In a recent blog post, Liz Warren described telling a story as providing stepping-stones across a river. Jack Maguire notes in The Power of Personal Storytelling, “An essential part… is having a clear sense of where you’re going when you tell a story – which ‘stones’ you need to reach, in what order, to go from where you begin your story to where you want to wind up.”
I have found this metaphor useful when constructing stories. On one stepping-stone I may want the listeners to feel uneasy or that their footing isn’t solid. The next stone may seem too far a leap for the listener to take with you. Other times, a wide, dry stone provides them a moment to relax and reflect on the peril they’ve come through with the storyteller.
However, sometimes when I’m charting my path through the story, I’ve reached the other side of the river too quickly. Alternately, the opposite bank may not hold the meaning I intend to convey. In that case, I try seeking upstream.
Imagine yourself walking the bank upstream from your story idea. Which events, choices and relationships brought you to this point? How did that river branch, and how might you take a different path to reach the opposite bank? You may find moments which set up or explain the story better. You may also discover this story idea was part of a larger pattern. Finally, you may uncover other stepping-stones that you file away as the start of another story.
The image at the top of the post of the mouth of mighty Mississippi can be found here.
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