Tuesday, January 28, 2014

MY CORE STORY IS REVOLUTIONARY

 by Sarah Raplee

When you think about it, a revolution is a do-over: a re-evolution of thought and feeling that gives a man, a nation, even the entire human race a second chance to acquire virtues, overcome obstacles, achieve justice, love unconditionally—a second chance to make choices that lead to positive growth.


Or to choose more foolishly.

Every author has a core story or two, a theme or themes that are at the heart of their stories. Nora Roberts’ Core Story is, You have to discover who you really are. Carl Hiaasen’s is, Everyone must cherish, respect and protect the environment as best they can.

My Core Story is, You must discover who you are and then decide who you want to become

I believe in free will, or personal power. A Higher Power controls the hand you’re dealt, but your attitude and how you play your cards is your responsibility, as is the person you are when you leave this mortal coil. 

William Shakespeare wrote, It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.

For example, an abused child has been dealt a challenging hand. As he matures she may choose to follow in her parents’ footsteps, to avoid parenthood entirely, or make a conscious choice not to treat her children the way she was treated. Achieving a level of self-awareness where she recognizes she is her own person, then claims her personal power to choose to treat her children differently is critical if she wants to be a loving and nurturing parent.

Shakespeare also wrote, The past is prologue. Original You evolved into Present You who will evolve into Future You in an endless revolution, a chain of transformations fueled by the choices you make that determine who you will become.

LoveandMagick.blogspot.com
We writers control whether or not our characters develop self-awareness and whether they then make choices based on who they want to become.

Real people define themselves by their choices.

Choose wisely, my friend.

Choose wisely.



13 comments:

Judith Ashley said...

On my training email my tag line is "Your Choices Today Create Your Tomorrow" which fits in with your message.

I am a firm believer if we do not like what is happening, we can change it. If it is an internal issue, we have more control but even if it is an external issue how we deal with it is where our power lies.

Sarah Raplee said...

So true, Judith! So true.

Unknown said...

That's what makes us human. The power of choice. The power of not always taking the lesser easier path, but the harder more honorable path in life. Great post!

Unknown said...

That's what makes us human. The power of choice. The power of not always taking the lesser easier path, but the harder more honorable path in life. Great post!

Maggie Lynch said...

I agree that we control who we are and who we want to become...for the most part. The difficulty with your example of the abused child is that, depending on the kind and level of abuse, the child may not have the skills to exercise control or to make decisions in her life. And when that child becomes an adult it is near impossible for the rest of us to identify the need without knowing her personally.

Which brings me to my interconnected belief about evolution. That is: Those of us who are fortunate to have the skills to make good decisions and to understand the role of evolution in our own lives need to reach out to others who are not so fortunate. That outreach may be as small as listening to someone's story or as large as working for/volunteering for an agency that helps those less fortunate.

In helping others we help ourselves. By accepting responsibility for that interconnectedness, we become better together than we could have become alone.

Margaret Tanner said...

Great blog, I loved all the quotes, they are as true today as they were when they were first written.

Regards

Margaret

Sarah Raplee said...

I agree, Diana, that free will makes us human.

Sarah Raplee said...

Maggie, I agree with the weakness you pointed out in my 'abused child' example. Extreme abuse can impact a person's ability to make good decisions.

We each have mental, physical and emotional potentials at birth that may be altered by negative events (illness, abuse, accidents, war) in our lives to the point that we need help to be the best that we can be.

We all share responsibility to help those who cross our paths. You said it eloquently:"In helping others we help ourselves. By accepting responsibility for that interconnectedness, we become better together than we could have become alone." Humankind evolves.



Sarah Raplee said...

Thank you for stopping by, Margaret. I'm glad you enjoyed the quotes.

Paty Jager said...

Love the cover!! Looking forward to reading the anthology. I agree. And it's that core theme that keeps the readers coming back for a particular author's books because they can relate to the theme.

Madelle Morgan said...

Sarah, this is an excellent post with much food for thought.

I also have done some thinking on my "core story" theme, and it is similar to that of Nora Roberts.

I also value what I learned at a Michael Hauge workshop - in romance, the H/H fall in love with each other's essence, which is their best self. That is, through the story arc the wounded H/H becomes healed, realizing his/her potential.

Sarah Raplee said...

I love the cover, too, Paty!

You make a good point about an author's core story drawing readers back.

Sarah Raplee said...

I've been figuring out my core story for years, Madelle. This is not easy stuff to dig out of the subconcious!

This discussion has given me new ways of looking at core story. Thanks for your insight!