Sugar Words

What does it mean to be a storyteller of your own life? I do not mean the version where it is over, and you narrate it after the fact. That is too simplistic, too neat, and not nearly as soul-draining. I mean telling the story as you live it, while it is happening, trying to sense whether you are in a climb or a downfall, whether this is the climax or just another plot twist. And is it not exhausting to keep directing the story, because you know what a good storyteller would do? She would know when to pause, when to rush, when to gasp, when to take action, and how to make the readers, the spectators, feel it all.

As a writer, I can tell a story and be done in two pages. I can edit, crumple drafts, and get feedback on every sentence I choose to write. But as a human being, living the story and shaping it at the same time, it is less choreography and more improvisation. I dare say it is all just a grand theatre made of soliloquies, the continuous direction of something you do not quite know where it is going. So the question becomes, how do you direct something whose next step is unknown to you?

Perhaps the answer lies in what makes a story good. Is it the structure? Compelling characters? Layers? Witty dialogue? Or simply conflict?

That is right, the conflict between who you are and who you want to be. That becomes the story. But then, who decides what growth means? Who is to say whether the eight-year-old was a better version than the eighteen-year-old? The good thing about the story we are writing is that we always know the past. It sits there, complete, whether we like it or not. Which means if we are looking to advance the character, and that is a big if, we know the baseline. And if we know the baseline, there is only one way forward.

Now here is where most storytellers make a mistake. They confuse going forward with going upward.

A story does not have to rise in order to move. Just because your character starts at a certain benchmark does not mean you have to maintain it. You can let them fall from the pedestal the storyteller has created. Oftentimes, this is seen as the end of the story, or the beginning of a villain, or whatever people call setbacks or failures. But truly, it simply makes for an interesting arc. That is all. There are no positive or negative connotations. Only movement.

And perhaps that is what a good storyteller understands. A good storyteller is only there to engage. They do not get attached to any part of the story, because if they do, it leads them astray from what is most engaging and alive. Because if you do not move to the next episode, you would never know that a new character, a city, or even a book could completely alter the story. It would be a pity for a storyteller to get attached to one episode and demand to continue it again and again. Surely, you would lose the audience.

Being a good storyteller is having the power to engage the audience, in this case yourself, and to shape the narrative in whatever light feels true. You get to decide what the arc truly means.

So now, in our toolbox, we have a compelling conflict, the wisdom of the past, the relief that there is no set course, and the power to shape the narrative while staying detached from any single season of the story.

As a writer here and as a storyteller of my life, if I find more tools, like a good patron, I will keep you all updated.