by Julie, suffering through spring allergies

We all tell each other, and ourselves, stories. Some of these stories impact the way we live our lives, and the choices we make. Most of us question those stories at some point, and may even change them. The “I’m the youngest so…” story can be dismantled when you’re fifty with a conversation that helps you see how that story has impacted parts of your life.

For many folks, these stories aren’t identified as stories. They are their personal truths.

Then there are writers.

Writers harness story power. We collect stories about ourselves and others, and use them. At some point all writers understand that not everyone daydreams incessantly, makes up narratives about strangers, takes notes on conversations they’ve overheard, or falls down rabbit holes of research. Not everyone imagines ten different outcomes for real life scenarios. Not everyone uses planning a crime a stress relief and an imaginative spark.

A writer persuades people to take a leap of faith. That leap requires people to trust that we can put it all together. That the story will be worth their investment of time and treasure. Writers don’t take that lightly. We twist, turn, and massage our stories until we’re satisfied. Then we take the brave step of publishing them.

Stories have power. That power fuels writers. Yesterday we talked about our Wicked retreat. One of the wonderful things about spending a weekend with writers is that we all know we could use the same prompt, and we’d all write completely different stories. You would like some, not all. But that’s the power of story. It affects people.

Writer friends, tell me about the role of story power in your life. Readers, do you marvel at how writers use story power to suck you in?