FWIS: Growing Your Story

Time once again for the From Where I Stand blog series with Bria and Abby! This month we’re talking about growing a story.

There are a lot of ways stories develop. We stash ideas like nuts for the winter and one day we look and notice that we’ve amassed an entire tree somehow. We research ourselves into entire plotlines. We brainstorm; we chat it out with CP’s. We occasionally even get those lightning bolt stories that crackle and flow.

I do all those things. But when I think about how I best like to grow stories, I first look at growing myself.

Bet you saw that coming, didn’t you?

I find that when I keep myself interesting and interested and just living, ideas are everywhere, creativity jumps, I’m more productive. The more insular I become, the less those things happen. So I invest in myself mindfully. Here’s some tips:

1. Get outside. Or at least, get off the damn computer. I am the first person to admit I spend too much time nattering away on the interwebs and teh social medias, and I will also be the first to admit it’s detrimental to my well-being. It’s a useless drain of energy most of the time. You may have even noticed I’ve not been doing it as much. Working takes up time and energy that I would’ve otherwise invested on Twitter, but now when I am online, I’m chatting or emailing with friends and deepening connections I already have instead of doing superficial networking.

2. Which brings me to my next point – invest in relationships. People are rich and wellsprings of growth opportunities if you get to know them. Do things with friends. Find activities to make new ones. People will surprise you in their complexity. They will force you to reconsider humanity in both good and bad ways.

3. Which brings me to  my next point! Be mindful. Contemplate the big things, revel in the little. Cultivate self-awareness. The motivations and needs and truths within yourself are ripe for deepening stories if you look for them. If nothing else, it’s helpful to know what you really feel about things so they can act as themes in your work. How can you write about love or identity if you don’t fully know what you think about them or their importance to you?

Stories are everywhere waiting for you to grow them. The easiest way to do it is to be a grower.

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