The Flint Hills Writing Project (@FHWP) at Emporia State University (Go Hornets! #StingersUp) started a Writing Into the Day/Writing Out of the Day writing prompt series during this period of social distancing. This is a great idea from a great group of writers and writing enthusiasts. I’m going to try and keep up as I can and post my efforts.
Writing Out of the Day – 3/20/20 prompt is:
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” -Maya Angelou
The Story Inside
Everyone has a story to tell. Communication through story is a foundation of humanity. We told stories about the great hunt of the wooly mammoth around the campfire to not only entertain but to tell the next generation how to kill a wooly mammoth for the group’s survival. Our stories are important. They are shaped from what we’ve done and guide us on what we’ll do.
Our stories shape us as unique individuals with a unique voice (see Orbits & Voice). It may seem simplistic but overcoming that “agony” of the untold stories inside each of us is by getting the story out. Putting it down on paper, smartphone app, cloud drive, telling someone, or by recording it seems to make the idea and the story more real.
I understand the “agony” of having the story locked inside you. It screams for a way out but, for whatever reason, is forced to stay tucked away. Telling a story or writing a story gives it life. And what does life do? It lives! A living story affects the reader or listener (receiver). It allows the receiver to live for a moment in your head and walk at least a few steps in your shoes.
Stories are powerful. Your stories have the power to change your life and the lives of those reading or hearing them.
Note: If you struggle to develop your ideas into stories, I suggest using an outline. For my fiction and narrative nonfiction projects, I use the 9-point story structure outline proposed by Larry Brooks in his book, Story Engineering. It’s based on the 3-act story structure we in the western world are familiar with. I take an idea, with all its associated notes scribbled on various means of media, and plug them into the 9-point outline. Once I know where the beginning, middle, and end are located, I can start drafting. This method works for me because it keeps me organized, on task, and it gives me landmark islands to target.
