I checked out a library book called The Power of Story by Jim Loehr. I was hoping to learn something about storytelling but instead found that I had gotten yet another self-help book, one which used the story metaphor as a planning framework for life improvements.
Loehr defines a story as having Purpose, Truth, and Action. This isn't a bad formulation, although a fiction writer might prefer the labels Theme, Realism (or maybe Narrative Consistency), and Plot.
The book is most useful when it poses basic questions associated with Purpose, Truth, and Action. Here are some extracts.
/-----
PURPOSE
What is my ultimate purpose? What am I living for? What principle, what goal, what end? Have I articulated to myself my deepest values and beliefs, which are the bedrock of who I am and which must be inextricably tied to my purpose (and vice versa)? What legacy do I want to leave? When all is said and done, how do I want to be remembered? What do I believe must happen for me to have lived a successful life? Is my story taking me where I want to go?
TRUTH
Is the story I'm telling true? Is it grounded in objective reality as fully as possible; that is, does it coincide with some generally agreed-upon portrayal of the world? Or is it true only if I'm living in a dreamland? Do I sidestep the parts of my story that are obviously untrue because they're just too painful to confront? Is my story something I still believe when I really dig down, when I listen to my most candid, private voice, when I do my best to shut out other influences and hear instead what I genuinely think and feel?
ACTION
With my purpose firmly in mind, along with a confidence about what is really true, what actions will I now take to make things better, so that my ultimate purpose and my day-to-day life are better aligned? What habits do I need to eliminate? What new ones do I need to breed? Is more of my life spent participating or observing? Does the story I tell myself move me to action? Am I confident that I can make any necessary course correction, no matter what stage of life I'm in, no matter how many time I may have failed at it in the past? Do I believe to my core that, in the end, my willingness to follow through with action will determine the success of my life?
----/
