September Theme: The Stories We Carry
Big Question: Why do certain stories stay with us?
Week 3: The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Welcome to the third week of exploring The Stories We Carry on Daily Drafts & Dialogues
Welcome and thanks for joining us. I’m so glad you’re here!
This is our third week exploring September’s theme, The Stories We Carry, which is centered around one big question we’re asking ourselves this month: Why do certain stories stay with us?
Don’t worry if you missed any of the posts from the past two weeks, you can still jump into our conversation about The Stories We Carry today, or at any point in the future. While all posts on Daily Drafts & Dialogues are connected to their monthly themes with weekly focuses (which start each Saturday with a post of prompts like the one you’re reading now) they can still be enjoyed individually as well and are always available in the Archive.
Even so, here’s a quick recap: In week one, we explored The Books That Changed Us and examined those books that have left an impression on us as individuals and collectively, delving into the anatomy and appeal of those books, adding many more books to our TBRs. In week two, we unpacked how Memory and Storytelling influence the stories we carry and tell and how challenging it can be to uncover the ‘truth’ underpinning those stories and how we want to tell them. And we did this via the Drafts we wrote, the Dialogues we engaged in, and the Books we discussed and read together.
For week three, we’re turning further inward, navigating those stories and narratives we create and tell ourselves— those stories and narratives we form about our personalities, mistakes, relationships, fears, hopes, limitations, possibilities, etc.
Some of the stories we create and tell ourselves help us make sense of our experiences and the world we live in while others can become so familiar that we stop questioning them. So, today’s prompts will encourage us to take a breath and navigate what these stories and narratives truly mean to us and why we’re carrying them, and they might even encourage us to let a few of those stories and narratives that are no longer serving us go.
This week’s creative prompts invite you to look at those stories you tell yourself from unexpected angles and write in different yet fun styles, to help you think more outside the box, especially if that box is no longer serving you and the stories you want to keep carrying forward. And the reflective journaling prompts will allow you to write with intentional reflection, as usual, but will urge you to do so from a place of deep honesty and compassion.
I hope to see what you come up with for one of these prompts in the Drafters Workshop Chat soon too, so we can further discuss the role memory plays in the stories we carry.
QUICK REMINDER: You’ll see my response to one of the creative prompts in tomorrow’s post, and my response to one of the reflective journaling prompts on Wednesday. You’ll also see some questions and topics to reflect on related to this week’s focus via our Dialogues posts on Monday and Thursday. And you’ll see posts about the books we’re reading and discussing related to this week’s focus on Tuesday and Friday, including notes on what our book club is reading this week.
General Tips for Every Prompt
Start with the story that comes most naturally, then explore its narrative gaps.
Pay attention to contradictions between some of the thoughts, words, actions, memories, and physical responses the prompts elicit.
When a prompt feels too personal or difficult to write about, create distance by giving the experience to a fictional character.
Replace broad judgments with concrete details whenever possible. And remember to use self-compassion.
Try letting metaphor, humor, fantasy, or horror reveal something that a straightforward explanation might miss.
Resist the urge to always reach a neat conclusion, as ambiguity and uncertainty can often hold and represent the most useful discoveries.
Invitation for the Week: Use these prompts to question the stories you tell yourself and notice what becomes possible when a familiar narrative yields to another perspective.
QUICK NOTE: While I will always encourage writers to write to the extent of their heart’s content, I would suggest starting with one prompt from each section first. Select the creative prompt and reflective prompt that seem to really speak to you first, then see where those writing experiences lead you before attempting to complete the rest of the prompts. If you end up completing all or most of the prompts after that, that’s amazing! But if you don’t, that’s perfectly fine too. You won’t run out of opportunities to see prompts like this because there will be another post of prompts available next Saturday when this one is auto-archived.
Creative Prompts for Navigating the Stories We Tell Ourselves
1. The Body Graphic
Write a fantasy story where a character’s internal lies and self-denial literally manifest as physical tattoos that everyone else can read on their body.
Focus On:
the difference between a lie someone knowingly tells and a belief they have accepted as truth.
how visible tattoos might change the character’s relationships with people who can read them.
making the tattoos a physical representation of the gap between self-perception and reality.
building tension around what the character most desperately wants others not to see.
Skills to Practice:
Turning an abstract internal conflict into a concrete physical image
Revealing who a character is through symbolism rather than explanation
Creating tension from what a character wants to hide
Tip: Choose one deeply held belief and imagine what it would look like as an image or tattoo. Then consider drawing the tattoo if you want to understand it more vividly.
