After an Open Admissions (OA) policy was established at Baruch college in New York City, heavy emphasis was placed on remedial English. This emphasis was unfortunate for creative students since it reduced all writing courses to a "utilitarian," pre-college level. OA students also need to develop their perceptions, imaginations, and abilities to express themselves in complex ways. One strategy employed to teach these advanced writing skills united memory, imagination, and form. After reading and discussing personal narratives, students wrote chronological narratives based on their memories about their parents. Next, they wrote of their own past experiences. Finally, they united their earlier essays in short story form, having come to an awareness that a story is made of memory, imagination, and form. (SW)