A story is an arc
A story is a curious thing.
In the language of authors, it is said to have an arc. Always good with a double entendre’ if you
say the word ark it sounds the same as arc, but means something completely
different, and yet perhaps ends up the same. The
arc of a story carries you from the beginning to the end on a ride that has
many turns and trials. But then too, an
ark will carry you to a destination on a journey of many turns and trials… so
perhaps, they are more alike than at first thought.
I was following this arc of the narrative flowing through my
head one day and was surprised at the scenery of the tale. While the lines of the tale were meandering
through my mind in colors, and the noise of the scene played in the background,
I was attentive to the notion that it was simply a tale. Nothing more than a string of ideas and my
imagination that made it flow smoothly into the next place of adventure or
ease. As the story goes… so too, my
additions. Curiously, while the arc of
the tale told of places and activities, my mind filled in the voids in the
story, of the smells and the tone of the voices and the flick of the hair off
of the shoulder or the little speck of dirt on the shirt that was distracting…
or so it seemed to me…
A bit of background might help here. When I was young and in a drafting class that
was required, I was introduced to the tools of the trade. You know of the compass and the ruler and the
#2 pencil, but the one that struck me as odd was the French Curve. Actually, it was a set of them, and they were
of a variety of shapes and sizes and had bits that were cut out of the insides
and curly sections that smoothly glided from one into the next. There seemed no real rhyme or reason to them,
but there they were. The instructions
were simple enough, the dots needed to flow seamlessly from one to
another. Curiously there was one hard
rule to the use of them, you must have three dots on the page that fit the
shape of the curve. Now the reality of
the expanded set of the things came clear.
The curve needed to be slid around and maneuvered to get three dots to
fit the curve of the thing, and that meant you needed lots of options. Here it is, you need to have a smooth arc.
Large curve or small, sharp turn or sweeping, right or left
it mattered not one bit. Simply adjust
the curve to fit the need and the arc would flow. Like a well written tale of adventure, it
would make sense. As the sketch becomes more filled in and the smoothness of
the lines are fitted into a tale of connected dots on the path to a
destination, you sometimes don’t get the larger picture until you stop and look
it over from arms-length…. Distance and time on task to get some perspective
allows the filling in of the tone and timbre of the thing. The imagination has its’ way and now the
pencil adds some hue and shade, and perhaps some color, which was missing only
moments ago. Perception is individually added.
In the telling of a tale there are three dots that must be
connected to continue the story. They can arrive in varied order and can skip a
bit in a path of length, but before you continue the three must have been
connected. These dots are as follows:
Proximity, Authenticity and Specificity.
Proximity is about the common thing.
I cannot tell about something that you don’t recognize or
understand. I cannot tell a joke about
plumbing if you don’t understand plumbing, because the line falls flat. Authenticity deals as it means, something
personally important. Connected to the
proximity, it is now a story you understand but also can relate to
personally. Here is the connection
though, if I stop there it is vague, and the line falls flat. To complete the
story, it must be specific. The tale of my
woes must be something you can understand, is authentic, and is specific enough
to carry through the arc. You know when
you know, and sometimes by your knowing that it is empty or short changed. Sometimes there is an awkward glance and a screaming
silence, and the teller of the story knows you know, but it is too personal to
continue, or they know you don’t care, and they stop abruptly. Everyone sees the train-wreck and cannot
right it again… I think you know. It has
all happened to me. Been not listened
to, been the one not listening. Shared
too much, have been told too much and handled it poorly. Just didn’t know the language of the pain,
and stepped heavily on the mishandled dream…
And now here is the ark part of this. It is time to bring along the passengers to
the tale. This isn’t about Noah and a
few family members, it is about you and your friends. The ones that you work with or that you meet
on a plane on your way to someplace else.
It is about the space that you make to let them onto your story ark for
the time that you are with them. You can
let them off or they can simply exit on their own. You can take them to the destination of
understanding and companionship, or you can let them off early because they are
not careful with your valued items. This
ark then has a log book of passengers, called memories, and it is able to have
new pages added as the story continues on the seas of your life. Picking up passengers and letting them off.
Exchanging cargo and making trades of things we value for things we need. My time for your vulnerability. Your help for
my need. Proximate, authentic, specific.
The French Curve and the arc of a story. Flexibility, continuity, fluidity. Personal, specific, true. The ark of friends that make up the journey
of our days. The ones that come for a
moment of time and those we sometimes wish we could toss overboard… they are
all there. What is missing is the
arms-length view. Sometimes the closeness keeps us from seeing the finished
work. Sometimes we need to set it down
and return later. When a writer is
telling about a thing going on in a book, the phone ringing perhaps, it could
be three days later that the author continues writing, but the ringing phone is
still ringing. It didn’t know there was
a pause. Perhaps your arc of a story
needs a short break… a side trip in the ark of another, perhaps. To gain some insight and perspective. To hear the story with a different arc from
the safety of another ark. One that is
personal, and specific and true.
Yours is a story of merit.
Not better than, for that is the wrong measure, but personally yours.
Specific to your history, and told as truth, to someone that has climbed onto
your ark, for such a time as this… Perhaps you can tell the arc of your own
story. Perhaps for the first time. Perhaps…
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