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If you have done some work with using a story to get a glimpse of your inner world, you may be asking yourself “what now?”… There’s no point having a tool without an idea of how to use it, so here are a few suggestions to get started.
Where are we now?
This method is probably the easiest. Just let the story elements flow. Don’t worry about structure, or composition. We’re working with the elements. One thing to look for are themes, so if you pick up on any, be sure to jot them down.
A quick bit of background: I had always been imaginative when I was a child. Where most kids had imaginary friends I had whole imaginary worlds I would play in. As I grew, I could (did and do) run them as stories in the back of my mind.
On to the example: Years ago I was in a rough section of my life. I had virtually no friends, was working a physically demanding dead-end job, and didn’t see any room for improvement. I knew that something I was doing was creating the situation I was in but for the life of me I couldn’t see it. I decided to take a look at my stories and see what I could find. What I found was telling: Most of the stories involved a main character who had much to give, but inevitably encountered strife and betrayal, which ultimately rendered his gifts moot.
Where do we go from here?
Once I saw this, I decided to see if I could change the situation by changing the story. I deliberately removed the betrayal element, instead introducing allies to face the strife together, making the strife less dire. Yes, it felt weird, as my thoughts had been running in the same pattern for a while. However, doing so opened me up to meet a good friend who helped me open up even more.
I kept that pattern for a while, and eventually forgot to keep making adjustments for a while. Ironically, I pursued other means of development, and found the stories changing seemingly by themselves.
The method
Here is how I suggest putting this to work: After you have mapped out the story, you can then look at the various elements to see what you want to change. Remember: Trying to change too much can backfire. It has to be something that you will accept. Years ago I didn’t try to remove the strife entirely, because at that stage in my life I couldn’t accept that.
Similarly, if you are freaked out by the creepy/annoying/evil character, don’t try to turn it into a Care Bear. What you might do is give the character a bit of backstory and try to pivot the charcter in the direction you want to go. Creepy? Make him/her/it a dark protector (think Batman). The annoying character? How about comic relief, or a sidekick?
How about the straight out evil character? That one’s a tough nut to crack, especially since they tell you to go away and aren’t very talkative. Don’t give them a choice. Pin them down and figure out how this character will go in your story: imprisoned, at large, forced to co-operate with The Good Guys, or unrelated to the main story arc doing its own things. It’s your story.
My use of stories for intuitive purposes is still experimental, but the basic idea is to clear your mind and then introduce what you are inquiring about. The images and story elements will pop up and then it’s a matter of interpreting the images and other story elements.
Once again, these are just starter ideas. Your own creativity is far more powerful than anything I can write here. Try changing your story, and keep the changes in place. See what happens in your life. You may be surprised at the results. If you have any additional uses or experiences to add, please share it in the comments!
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