Fortune Cookie Friday: A Story to Tell

When I read today’s fortune, I struggled with why many, let alone any would travel to hear something I had to say. I don’t consider myself all that impressive or influential. I try to write entertaining or engaging works, but my fan base is tiny at best. I certainly can’t draw crowds like J. K. Rowling, Rick Riordan, or John Green. I’m just little old me speaking from my heart.

I didn’t start down the writing path expecting fame and fortune, and I’m fine if I don’t receive it. I began writing to clear my mind of my never-ending thoughts. I am, in essence, a muse. Ideas float through my mind, and if there isn’t a lively person within range to receive them, I jot them down.

I enjoy sharing my ideas or helping others develop their own. I may not have a huge fan base clamoring for my attention, but I find a sense of purpose in inspiring others to do good works or think outside the box. Some of my ideas are sheer garbage, and I discard them. Others show promise, and with a little refinement, become stories.

Something interesting happens when our thoughts transform into stories; they gain a life of their own and want to be shared. Long ago, people used stories to pass on information. We would relay the great battles fought by heroes, the immense love and sacrifice bestowed by a man or woman, or why you shouldn’t nibble on gingerbread houses.

This need for narrative is what drives writers to research information, develop a plot, and toil long hours to create that unique written work to present to the world. Stories strive to be told.

Some of the stories we write are flawed or uninteresting. We store them away in a folder or forget them altogether. The good stories, the ones that entice and amaze, aren’t satisfied with storage. No, they build and swell until they burst forth on paper dragging the writer on a torrential ride into the publishing realm. These are the stories that land in the hands of readers around the world or are passed down through generations.

Sometimes the reader is so delighted by the story that they want more. Fans will gather for book signings or conferences to hear what else that writer has to say. All well-known people that draw crowds, whether they want to or not, have a story in some form that breaks free and pulls them into the limelight. Their stories help them share their thoughts and ideas, and if done right, they find eager ears.

I don’t know if any of my stories will have the same effect. Maybe something I write or say will inspire others enough that they will want to have more. Today’s fortune gives me a little hope that I might succeed in that process. But even if I am the only one interested in hearing what I have to say, I will keep on writing, because it soothes my musing mind.