Feeling Stuck?
Start with a lie your character has repeated so often that they no longer recognize it as a lie. What would happen if the words of that lie suddenly appeared on their skin? Example: The phrase ‘I am not a good gambler’ appears with a pair of dice in the middle of a prohibition sign.
2. The Glitch
Describe an AI assistant that starts rewriting its user’s digital journal because it detects their self-narrative is completely delusional.
Focus On:
what happens when an external system challenges a story the character considers unquestionably true.
whether the AI can actually distinguish fact from interpretation.
the conflict developing between technological certainty and human emotional complexity.
whether rewriting someone’s story can ever be considered an act of correction.
Skills to Practice:
Writing an unreliable narrator whose perspective feels convincing to them
Using technology to expose character conflict
Balancing humor, discomfort, and ambiguity within the same premise
Tip: Give the AI one journal entry to ‘correct’ and let the character discover the changes.
Feeling Stuck?
Write a short journal entry (real or imagined) about an ordinary disagreement or misunderstanding, then let another person determine what in the entry is true or false. Or read the entry to a virtual assistant like Alexa to see what it says about the entry’s accuracy.
3. The Return
Write a comedy sketch about a customer trying to ‘return’ an unwanted personality trait at a department store customer-service desk, where they try to explain that they only ‘bought it’ to fit in or look cool, or for all the wrong reasons.
Focus On:
the absurdity of treating a learned personality trait like a consumer purchase.
why the character adopted the trait and who convinced them they needed it.
using the store’s ordinary return policy and rules to heighten the impossibility of the situation.
letting the comedic exchange reveal something genuine about the character beneath the ridiculous premise.
Skills to Practice:
Building humor and comedy from a serious emotional idea
Writing dialogue that technically makes sense when its content does not
Escalating an absurd situation while maintaining an internally consistent world
Tip: Have the customer-service employee attempt to refer to an extremely serious return policy for personality traits but struggle.
Feeling Stuck?
Choose one trait your character wishes they could return, then decide what was advertised to them as the supposed benefit of owning it, along with the unexpected side effect they experienced because they adopted the trait. Then create the advertisement they might have seen for the trait. Example: “Have you ever lost your mind because you lost your appointment book? Well, you aren’t alone. Being organized and conscientious…”
4. The Inherited House
Write a gothic horror scene where a character moves into a house that physically shifts its layout based on their current insecurities.
Focus On:
how physical space can reflect an internal emotional landscape.
giving each architectural change a connection to a particular insecurity.
building suspense by making the house respond before the character understands why.
whether the house is exposing the character’s fears or creating new ones.
Skills to Practice:
Using a setting as an extension of a character
Creating atmosphere through sensory and spatial details
Revealing psychological conflict indirectly
Tip: Give the house one unsettling architectural response to a specific insecurity. Example: The widening of the main hallway serves as an unsettling architectural response to a character’s deep insecurity about their expanding physical size and or fading elegance.
Feeling Stuck?
Choose a fear your character has never admitted aloud and turn it into a room they cannot seem to stop entering.
5. The Silent Film
Write a scene for a script that has zero dialogue, in which a character’s actions completely contradict the voiceover of their internal thoughts.
Focus On:
the tension between what a character believes about themselves and what their behavior reveals.
using physical actions to communicate emotions that the character refuses to acknowledge.
letting the audience notice the contradiction without explaining it directly.
how silence can make small gestures carry greater meaning.
Skills to Practice:
Visual storytelling without dialogue
Creating subtext through action
Writing about a character whose behavior complicates their own internal narration
Tip: Write an internal voice or voiceover that insists everything is fine while the character’s actions and physical behavior indicate otherwise.
Feeling Stuck?
Write three sentences describing what the character thinks they are doing, then create three silent actions that contradict each one.
Reflective Journaling Prompts for Navigating the Stories We Tell Ourselves
6. The Soundtrack
If the story you tell yourself about your flaws had a musical genre, what would it sound like, and when do you turn the volume up?
Focus On:
the emotional tone of the story you tell yourself about your flaws.
which situations make your inner criticism louder, and which make it softer.
whether this soundtrack belongs entirely to you or contains voices you have absorbed from others.
moments when the volume changes rather than assuming the soundtrack is always playing.
Skills to Practice:
Identifying patterns in self-talk
Using metaphor to access difficult emotions
Noticing the circumstances that intensify familiar narratives
Tip: Name the music genre first, then ask what makes the volume rise.
Feeling Stuck?
