I thought maybe everyone could share some techniques they have for RTK - not necessarily big things but just little things they've observed and that seem to make sense. For me:

1. If there are a decent amount (but not too many) of kanji with the same primitive or chunk of primitives, I try to make a story using all those kanji in a complete whole. Usually the repeated element is like the main character.

2. When going through RTK, I write down the kanji and the definition and think of a story, usually from the popular ones in RevTK. After I finish that chunk that I do, I quickly look at the definitions and corresponding kanji and make sure the story/image comes to mind. More time can be spent on those which I forgot the story for. This helps solidify what I did in that time period - it's like a summary at the end of an piece of writing.

3. This one might be kind of obvious, but... In coming up with a story, I look at the definition and use the first thing that comes to mind. That way when you see it later, and do the same thing, the same image and setting will come to mind. From there, just incorporate the images from the kanji in a way that is logical or absurd or vivid.

I look at the key word and write my own story based on the first thing that comes to mind. It is slower, but I think it helps cement the kanji in my head. If I have no idea, then I pick one from the list. It's not always one of the top ones though. Some at the bottom are really good, they're just new so they have few likes.

Also, if I come across a primitive I can't grasp, I change its meaning into something more vivid. Usually, a pokemon, since I'm a huge fan (Going became Charizard, Bones became Pikachu), but it doesn't matter (Elbow became Chuck Norris).

somstuff Wrote:In coming up with a story, I look at the definition and use the first thing that comes to mind.

I hate to be awkward, but what happens if you come across a keyword which has multiple meanings / homonyms, only one of which is relevant to the character? Sod's law would state that the first thing that comes to mind would be the wrong meaning

Well, you use the first thing that comes to mind, it doesn't matter if it's the right meaning, you're just using the image. And that image should come to mind similarly when learning it and when recalling it.

What worked for me through RTK1 and 3....

1) KISS - Keep it simple....... the less words the better. A story of 5 words if it'll work. Basically the least amount of words needed to help you remember the kanji. Less chance of memory contamination this way and muddling up similar sounding keywords and stories.

2) Try not to use a keyword in any part of another kanji's story (unless it is a kanji that you already know well or it actually is a component of that kanji). Again minimises the chance of muddling up different keywords and stories in your head.

3) Feel free to change the keyword names. Heisig isn't a bible. There were alot of words that I've never learned even as a native english speaker which defeats the purpose really. Also similar sounding keywords can muddle up your head in the long term.

1) I don't quite agree on the "Keep it simple" tip. If a story is too complex, it won't stick. Neither will stories that are too simple, as they may not be vivid enough. Keep it simple, but keep it memorable.

2) If you can't remember the meaning of a keyword, either change it or add context. For example, I replaced "ward off" with "[to] ward off [enemies]". I can understand it in context, but without it I only have a vague idea of its meaning.

3) Some RTK3 kanji (es. dumbfounded) will appear as primitives in RTK1. I'd study them, as they are usually easy, and there's not a lot of them. Just skim through the stories and, if that is the case, someone will have written about that. You don't need the RTK3 book, just make a story and, if you want, check the stroke order.

4) Don't stop adding new kanji, even if you have a lot of failed kanji to restudy. Don't neglect them, but NEVER EVER STOP. And, obviously, don't stop reviewing.

Blaziken Wrote:Don't stop adding new kanji, even if you have a lot of failed kanji to restudy. Don't neglect them, but NEVER EVER STOP. And, obviously, don't stop reviewing.

That's a dubious tip... I'd imagine following that would have resulted in me burning out 3 more times than I needed to before reaching where I am now (looking at my anki graphs). I think if you have 800+ cards to go over, adding new ones to the pile is more than just a little foolish.

Well, I wouldn't let the failed stack grow too much in the first place.
To me, "a lot of failed kanji" means 100-200.
800+ failed kanji are way too many. If you have so many kanji to restudy, I agree, adding new cards doesn't make any sense. Instead, you should focus on making up better stories, as the ones you used probably weren't good enough.

The fact is, if you stop adding new cards, it becomes more difficult to start again. If you don't have hundreds of failed cards, at least add a few (5+?) kanji every day. For example, if you used to add 30 kanji a day, then add 10 and restudy 20.

Don't know if this has been covered yet, but after doing kanji stories everyday for the past couple of months I've started to notice the kinds of stories that stick so it actually has lessened the amount of time it takes me to formulate a story that sticks. To move things along faster i try not to make up my own story if someone else has a story that a lot of people find works (why re-invent the wheel right?). If a story has been starred like 150 times, something had to have worked so I'll work that story into my head. Otherwise if it doesnt work then I'll think up my own. here are some points I noticed in other peoples and my own stories that make a story stick.

1. first and foremost you want to ensure the connection of the keyword to the story is obvious/prominent. That when you think of the keyword you see the image or story right away. So the theme (keyword) of the story has to be as specific and articulate as possible, and best if it won't be confused with any other concept. I think this is the most important part to get down because if you can't connect a story to the keyword even if the story is a really good one then that's no good. See the 'bag' example below.

2. I know stories can be complex for abstract keywords, but you want to have the simplest story that focuses your attention on the actual primitives. Example, 'bag' was really hard for me with the stories that other people used. I made a story up with MR.T grocery shopping with a re-useable grocery bag with his face on the SURFACE. Upon review I still couldn't remember that because when i thought of a bag, I couldn't think of any relation to anything... so I changed my story and just pictured MR.T's face on every kind of bag's SURFACE. this focused on the keywords: MR.T, SURFACE and bag was the main theme. so that didn't matter what kind of bag I thought of tomorrow or next week.

3) For other stories that might be more complicated and abstract like 'Bequeath'. The story was that Bilbo gave (Bequeath) the Lord of the Rings ring (PRECIOUS) to Frodo to go on the long ROAD to Mordor. Keywords: ROAD, PRECIOUS. Now that's kind of hard to pick out with so many details in the story. In this case I make sure to really focus my imagination on the 3 parts: 1) giving the ring (the theme), 2) Frodo is looking at it and actually saying 'my PRECIOUS', then I making sure to picture a long ROAD outside with as much detail as necessary.
I don't think to much about extra details like him walking to the door or something or bilbo having a conversation with him to give him the ring. I just focus on the barebones of the story, kind of like point form but imagination-wise. And those parts of the story have the most detail in my imagination.

there was one other thing i wanted to mention but I forgot...
I've been able to do 40 kanji a day the past month with about 96% retention at worst the first day and in the 2nd and 3rd review column 83-88% retention. The ones that don't stick in the 2nd and 3rd column review I revise the stories as above or sometimes it's not the story (very few), and it's just one of those that need a little refresher.

I hope that helps. I found that knowing these things made story making more efficient in terms of sticking and it has reduced the number of kanji I forget !