You may not think your own life story is all that interesting. But, what matters most in storytelling is how your story is told. It’s not so much the content, but rather the presentation. The point of view is also key. Both biographical and autobiographical stories are told with some inherent bias or deficiency on the part of the narrator.

I can’t help but think that every person has a story worth telling. Every life, no matter how seemingly mundane, is filled with twists and turns, highs and lows, moments of joy and moments of sorrow. It’s all a matter of perspective and focus.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to dismiss someone’s life as boring or unremarkable, especially when viewed through the lens of societal standards of success or achievement. But, there are plenty of stories to be told that may otherwise go overlooked. There are stories of determination, resilience, and love all around, if we just allow the narrative to become apparent to us.

Instead of focusing on what someone’s life lacks, we should focus on what it contains. What makes this person unique? What challenges have they faced and overcome? What brings them joy? By shifting our focus as such, we can find the beauty in the everyday and the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary.

Even the so-called “average” person has experiences and perspectives that can fascinate and inspire others. Many of us work a 9-to-5 job, or thereabouts. Some of us love our daily grinds while many others see it as a necessary means to other more enjoyable ends. On the surface, our lives and those immediately near us may seem uneventful. But if you dig just a bit below the surface, you’ll learn about the wide variety of hobbies we enjoy and passion projects we all pursue. 

Each of us finds our own sanctuary in different things. For some of us, that’s in nature. Other times, it’s in a shared social activity. For still others, it’s a solitary project, much like myself with my myriad writing projects. We each have our own mix of blood relatives and chosen families to provide unconditional love and companionship. Our jobs, though often far from glamorous, allow us to support ourselves and the pursuit of our passions.

Of course, not every life story will be a bestseller. But, that’s not the point; a story that resonates with people is all in the telling. By sharing our stories with each other, we can learn, grow, and connect with each other on a deeper level. We all have something to teach our peers and loved ones, and there’s always something new for us to learn. Still, it’s only when we approach each other’s stories with an open mind and a willingness to listen, that we allow ourselves to be surprised by what we find.

So, don’t be afraid to share your own story, whether in writing or by some other medium. You never know who else might find it interesting, inspiring, or just plain entertaining. Also, don’t be quick to dismiss someone else’s stories, either. There’s a richness to the human experience that can’t be captured by statistics or achievements alone. It’s in the moments of laughter, tears, and everything in between that our lives truly come alive.

What About the Telling of Fiction?

Even when it comes to fiction, each of us has our preferred fantasy worlds. Some are wildly famous intellectual properties, but there are countless fictional realms to be explored. In my own fiction, I have notebooks full of ideas, but I can never seem to settle on just one. As a hopeless daydreamer, a lover of all things fantasy and science fiction, I certainly lean towards the likes of Star Trek, Star Wars, and fantasy worlds based on the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons and Dragons. 

But for others, their preferred fantasy worlds might be different. Others might prefer the gritty, realistic world of crime fiction, where detectives solve mysteries and bring criminals to justice. Still others might prefer the romantic world of historical fiction, where tales of love and heartbreak are set against the backdrop of another time and place. I admit that I enjoy certain works from these genres myself.

Why our own tastes in fictional genres so different? That’s because each of us has our own unique perspective on what makes a great story. We bring our own experiences, our own interests, and our own hopes and dreams to the table. The ultimate power of fiction is to allow us to explore new worlds, to experience new things, and to connect with people who are different from ourselves.

Every great story transports its readers to another world, to make them forget their troubles and lose themselves in its characters’ adventures. But every great fiction writer must also know that not everyone will love their stories, and that’s okay. Because when it comes to fiction, there’s something out there for everyone. It’s just a matter of finding your preferred fantasy world, and how it’s told. Just like in nonfiction, the telling is everything, especially when you have fictionalized accounts of real-life events.

The Power of Massive Fictional IP Franchises

What is it that we each prefer about one storied franchise over another, especially when storytelling seems to become more formulaic by the day? It makes sense for authors and screenwriters to go with what works. When they do, they have a strong sense of what their audience wants, whether it’s by some sort of accident or the audience has in fact been trained like a puppy to think it’s the greatest thing ever whenever a new episode or installment drops.

Reboots are particularly interesting from a storytelling perspective. It’s not so much about what’s different, but what ends up staying the same, the familiarity with certain elements can either be a joy or a buzz kill. It all depends on how new and old elements fit together. More often than not reboots inevitably fail, whether for cultural reasons or social climate or whatnot. When they do succeed, it’s often mostly powered by the strange thing many of us know as nostalgia, even if the end product isn’t even objectively good. Again, it’s all in the telling, and how we emotionally connect with what’s being said, even if it makes little to no objective sense.

I constantly feel a need to remix my own retelling of the past. In a way, I’m constantly looking to reboot my own life. We’re often finding we repeat certain patterns throughout our lives, whether it’s being sucked into enjoying a television series or video game franchise for hours on end, even days straight, when nothing else in your life seems familiar. The fiction we enjoy is a sort of grounding mechanism, this thing called nostalgia. It fascinates me constantly, how adding degrees of complexity over time with just the right amount of panache to what began as objectively simple things can lead to you becoming absorbed in them sometimes to the point of selfish obsession.

As technology gains and our understanding of human nature and the workings of both the visible and invisible universe shift, expand, and sometimes even contract, there will always be stories, and the ones that are told best will stand the test of time, even if they weren’t all that incredible in and of themselves or perhaps even outright absurd to begin with, right?

~ Amelia Desertsong