{"id":469,"date":"2014-03-07T04:54:31","date_gmt":"2014-03-07T04:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/?p=469"},"modified":"2022-09-10T17:03:51","modified_gmt":"2022-09-11T00:03:51","slug":"what-is-your-core-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/?p=469","title":{"rendered":"What Is Your Core Story?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wpforms-container wpforms-container-full\" id=\"wpforms-2662\"><form id=\"wpforms-form-2662\" class=\"wpforms-validate wpforms-form wpforms-ajax-form\" data-formid=\"2662\" method=\"post\" enctype=\"multipart\/form-data\" action=\"\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F469\" data-token=\"5b4bf148124b5330ba1430199b791633\" data-token-time=\"1778157236\"><noscript class=\"wpforms-error-noscript\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.<\/noscript><div class=\"wpforms-field-container\"><div id=\"wpforms-2662-field_0-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-name\" data-field-id=\"0\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-2662-field_0\">Name <span class=\"wpforms-required-label\">*<\/span><\/label><input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-2662-field_0\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][0]\" required><\/div><div id=\"wpforms-2662-field_1-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-email\" data-field-id=\"1\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-2662-field_1\">Email <span class=\"wpforms-required-label\">*<\/span><\/label><input type=\"email\" id=\"wpforms-2662-field_1\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][1]\" spellcheck=\"false\" required><\/div><div id=\"wpforms-2662-field_2-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-textarea\" data-field-id=\"2\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-2662-field_2\">Comment or Message <span class=\"wpforms-required-label\">*<\/span><\/label><textarea id=\"wpforms-2662-field_2\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][2]\" required><\/textarea><\/div><\/div><!-- .wpforms-field-container --><div class=\"wpforms-submit-container\" ><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"wpforms[id]\" value=\"2662\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"page_title\" value=\"\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"page_url\" value=\"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"url_referer\" value=\"\"><button type=\"submit\" name=\"wpforms[submit]\" id=\"wpforms-submit-2662\" class=\"wpforms-submit\" data-alt-text=\"Sending...\" data-submit-text=\"Submit\" aria-live=\"assertive\" value=\"wpforms-submit\">Submit<\/button><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/wp-content\/plugins\/wpforms-lite\/assets\/images\/submit-spin.svg\" class=\"wpforms-submit-spinner\" style=\"display: none;\" width=\"26\" height=\"26\" alt=\"Loading\"><\/div><\/form><\/div>  <!-- .wpforms-container -->\n\n\n<p>\u201cHow autobiographical are your stories?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve all heard this question. And we\u2019ve all struggled with how to answer it. My initial answer to this question used to be \u201cnot very much at all\u201d\u2014after all, I can honestly say I\u2019ve never been in the situations I put my characters in. But then I thought about that. I\u2019ve never been in those situations, true, but I\u2019ve certainly felt the emotions my characters are feeling.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe my answer should be yes.<\/p>\n<p>After all, I\u2019m tipping more of my hand than I think when I write character reactions. I\u2019m telling the reader what my reaction to a given situation is\u2014how frightening I think it is, or how sad. Think of the veteran who throws himself to the ground at the sound of fireworks or the person who can\u2019t breathe when someone drives too fast, while others love the Fourth of July or want nothing more than to weave in and out of traffic as fast as possible. The reactions I write, just like the veteran and the person afraid of fast driving, reveal how autobiographical a story truly is.<\/p>\n<p>The real question is, why does this matter?<\/p>\n<p>And this brings us to \u201ccore story.\u201d Shelley Bates, in a wonderful class on the symbolic and thematic importance of setting, said every writer has a core story. This is the story you\u2019re really telling over and over, regardless of the outward trappings of the words on the page. But what is a \u201ccore story\u201d? And why would we write it over and over? Theresa Stevens\u2019<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> answer is\u2026paradox. For example, death is a paradox. We don\u2019t know what happens and we don\u2019t really understand it. But in a novel, we <i>can<\/i> know\u2014we can solve the paradox in the microcosm in a way we can\u2019t in the macrocosm.<\/p>\n<p>Core story is driven by the things we haven\u2019t figured out. It\u2019s the problems we keep trying to solve, the wounds we keep trying to heal. It\u2019s the things that go bump in the night of a writer\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2881 size-medium aligncenter\" title=\"https:\/\/archinatureindetail.wordpress.com\/2014\/03\/25\/why-light-needs-darkness\/\" src=\"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-17-at-10.30.41-PM-300x238.