September Theme: The Stories We Carry
Big Question: Why do certain stories stay with us?
Week 5: Stories That Last
As we’re wrapping up our drafts and dialogues for September, I’m reflecting on my current WIP (work in progress) and how our discussions on The Stories We Carry have influenced it and shaped it this month, as well as my overall perspective of the project and myself as a writer and creator.
Sometimes it’s so easy to get lost in the day-to-day tasks and demands we make for ourselves— the word counts we want to reach, the plot holes we want to fill, the pages we want to type, the characters we want to flesh out, the deadlines we want to meet, etc.— that we forget all about what inspired what we’re writing, or where our desire to write came from in the first place. We also often lose sight of those stories we’re carrying that are influencing our writing projects, sometimes without our full awareness, along with those stories we give our characters to carry for us.
So, for this month’s Drafting Diaries installment, I want to take a moment to reflect on the stories the characters in my current WIP are carrying and how closely linked they are to the stories I carry. And hopefully that gives me the full-picture perspective I need to keep track of why I decided to start this project in the first place, and give me the clarity and boost I need to keep working on it in the months ahead.
Those of you who have been following my monthly Drafting Diaries installments already know a little about the concept behind my WIP, one of its main characters, and how its initial chapters are coming together. But since it’s been a month since I provided an update, here are some of the basics:
My Current Work in Progress (WIP)
Working Title: The Great Integration
Genre: Speculative Literary Dystopian Fiction
Current Draft: 3
Estimated Release: May 2027 (Book 1 of 3)
How to Support my WIP: Like and share my posts; Kickstarter Campaign Forthcoming
Working Synopsis: TBA (I hope to have this out by the end of 2026/early 2027)
The Books That Have Changed Me and My Characters
During the first week of September, we discussed The Books That Changed Us, which allowed me to reflect on those books that have resonated with me over the years— an exercise I recommend all writers do periodically.
There have been so many books that have influenced the type of writing I want to do, or that I feel compelled to do. And I’ve been reading and writing for so long, it’s hard to keep track of where and how they overlap, as some books I appreciate more for their emotional resonance than their literary techniques, and others I appreciate more for their literary techniques and craft than emotional resonance, though the two often go hand-in-hand.
But I’ll try to name a few books that have changed me as a writer and have likely influenced this WIP in ways I’m not even fully aware:
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
American War by Omar El Akkad
These works offer only the tip of the iceberg of all those hundreds of works that have wormed their way into my psyche over the years. How they will influence my current WIP is still to be discovered, but I do know that because they have stayed with me, they will inevitably stay with my characters and the world I’m crafting for them in some shape or form.
One of my main characters will also be an active reader, so I’m trying to determine how those books she reads will stay with her and influence her beliefs and actions. Some of them might be books I make up, that only exist in her world, but some might be books or stories that have stayed with us humans for centuries that also become part of her speculative world.
Memory and Storytelling in My WIP
During the second week in September, we discussed Memory and Storytelling, which allowed me to think about some of the ways that memory and storytelling not only appear in but affect my WIP.
For starters, one of my main characters in my WIP will struggle with substantial memory loss, though the lines between whether that memory loss is brought on by trauma or technology will be blurred, or so the intention is right now as I write about it.
Some characters in my WIP will also struggle with understanding and parsing collective human memory as they begin relying more and more on what AI is ‘remembering’ for them. So, it will explore that grey area of how and whether collective human memory can be captured and carried into the future when certain technologies become even more pervasive in humans’ day-to-day lives and fundamental sense of survival.
AI and whether its ‘memory’ can be fully trusted will be a huge theme in my WIP, as well as how this uncertainty affects the storytelling that’s present in the novel. Some of the main questions this novel asks and attempts to answer are: What happens to human memory and survival when we don’t rely on the stories we tell each other about our own human story, but rely solely or mainly on non-human entities instead? And is this even possible or desirable?
The Stories Characters Tell in My WIP
During the third and fourth weeks of September, we discussed The Stories We Tell Ourselves and The Stories We Tell Others, which often overlap and influence each other. And those discussions allowed me to explore more nuanced and interesting interactions and dialogues between characters in my WIP, which allowed me to better define those characters’ personal motivations, unique body language and mannerisms, and what they’re truly afraid of or longing for.
