Put Your Past to Work: Storytelling is the Future

We feel as though our past should remain hidden. That within it someone may find and call out our weaknesses. We forget to realize our past is what has created us into who we are today. The struggles that we have gone through and overcame. The moments of happiness that have reminded us of what we need more of in our life.

Storytelling is the future.

There are pivotal moments in my life that can be teaching moments for anyone. The lessons that I learned through my past may be different than the lessons that someone else takes away from that same story. By sharing my story of meeting my husband, I learned that by not following society’s rules for how you should meet someone, my life forever changed. Someone else might learn from this same story that you will never regret taking a chance on love. Every story has the ability to have 1,000 different meanings. How powerful is that?!?!?!?

Blogging is a combination of storytelling and teaching. It allows you to share your experiences while teaching your readers what worked for you and possibly what didn’t. This connection is what makes blogging such a powerful tool.

There are essential elements to any story that you are writing and sharing. Readers may forget the facts that you shared in your blog posts but they rarely forget a story that changed their life. We all have a story inside that is wanting to come out. Likely we have many many stories (big and small) that are wanting to come out so this is the time to do it.

Stories hold people together. They connect us through difficult times. They allow us to remember moments when adversity was present. They make us laugh. I know that there has been a time in your life when you caught yourself laughing because a memory popped into your head. Share those moments with your blog readers.

INCORPORATING STORY ELEMENTS INTO YOUR BLOG POST

Use vivid language. You want your readers to feel as if they are in the moment. Take them back and let them feel, smell, and experience the emotions that you did. Do this throughout the story. Through the scary, happy, sad, and frustrating moments. A reader will forget the words that you write but they won’t forget the experience you made them feel.

Make the story relatable to your readers. Whether it is a funny story, a sad story, or a story of hope, you want to ensure that your readers will learn something from it. This again comes down to knowing your reader and what you are teaching them.

Ensure that your story is teaching a lesson. There is a lesson in every experience that we have. Share it. We all have problems. We are all looking for solutions to those problems. This will allow your story to take on a deeper meaning to those who are reading it.

Keep your story organized. I remember reading a book that Richard bought me while we were dating. I eventually stopped reading it because it was so incredibly confusing to me. Every chapter jumped back and forth and was super hard to follow. I never did finish it because I don’t want to feel confused when reading something. Keep your story organized. You want your readers to be able to follow along with a clear path. You don’t want your readers to walk away because your thoughts are disorganized.

Don’t be afraid to share your past. The lessons that you learned then are lessons that someone is currently going through. Your story will change someone’s future. Want to learn more about storytelling and blogging, head to my post, Blogging and Storytelling: 5 stages of storytelling.