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"238\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-17-at-10.30.41-PM-300x238.png 300w, https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-17-at-10.30.41-PM-1024x811.png 1024w, https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-17-at-10.30.41-PM-150x119.png 150w, https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-17-at-10.30.41-PM-768x608.png 768w, https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-07-17-at-10.30.41-PM.png 1278w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;Darkness is for the imagination, and provides a canvas to reveal the light.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8211;Lighting architect Rogier van der Heide<\/em><\/p>\n<p>We know the places in us that hurt, that won\u2019t sit still, that feel like red ants stinging under our skin. We can\u2019t escape the voice at the core of our soul, the one that\u2019s longing to be heard. It\u2019s this voice, I believe, that drives us to be writers in the first place. And those unresolved issues constitute our core story.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to scoff at this. \u201cNo way. I write sweet romance. There\u2019s no dark thing hidden in what I write.\u201d I felt this way, too, but even in sweet romance there are always complications, conflicts. Look at what those are\u2014I guarantee there is something tying those conflicts together in every book you write, something at the base of all the complications.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to dive into this because if we can figure out our core story, we can write consciously about it, and that brings a whole different level to our writing. At this level, <i>every <\/i>story is autobiographical, and every story has the chance to offer a new angle on the same paradox many others face. When we write from this level, we offer true, conscious hope.<\/p>\n<p>When I looked at my own stories, I discovered something I was trying over and over to solve in the microcosm. I discovered\u2026a scream. The kind of scream your soul makes when you feel totally, utterly alone, haunted by past pain and fear.<\/p>\n<p>Before you start to worry about me, I\u2019m fine. But this scream is something that echoes in me and it\u2019s something I\u2019ve spent every word I\u2019ve written trying to understand, and take a step toward healing. Every one of my stories is different, and yes, I could even write sweet romances, but at the core of all of them is the same hunt: over and over, I put my characters in situations where they have to deal with some kind of incessant, internal scream.<\/p>\n<p>My core story.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2895\" src=\"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/131213205111-01-flannery-oconnor-1213-story-top-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/131213205111-01-flannery-oconnor-1213-story-top-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/131213205111-01-flannery-oconnor-1213-story-top-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/131213205111-01-flannery-oconnor-1213-story-top.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>This is Flannery O&#8217;Connor. You bet your ass she knew her core story.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Because I know that, I can now consciously create these screams and I know how to plot them and how to create conflict that will at first intensify them and then, ultimately, bring them to an end (or at least a conclusion). But more importantly, I can use my stories to explore the very real paradox of trying to find authentic connection with such a scream at your core. I can explore thousands of answers to the questions I now know I\u2019m asking. Knowing my core story gives my stories a focus they didn&#8217;t have before.<\/p>\n<p>Can a core story change? Of course. As we gain age and wisdom, we can\u2019t help but solve some paradoxes, only to uncover others. We will move through our core stories as we move through our lives, as we dig deeper and deeper into ourselves and understand not only what we\u2019ve been through, but who we really are. I can trace my progress with my own core story as I re-read the stories I\u2019ve written over the years.<\/p>\n<p>Core stories are the real answer to the question \u201cHow autobiographical are your stories?\u201d And it\u2019s by coming from core stories that we create the kind of art that touches others on the deepest levels. Don\u2019t be afraid of the things that go bump in the night. Give them voice\u2014and offer up your own growth and understanding to the world.<\/p>\n<div><hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" \/>\n<div>\n<p><a title=\"\" href=\"#_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> RWA Meeting Presentation, Fairytale Structure, September 2013<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<!-- wp:themify-builder\/canvas \/-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cHow autobiographical are your stories?\u201d We\u2019ve all heard this question. And we\u2019ve all struggled with how to answer it. My initial answer to this question used to be \u201cnot very much at all\u201d\u2014after all, I can honestly say I\u2019ve never been in the situations I put my characters in. But then I thought about that. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[168],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thoughts","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=469"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3191,"href":"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469\/revisions\/3191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theresarogers.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}