What Makes a Story Click For You?

Summary

The article discusses the importance of personal connection and relatability in storytelling, emphasizing that even a familiar story can have a profound impact when the audience finds a relatable detail.

Abstract

The author reflects on the power of storytelling and how a story's impact often hinges on the reader's ability to connect with it personally. Despite hearing similar stories repeatedly, it is the inclusion of a small, relatable detail that can make a narrative resonate deeply. This is illustrated through the author's partner, who only embraced the concept of financial freedom after reading a book by an author of the same ethnicity, and the author's own realization of perseverance by observing a baby's determination to walk. The article encourages writers to share their unique perspectives on common stories, as their individual experiences can provide the crucial detail that resonates with a reader and potentially changes their life.

Opinions

The author believes that a story's relatability is crucial for its message to be conveyed effectively, even if the core narrative is widely known.
A personal connection to the storyteller, such as shared ethnicity, can significantly enhance the receptiveness of the audience to the story's message.
The author suggests that adults often forget the lessons of perseverance they once learned as children, such as the determination required to learn how to walk.
The article posits that every writer has a unique voice and life experiences that can breathe new life into familiar stories, making them impactful for readers.
Encouragement is given to writers to share their stories without fear of redundancy, as the timing and personal relevance of their narrative could be life-changing for the right reader.

This story might be the one changing everything… — Magic wonders of life, a reflection

Are you scared of telling the same story as everybody else? Or maybe, let’s take this problem by the other end: have you ever heard of, or read, an interesting story told by so many different people, but never really connect to it? Then one day, one random unrelated detail or a new life experience made it click for you. Only then, that story could have a real impact on your life…

The story told too often

I have read the story about financial freedom, or FIRE like they love to say, many times over. Who hasn’t, in this mediatic age? I have told it myself a few times to other people as well. But if there was only one person I would have liked its message convey to, it would have been my life partner. For more than a decade, I tried. However, he never really connected to it. It seemed too far-fetched from our reality to be relatable. No numbers, grafts, or stories could make it through that belief.

The unknow detail

That was until he read a book about it that was telling the exact same thing as the others. The only difference was one little tiny detail: the author was of the same ethnic group as him. That was it. Completely unrelated! But suddenly, that idea became possible in his mind, because he could relate to the author and her story!

The baby’s story

It was the same for me when I heard the famous story about a baby’s perseverance. How many times should you try something before your give up? It’s like asking how often should a baby fall before he should give up trying to walk? Have you ever heard of any parent telling her baby: “That’s enough. Stop trying. You will not be able to walk and any further effort is futile.”

And now, how many humans don’t know how to walk? “My baby is going to keep trying until he or she can walk!” That’s a no-brainer truth that many humans forget when they grow up and, literally, walk into the “real world”.

Myself, I didn’t appreciate that truth until I witness my own baby fall and getting back up without ever giving up, despite a few bruises and a few mother’s freaking out cries.

Now, every time I am trying to write a few paragraphs and pretend to become a writer, and that little baby come running at me to show me one of his new discoveries, I can’t help feeling a bit discouraged about the fact that I might never get to become a “real” writer any time soon. But still, I remember how that baby used to fall all the time, and now he’s running. I ought to fall myself, and get back up, before I too, will be able to run!

Are you scared to tell the same story as everybody else?

That is how I realized that it doesn’t matter if you are telling the same story, sharing the same knowledge as other people. You are unique in your life experiences, your perspective, your voice. Sometimes, it will be a random detail, unknown to you maybe, that will make you click with the reader, make your story relatable, and your knowledge impactful.

That’s why if you want to write, don’t hesitate to share your stories, even if you think thousands of other people have already told it. You will never know when your text will meet that fateful reader that was waiting to read, in that particular moment of his or her life, that story only you can tell. And for your words to change his or her life, maybe for a detail that you could have never guessed!

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