The Value of Story

Have you ever had a story sneak up and clobber you?

One minute, you’re snuggled into a comfy chair, holding a warm mug of something delicious with a story balanced on your lap. You’re prepared to go on an adventure, or fall in love, or solve a crime. In the next, you’re sobbing, or laughing, or doing both at the same time.

Have you ever wondered why?

It’s all about Connection

Story is universal. Experiencing a story allows us to connect with others across age, time, gender, and culture. Story provides a path to empathy. We connect through stories. 

This connection even enables us to care about fictional characters and become emotionally invested in their tale. We share their hopes and fears. It feels natural to celebrate their triumphs and to despair over their losses or failures.

Stories Keep Us Connected.

Many of my favorite memories are listening to my people’s stories. From my grandfather telling me about his time as a teenage hooligan, to my best friend’s tales of her unbelievably terrible coworker—their stories helped me to understand their experience at a deeper level. When they share their experiences, I feel closer to them, even when separated.

Stories also connect readers with writers. This connection is the why that drives many of us to write. Through our stories, we can share our ideas, knowledge, and imagination.

Story is Personal

But even though stories have the power to connect us, we each experience them uniquely.

Even best-selling novels packed with universal themes have critics, because we bring ourselves into the fictional world. Our imaginations affect our story experience, as do our upbringing, culture, and personal histories.

Sometimes when I read, I find exactly the thing I most needed to learn woven through the tale. It’s as if the author wrote the words for me specifically. That another person can also find the same tale deeply meaningful is magic.

What is Your Story?

As a writer, it’s easy to get discouraged when facing rejected queries, or lackluster book sales. But one great review, one reader reaching out to tell you how much your story meant to them, can change everything. 

So if you’re mired deep in a stuck plot, or worried that you’ll never find your audience, stick it out. Those long hours behind the page will pay off because your story has value.

What does story mean to you?

Header Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash