Wielding Your Storytelling Power (Eleanor Intro) (10/02/2021)

A recap of the week's writing at Atticus Review. Intro by Eleanor Gallagher.

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As you are reading this letter, by the time you are finished, you will have felt an echo in your story-telling heart, you will have a moment, or an inspiration, or an idea. You’ll see things a little, or a lot, differently than you do right now. This may already be happening, as you imagine being able to script the response of your readers in such a way, so easily, with such surety! A psychologist’s term for this is the power of suggestion, but we know it’s more accurately stated as the power of story. How are you wielding your storytelling power these days? And not just with the words you put down on paper or the piece you’ve set out to make – what is the story behind the story? What do you tell yourself about what you want to create before you start the work, and during? I hope it’s not a defeating story about how unlikely it is your piece will be able to spark the reaction you want, or to have an audience at all. And I really hope you don’t tell yourself how much you’re going to struggle, or that your work may remain unfinished. I hope your pre-story story includes your joy in the process, your wonderment of how it will turn out just like you want, or become something you aren’t expecting, or maybe how you will let the creative process take you into a transformation you’ve long wanted, or—, or—, or—as you wish. Tell your pre-story deliberately, with focus, with heart. Mean it. Imbue it with your creative power.That’s enough to begin. Possibly that is enough, period, to give you that wonderful sense of control. Possibly, however, you want to consider how you wield your storytelling power in everyday life. What is your pre-story about the conversation you’re about to get into? What is your pre-story about how your partner or friend is going to react to you, and how you are going to react back? In other words, what experience have you scripted for yourself, before you even begin? There are the stories we tell without realizing it, and these stories have as much power as the ones we deliberately pen. Perhaps you want to take your power out further still, and consider the stories we’re telling nationally, about elections, viruses, race, violence. What do you tell yourself before you open that news site or your social media pages? How do you contribute to those narratives? Try this: Instead of actually reading the headlines or the posts, write them yourself. Write the headlines you want to see, and live in those stories for a little while. You won’t ever doubt the power of story again.Maybe that’s too much for you; it could be too much for anyone on any given day. If that’s the case, perhaps click over to My Grandmother’s Tattoo, our featured fiction, for a lighter exploration of the power of story. I especially recommend spending some time on the last line. Thanks for reading. We're glad you're here.Eleanor GallagherAssistant Fiction Editor

Our Reading List is updated each week. Go check it out!Are you a contributor to Atticus Review who'd like your book featured in the reading list? Send us an email at [email protected]. 

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

FICTIONMY GRANDMOTHER'S TATTOOby Joseph Tepperman"We all had heard about my grandmother’s racecar tattoo. I know I often wondered about it, maybe even whispered of it, and my grandmother was not the kind of person you could just ask about these things."READ ON

POETRYHOUSE RULESby Juliana Gray"...No infantspoke its first words in the TV room;no dog puked up its breakfast and stared, baffled,while another dog cheerfully lapped the mess."READ ON

CREATIVE NONFICTIONAFTER THE HEAT WAVEby Sydney Lea"Today I hiked through the woods at a pace that vaguely resembled brisk. The temperate weather elevated my mood, just as the infernal had invited searing reflections."READ ON

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