“Maybe you should put that in your blog.”

I hear that a lot. Most recently from Kevin, a friend from work, while he was scrubbing graffiti off a stop sign. Hardly a week goes by when someone doesn’t bring up a possible topic. Everything from everyday oddities to old family stories are suggested as ripe for blogging.

And it got me thinking — stories can come from everywhere. You don’t need a story that sweeps across all of time and space; you don’t need to tackle issues as vast as war or the relationship between God and humanity to write compelling fiction. Some of the greatest novels in history deal with the smallest of subjects. Steinbeck’s simple tale of an Oklahoma family and a drought described an entire generation of Americans. Shakespeare’s ordinary tale of young love defined the human experience. Big ideas often come in small packages.

Insignificant events are the seeds of great stories. In the hands of a writer, these ordinary moments are strung like pearls on a necklace to create a whole that has the depth and complexity to keep us reading to the very last sentence.

It is from those small moments that great narratives are formed (and great blogs).

— 30 —

I’m a writer living in Flagstaff, AZ. Tell me where you find your stories in the comments or send me a tweet at @jonnyeberle.

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Pressed Leaves: The Genesis of Fictional Characters
Brushstrokes
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