By Kristy McCaffrey
How do writers find their stories?
The great mythologist Joseph Campbell stated in The Hero With A Thousand Faces:
“Throughout the inhabited world, in all times and under every circumstance, the
myths of man have flourished; and they have been the living inspiration of
whatever else may have appeared out of the activities of the human body and
mind.”
Stories live within us, whether we acknowledge them or not. A
writer’s job is to excavate this terrain and bring it forth into the world. The
act of experiencing a well-told tale, via a novel or a film or a bedtime story,
will activate this internal landscape, sparking a recognition deep in the
psyche.
A writer uses any number of tools at his or her
disposal—intuition, dreams, research, imagination. Shaman and dream
archaeologist Robert Moss says that stories are hunting for the right person to
tell them. If a story is pressing on you to be told, and you ignore the call,
the narrative will find another outlet for expression. This has often been
called an artist’s muse, and many a writer has lamented when their source of
inspiration has left them.
How to invite the stargazer, the fantasizer, the daydreamer
to remain close? In Women Who Run With
The Wolves, Jungian psychologist Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes says that (for
women) the Wild Woman is necessary for all that is needed and known. Wild Woman
is a vehicle to our instinctual nature, bringing us close to the wild terrain
of our most primitive self.
“It means to establish territory, to find one’s pack, to be
in one’s body with certainty and pride regardless of the body’s gifts and
limitations, to speak and act in one’s behalf, to be aware, alert, to draw on
the innate feminine powers of intuition and sensing, to come into one’s cycles,
to find what one belongs to, to rise with dignity, to retain as much
consciousness as we can.”
One way to excavate is through story collecting, an
excellent device to fill the creative coffers. The more story bones acquired,
the more tools that are at hand in creating the ‘whole’ story.
Natalie Goldberg, in Writing
Down The Bones, offers other ideas: carry a notebook with you at all times,
practice timed writing with no editing (first thoughts aren’t controlled by the
ego), write consistently to strengthen the storytelling muscle.
But anything we do fully, we do alone. This is especially
true with writing. And while writing for others can be motivating, while story
hunting may be fueled by the desire for accolades, always remember that the
process isn’t simply to trigger an awareness and a change within the reader,
but also to grow the vast reservoir of the soul-terrain of the writer herself.
Goldberg says, “Writing is a path to meet ourselves and become intimate.”
“That’s very nice if they want to publish you, but don’t pay
too much attention to it. It will toss you away. Just continue to write.” ~
Katagiri Roshi
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Don't miss Kristy's standalone, full-length novel - Into the Land of Shadows
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Available at Amazon and FREE in Kindle Unlimited.
In the land of the Navajo, spirits and desire
draw Ethan and Kate close, leading them deeper into the shadows and
to each other.
