Robyn Roste, Systems & Funnels

Where Does a Story Come From?

where does a story come from

Where does a story come from? It’s this simple but weird question circling through my head. Where. My stories, your stories, stories in books and on TV…

Where Does a Story Come From?

Where does a story come from?

It’s this simple but weird question circling through my head.

Where. Where does the story come from? My stories, your stories, stories in books and on TV. Who had the first idea, what all did it spark? Whose adventure was the best? What inspired it? And why?

You know. Simple.

Anyway, I guess there are many answers and they’re different for everyone.

Yeah but, where do my stories come from?

Back when I didn’t have deadlines my stories came from a creative place. I mulled, I free wrote, I wrote, crossed out, erased, and re-wrote. I hand wrote.

Before deadlines

Now my stories come more from a place of chaos and desperation.

Not always, but more often than I care to admit.

When I have time I write my stories in my head. No longer do I waste ink when I’m on deadline. I write, cross out, erase, and re-write as I walk down the sidewalk, jog on the track, play Dr. Mario and knit.

On pre-deadline day I write it all down. Research done. Interviews done. Copy editing done. The words cascade out of my head and onto the page. I write in a fury and then I go to sleep.

Deadline day I spend revising, tweaking, and proofing. Wondering why I always take so long to write my stories. Wondering where my ideas come from. Oh, and wondering if I’ll run out of stories, or if I’ll get bored of finding new ways to tell the same story again and again.

But I don’t dwell because I have an article due. It’s deadline day.

And that, my friends, is where a story comes from

Other Writing Life Articles

Where does a story come from? It's this simple but weird question circling through my head. Where. My stories, your stories, stories in books and on TV...

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Where does a story come from? It's this simple but weird question circling through my head. Where. My stories, your stories, stories in books and on TV...

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