What Are the Common Threads of Your Story? {Day 23 :: Common}

Today is Day 23 of 31 Days to Telling Your Story – a series of posts written in five minutes flat as part of the 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes Challenge.

Read more posts from this series here.

Today’s prompt is: COMMON

Okay, here we go! We’re 23 days into this series, and we’re FINALLY getting to the writing stage!

We’ve covered topics like overcoming fears, reasons why you should tell your story, how to share your story, and how to discern when it’s the right time to do so, and NOW . . . let’s get started!

The first thing I want you to do is brainstorm. Set aside a chunk of time (even 10-20 minutes should be fine, but obviously feel free to spend more time if you have it!) and clear as many distractions as possible.

Now think about your story as a whole. As you do so, start brainstorming the key events and stories within the larger story that make up the full picture. You can use a list with bullet points to respond to the following:

What key events would you include?

What were the pivotal or defining moments along the way?

What are your most vivid memories, or turning points that changed everything?

What are the small details that may have seemed insignificant at the time, but ended up playing a larger role in your story?

After you’ve taken some time to jot down as many stories as you can think of, sit back and look over your list.

What common threads or themes do you see on your list? Are there certain commonalities about some or all of the stories you’ve remembered?

Now start a separate list and jot down any common themes you notice, even if they seem vague. They could be general themes, like God’s goodness, or patience, or waiting, or overcoming hardship. In the case of my memoir, my overarching theme was home — although there are several sub-themes within the book.

Which themes are most prevalent in your story?

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

For a great (and beautiful) example of a book
that ties together common threads into one larger story,
check out the following book by my friend Patrice Gopo:

All the Colors We Will See

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Affiliate link to Amazon