After those discussions, I also couldn’t stop thinking about all the stories my characters were hiding from one another, as well as themselves, and the multitude of reasons behind that. Some of the characters are hiding stories to protect themselves and those they love or the version of the world they want. Some are hiding them because they’re scared. And others are genuinely unaware of the stories that are being carried and manufactured for them and are also becoming integrated into their identities and what they believe.
There will be intentional deception in this novel, but the characters who practice that deception will now have more nuanced and relatable reasonings than they did before due to the exercises we carried out this month in our drafts and dialogues. For instance, the main villain of my WIP will now also have relatable human elements to his story and the story he believes, which will be guided by more vulnerable insecurities instead of simple jealousy alone. While he’ll still be the villain in many ways, I think his character will have a little more depth and nuance now, after I took the time to really understand the stories he tells himself and what motivates him. And I hope this complicates things and how we view each character’s story in the WIP.
Stories That Last
My WIP will be centered around the stories that last and why, whether that be because a machine with seemingly unlimited memory has carried them for us or because we refuse to let them go because they genuinely and sometimes inexplicably move us, connect us, and deeply matter to us.
The stories that last in this WIP will include novels (likely both real and imagined) one of the main characters reads long after they’re out of print and a majority of the population no longer reads physical books. They will also include the stories that characters tell each other electronically and in-person, as well as the stories they write down or record electronically. And they will include the stories the AI is telling them via records, videos, telecasts, ceremonies, governance, immersive storytelling modes, etc.
Ultimately, one of my primary aims with this work is to explore how we can understand and leverage human storytelling to navigate the future we want, even and especially when everything is looking a little bleak and out of our control.
An Invitation to Reflect and Discuss The Stories We Carry
If you’re working on a larger writing project right now, I implore you to take a moment and reflect on all the different types of stories you’re carrying— everything from your favorite novels to those public narratives making your skin crawl to what you tell yourself about yourself every day— and how they might be influencing your project, for both better and worse. I can’t overestimate the value of doing this so that you can write with more intentionality and genuine passion.
As always, you’re invited to include a note on whatever you’re working on in the chat or comments. I’d love to chat more about your work and how our discussions this month have influenced it!
I can’t wait to see how our discussions about The Unknown influence my WIP in October. And I hope you stay tuned to see those reflections on the last Monday of the month, where I’ll include them as well as additional updates on my WIP and what I’m working on.
Thanks so much for your continued interest in my work! Like and share this post to spread the word. And thank you in advance. ✨✍️✨
Continue Exploring September’s Theme, The Stories We Carry
This Week: Stories That Last
Writing Prompts for Stories That Last
Week 4 Popular Posts: The Stories We Tell Others
Writing Prompts About The Stories We Tell Others
Is it possible for a writer’s public work to remain separate from their private life?
The ‘Death of the Author’ in the Age of AI
Week 3 Popular Posts: The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Can you write great work without challenging your own beliefs?
The Story of My Flaws Sounds Like Death Metal
Historical Fiction that Challenges the Stories We Tell Ourselves
Week 2 Popular Posts: Memory and Storytelling
Writing Prompts About Memory and Storytelling
The Art of Autofiction: Memory, Markets, and the Modern Confessional
Week 1 Popular Posts: The Books That Changed Us
Writing Prompts About Books That Changed Us
What My Favorite Books Say About Me
20 Banned Books That Have Changed Us
Go Deeper with Daily Drafters Exclusives
This month: The Stories We Carry Writing Collection
This collection offers a month of guided writing exercises, mini workshops, and creative writing experiments designed to take you beyond a single prompt and into a deeper creative practice. It gives you the creative spark and space you need to explore memory, identity, inheritance, perspective, voice, and the stories we tell ourselves and others. It will also encourage you to consider how those stories shape the work we create and the creative lives we lead.
Inside this collection, you’ll find 30 original writing prompts (designed as mini writing workshops) across five sections with focused themes, craft-focused exercises, curated reading suggestions, reflective questions, and three optional month-long writing challenges designed to help you develop your ideas, explore your personal material and stories, and build a consistent writing practice.
You can follow the prompts in order, choose the exercises that speak to you, or return to a section whenever you need a new way to explore your writing craft. As a paid subscriber, you will also be able to come back to the collection throughout the month or any other time you feel like exploring The Stories We Carry in the future.