bring into play all your senses – touch, taste, smell, see and hear everything. But above all, concentrate on visualising as much of the detail that your imagination throws at you. Take your time and, if (as I find) it helps, close your eyes after looking at each word as you try to form your mental pictures.

1Diamond

2Brain

3Hairbrush

4Fire

5Horse

6Window

7Gondola

8Baby

9Treasure

10Doctor

11Cook

12Desk

13Faint

14Carpet

15Planet

16Dragon

17Book

18Violin

19Lawnmower

20Shadow

Now compare your new score with your original effort. You will have fared much better this time. If you did miss out a word it was probably for one of the following reasons:

•The image you created was too dull.

Make your images stand out by exaggerating them and creating movement. Notice how colourful I made the hairbrush, and how large the diamond.

•You thought you’d remember it anyway.

This is a common error, particularly if you think a word like “dragon” is striking enough to remember on its own without creating some extra details. How can you expect your memory to recall something that you haven’t bothered to register in the first place?

•The image was too vague.

You may have remembered the word “instrument” instead of the word “violin”. It’s important to see as much of the detail as possible. Note the shape of the violin and listen to the sound the strings make.

•You couldn’t visualise the word.

Certain words are not easy to visualise, in which case you’ll need to be inventive and apply a bit of ingenuity. If you can’t come up with anything for the word “faint”, for example, then imagine painting a big letter F. As the word “paint” rhymes with “faint”, this substitute should then act as an appropriate trigger for the original word. Association is, after all, what binds memory.

•There was no set backdrop.

The difficulty with the link system is that it tends to dictate what sort of surrounding scenery there should be. When you were trying to visualise the gruesome act of dissecting a brain, whereabouts, in your mental geography, were you performing this surgery? Perhaps you had a vague impression of a laboratory or operating theatre in the background. Where was the gondola situated? Did you suddenly have to fly off to Venice? I find, as you probably do, that I’m so focused on the words in the list that I largely ignore any background detail that may arise in association, leaving the images floating in a sort of white, misty haze. The danger is that they end up looking like cartoon drawings in a vacuum. If your story has no set, unique background, how will you keep this list mentally separated from any further ones you come to memorise?

Setting the background

For images to stay firmly lodged in the brain, they need to make as realistic an impact on the memory as we can create. The secret is to provide a familiar mental background in which to anchor these images. As an example, let’s commit to memory the royal houses of Great Britain in the order of their reigns.

1Norman

2Plantaganet

3Lancaster

4York

5Tudor

6Stuart

7Hanover

8Windsor

This may not be a list you ever thought you wanted to learn, but it serves as a useful example because very few of us can name these dynasties, let alone in order, so the information is fresh. By combining the link method with an imaginative story set in a very specific place, we can lift information from its dull, two-dimensional state, breathe life into it and make it more memorable.

This is how I remember the correct order. As you read through the following short story, keep an open mind and try to picture the scenes and events that unfold using your powerful imagination.

As it’s royal dynasties or houses we are dealing with, I have chosen Buckingham Palace as a geographical setting to start the story. Picture Norman Bates (or Greg Norman, or any other Norman who is more familiar to you) leaving the Palace through the front gates. He has just had tea with the Queen. To remember Plantaganet, imagine Norman stepping onto a plane conveniently waiting for him outside the gates. The plane turns out to be a Lancaster bomber and, as Norman takes off over London, he decides to go on a bombing raid. But the bombs he starts releasing, instead of being conventional ones, are made of chocolate. They are Yorkie Bar bombs. One of the Yorkie Bars crashes into an old Tudor-style house, distinguished by characteristic half-timbering and large rectangular windows. A Scotsman called Stuart rushes out of the house, disturbed by all the commotion. He looks the worse for wear as he staggers around bleary-eyed and scratching his head. The empty bottle he’s carrying in his hand signals that he is suffering from a severe hangover. He decides to shake off his bad head by windsurfing in the fountains at Trafalgar Square!

The story in itself is ridiculous, bizarre and wholly unlikely, but that’s why I can remember it, and even though it is my invention you will probably remember it too. It didn’t take long to create, either. I simply pictured the first ideas and associations that entered my head as I read each name down the list. It’s important to hold on to these first associations, as they are the ones most likely to repeat themselves at a later date.

Notice how the sequence of events running through the story has followed the sequence of the list, allowing me to recite the order backward or forward and at great speed. Which royal family follows York? By referring back to the scene over London, you’ll know the answer is Tudor because you can see the Yorkie bombs dropping on the old Tudor house. Likewise you should be able to tell in an instant that Lancaster must therefore come before York. Now see if you can repeat the list backward by simply reversing the story.

In chapter nine I will show you how to memorise dates by introducing the language of numbers, but for now content yourself in the knowledge that by using a simple story, your memory of otherwise forgettable information can be dramatically improved.