When I was a boy, I can remember going to the library each week at my elementary school. One day, after my mother encouraged me, I asked the librarian where all the learning books were. It was kind of a big question for an eight year old. The librarian, Mrs. Rodman, took me to a huge wall with floor to ceiling bookshelves and spread her arms wide. "Here are all the learning books." That captured my attention much more than the word "non-fiction." I stood there amazed at this wealth of information - biographies, science, history, music - it was all there. Since that day I've always had a love for books because of the information contained in them.
So it comes as no surprise that some of my favorite Christmas gifts are books. There's the Blood Sugar Solution, that I'm writing about on HackMyBloodSugar, and then there's another book about storytelling. This one is Stories That Stick by Kindra Hall. This is one of those books that both teaches a framework and demonstrates it over and over again. But each time is different and holds my attention.
According to Hall, a story that sticks is one that has four elements.
- An Identifiable Character
- Authentic Emotion
- A Significant Moment
- Specific Details
At the same time, a good story the stages of Normal, Explosion, New Normal. Basically there’s some kind of transformation going on. It’s similar to the change that happens in my Lenten Stories or the realizations you encounter in a good Easter story.
Another piece of advice she gives is to create a catalog pf your stories. Just start listing specific people, places, or things from your life (nouns) and use them as triggers to remember your stories.
This is the first post I’ve done since the Christmas holiday, but as you can see I’ve been keeping myself busy. There’s more happening over on my Facebook page so be sure to check that out. But most importantly, tell your stories.
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