Find the Stories All Around You

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Not too long ago, I read “Wired for Story” by Lisa Cron. My writer friends were reading it as well. The book hit me center mass. Why? Because I started seeing story everywhere in everything I love.  

If you love writing, you’ve probably concentrated on words in a construct you control. You pen yarns. Pretty simple. Or not depending on where you’re at in your journey. Someone let me know when we get to the easy part, k? 

In all seriousness, stories surround all of us. Let’s talk about some examples. 

This will be my fifth year taking part in December Daily. The idea is simple. Every December, I put together a mini album filled with holiday stories. Just my camera, my people and tons of holiday products for decoration. Each day is a story. Maybe it’s the time the dog ate tinsel, and I freaked out worrying he’d been poisoned. That was an expensive pre-Christmas gift. I was so upset I threw the entire Christmas tree away and bought a new one. Or when we sat in line for three hours to see Christmas lights. Favorite repeat stories are putting up the tree or baking Christmas yummies. Little stories.  

I love stand-up comedy. If you pay attention, you’ll pick up on the stories inside the jokes. Comedians build a show around the story they want to tell. I love Lewis Black. He’s my kind of angry. A master of callbacks. From his show last year, he spun some genius about two-day free shipping. Later in the show, he mentions it again in a new way. He called back to the joke he’d already told, and this second mention gets a bigger laugh. That’s part of his storytelling.  

Some of my favorite super bowl commercials are short stories. The classic Budweiser commercials I love are the horses with the puppy. I’ll admit they make me emotional. You know why? Because it’s a story of love and loyalty. The horses take care of the puppy. It’s beautiful. Those commercials came out years ago, but I still remember them. When you think Budweiser, do you picture the Clydesdales? Effect advertising tells a story you won’t' ever forget. 

S O C I A L . C U T

The last example for today. Games. Both my guy and I game all the time. For both of us, our favorite games are story based. I want to be a heroine saving whoever needs saving and making the world right again. It can be on a small scale. In the popular Animal Crossing New Horizons game, the story can be slow as molasses. But it’s there. The Mass Effect universe is my favorite. The original trilogy is one of the best stories I’ve ever seen told in a game.  

We really are Wired for Story. Story is everywhere. You can’t get away from story. Your Uncle is going to tell inappropriate stories at Thanksgiving, or the lady next door has a story about a grandchild who is the smartest in the world. (Some grandmother is always right. Just saying.) 

In a day, we're pelted with so many stories. If you took notes with a pencil documenting all the stories you heard in one day, you’d run out of lead before you were ready for bed. Listen for all those stories and let them help you tell your own.  

P.S. It’s the first day of Fall 2021. Enjoy those pumpkins and pretty trees.