September Theme: The Stories We Carry
Big Question: Why do certain stories stay with us?
Week 5: Stories That Last
What I wrote below is based on the following reflective writing prompt included in Saturday’s Writing Prompts for Stories That Last post.
Prompt: The Sticky Narrative
Why do certain stories stay with you?
Why did I choose it?
I chose this prompt because I enjoy reminiscing about the stories that have stayed with me, even if they serve a gut punch as I’m reading them, writing about them, or remembering them. But I also chose it to challenge myself to remember and reflect on those stories that have stayed with me that I haven’t encountered recently, those stories that still linger in the back of my mind.
So, here goes…
My Response
The stories that really wedge themselves into the corners of my psyche make me do at least two of the following three things:
Think deeply and critically
Feel deeply, whether that feeling is sadness, happiness, rage, hope, courage, etc.
Tune into a human-oriented narrative that is about something much larger than me
I’ve read way too many books that have made me think deeply and critically without making me feel anything, so they inevitably disappear from my memory beyond my initial encounters with them. If I encounter them again, I’ll likely remember the basics of what’s held inside their covers, but if I don’t encounter them again, then they don’t stay with me, and I’ll likely forget them entirely.
However, if books that make me think are also connected to a human-oriented concern that is about something much larger than me, then I’m more likely to remember them long-term. In fact, most of the philosophy books I read in college and grad school likely meet these two requirements, though many of them certainly don’t. Which is why I probably gravitate more toward women philosophers like Hannah Arendt, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Simone de Beauvoir, as their philosophies are directly tied to specific and larger human concerns in the real world, as are Michel Foucault’s, Frantz Fanon’s, Immanuel Kant’s, Socrates’, and…
Much of the literary fiction I enjoy meets the first and third requirements on my list, too. There are a plethora of literary works out there that encourage readers to analyze their structures and craft techniques and how that informs the storytelling taking place on their pages, which tends to be about the nature of writing and storytelling itself or the current human condition itself, and often how those two things connect, contradict, or overlap via storytelling mediums (technology, letters, apps, books, journals, memory, myth, dialogue, etc.). It is extremely rare, however, that a piece of award-worthy literary fiction makes me feel something deeply, though when it does, I will forever remember it. Off the top of my head, some examples that have stayed with me include The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami, Infinite Country by Patricia Engel, The Candy House by Jennifer Egan, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Real Americans by Rachel Khong, 1984 by George Orwell, The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and…
Many nonfiction books I’ve read meet the first and third requirements on my list, as well. I have read plenty of nonfiction books that touch on topics about the brain and psychology and technology and history and the current state of the world that also make me think deeply about my role in it all, though it is rare that they also make me feel deeply. However, here are some nonfiction books that have stayed with me: One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad, Patriot: A Memoir by Alexei Navalny, Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Ordinary People Forging a Revolution by Anand Gopal, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI by Karen Hao, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner, The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times by Jane Goodall, and…
There have also been plenty of romance novels, historical fiction novels, and fantasy novels that have stayed with me as well, mainly because they made me feel deeply and tap into a human narrative that is about something much larger than myself. Off the top of my head, some examples include: By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult, The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, The Favorites by Layne Fargo, The Women by Kristin Hannah, Alchemised by SenLinYu, Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, and…
Some people who know my background are perplexed by why I would mention many of the works I do. I mean, doesn’t having degrees in English and philosophy necessitate that I only revere the Classics, works written by the intelligentsia or commercially powerful of our time, and all the works mainly written by white men who have been dead for centuries? To which my answer is obviously: no.
Many historical fiction, fantasy, and romance novels out there are also about much more than romance or historical reimaginings. They are works about women and the marginalized overcoming abuse, neglect, trauma, intellectual and literal property theft, professional disappointments and setbacks, patriarchal systems, etc. which makes them more relevant to half of the human population than many other works held in the current literary canon. And yes, a work’s relevance to its readers and the world they actually live in should matter, especially when a majority of those readers are women… shouldn’t it?
Bottom line, the books that stay with me are those that make me think and feel deeply while also reminding me how I am connected to the world and all the other humans in it. Which seems so simple to achieve on the surface but remains a lot rarer than I would like.
A few weeks ago, I provided an extensive list of books that have stayed with me over the past few years and included a little bit of data and information about my reading habits in What My Favorite Books Say About Me. Check it out if you want more details.
Share Your Writing and Join the Conversation
What’s your response to the question I answered in today’s post, or any of the other reflective journaling prompts in this week’s Writing Prompts for Stories That Last post?
Leave a comment or join the chat, where we’ll be discussing Stories That Last for the rest of the week.
Whether you leave a comment or join one of the chats to share your responses, ask questions, or connect with other writers and support their work, I can’t wait to see what you contribute!
Please don’t forget to like and share this post with your network so others can see it too. Thanks in advance. I hope to see you in the comments or chat threads soon!
Continue Exploring September’s Theme, The Stories We Carry
This Week: Stories That Last
Writing Prompts for Stories That Last
Drafting Diaries: The Stories We Carry
Reading Notes: The Book of Love
Week 4 Popular Posts: The Stories We Tell Others
Writing Prompts About The Stories We Tell Others
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.