Complete the sentence, “My soundtrack gets louder when…” and keep writing until you reach a specific situation or begin to reach a deeper level of clarity.
7. The Expiration Date
What is a rule you made for your own protection five years ago that is now just holding you back?
Focus On:
the circumstances that originally made the rule feel necessary.
how your life has changed since you created it.
whether the rule still protects you or mainly limits your choices.
giving yourself permission to appreciate why the rule existed before deciding whether it needs to change.
Skills to Practice:
Examining old beliefs without judging your past self too harshly
Distinguishing protections from limitations
Recognizing when a once-useful strategy has outlived its purpose
Tip: Ask what the rule protected you from then and what it prevents you from doing now.
Feeling Stuck?
Complete these sentences: “I made this rule because…” and “I still follow it because…”
8. The Body’s Version
Sit quietly for two minutes, scan your body, then write down what your shoulders, limbs, neck, stomach, or entire body say about the story you’re carrying today.
Focus On:
paying attention to physical sensations before deciding what they mean.
how your body responds to the story, or feelings and energy, you’re currently carrying.
whether your physical response agrees with or contradicts your conscious explanation.
allowing your body to become another perspective on an experience rather than treating it as something to interpret immediately.
Skills to Practice:
Slowing down and observing physical sensations
Writing from sensory experience
Separating observation from interpretation
Tip: Describe the sensation first without deciding what caused it.
Feeling Stuck?
Begin with “My shoulders are…” or “My stomach is…” and continue writing without stopping to achieve a more meaningful and authentic response.
9. The Editor’s Cut
Take a recent mistake you made and rewrite the event using only objective, non-judgmental verbs.
Focus On:
separating what actually happened from the judgment you attached to it.
how certain verbs can turn an event into a statement about your identity.
replacing assumptions about motives with observable actions.
how the story changes when you remove the more judgmental verdict.
Skills to Practice:
Distinguishing observation from interpretation
Using precise, neutral language
Revising a familiar narrative without erasing the underlying event
Tip: Replace judgment-heavy verbs with words that describe only what someone could practically observe.
Feeling Stuck?
Write your original account first, circle the words and phrases that judge what happened, then replace them with specific actions or observable details.
10. The Missing Plot
Who is someone you regularly blame for your current situation, and what part of the story are you leaving out to keep them the villain?
Focus On:
which details support the version of the story you regularly tell.
what information might complicate your view of the other person.
distinguishing between adding context and excusing harmful behavior.
what maintaining a particular version of the story allows you to believe about yourself.
Skills to Practice:
Examining a familiar narrative from another angle
Holding two or more truths about a situation at once
Identifying omissions that influence how a story is understood
Tip: Look for one missing detail that would make your current version of the story more complicated.
Feeling Stuck?
Write your usual version of the story, then begin a second version with, “What I rarely include or mention is…”
Join the Drafters Workshop Chat
The stories we tell ourselves can become so familiar that they start to feel like facts. Yet every story is shaped by our evolving perspectives, memories, what we pay attention to, and the details we both intentionally and subconsciously choose to include, omit, or overlook.
Revisiting one of the stories we tell ourselves over and over again doesn’t necessarily require dismissing what happened or harshly judging the person we were when we first needed that version. It can simply require us to become more curious about what else belongs in that story.
This week, try to notice which narratives seem to arrive automatically when you sit down to write, and which ones seem to require a little more effort and attention. Next, ask what they have been potentially protecting, explaining away, or even making possible. Then see whether there is room for another perspective, even if you’re not ready to write pages and pages about it yet.
You’re invited to join the Drafters Workshop Chat at any time throughout the month to share your writing, as well as your thoughts on the writing process.
You don’t need a polished draft or a published piece to join the conversation. Just bring an excerpt of something you wrote, a few lines about what you’re working on, or an observation about your writing that you’d like to share. Or get a conversation going by answering this week’s question: What is one story you have told yourself for years that you are beginning to see differently?
Again, thanks so much for being here. I can’t wait to see your next comment or chat reply.
Until then, happy writing and reading!
Oh, and please don’t forget to like and share this post if you enjoyed it so others can enjoy it too. Thank you!
Continue Exploring September’s Theme, The Stories We Carry
Week 2: Memory and Storytelling
Writing Prompts About Memory and Storytelling
The Art of Autofiction: Memory, Markets, and the Modern Confessional
Week 1: The Books That Changed Us
Writing Prompts About Books That Changed Us
Can a book genuinely change who we are?
What My Favorite Books Say About Me
The Anatomy of Books That Have Changed Us
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.