One day, a writer sat in front of his computer thinking about what to write on his blog.  He wrote all different kinds of stuff on a regular basis, but at the time, he had nothing interesting to say.  One thing he did know, however, was that the more he told stories as opposed to other genres of writing he tried, the better the results.

So he decided to write a story about himself, and how he was trying to figure out something to write and the epiphany came upon him that he was better at telling stories than trying to get people to feel better about themselves or challenging them to do something.

The problem was that the writer also realized that sometimes he ran out of stories to write, and that made him sad because he knew that, more than anything else, he should be making new stories to write about- going out and making a difference in his world or traveling through a comedy or a tragedy with friends.

You see, this writer seemed to do his best work, not when writing about imaginary lands or other people’s junk, but when he wrote about his adventures- Like the time he realized Jesus might be okay with beer, or the time a bee stung his mouth.

So making new stories became his mission, and he wondered what friends would like to be a part of that mission…

The two blog story posts I’ve posted in the last week:  Love doesn’t die just because she did and The Dimming of Hope have been writing exercises for me.  I have taken unique random scenes that have  given me second thoughts during my day, and created a story with a point out of the picture in my mind.  The former story was created during a rainstorm I drove through while passing a house.  The house had a small window at the top, and I wondered out loud if anyone was currently gazing at me through it.    The latter story I happened upon when I was pumping gas at a Mobil with my wife Carie.

Like M. Night Shyamalan, I placed myself in parts of the story for no apparent reason.

Okay so I’m thinking again since this last post.

I’ve been thinking about the way the world works in regards to action vs. thought or doers vs. writers.

I’ve been thinking that there are a variety of people who get things done.  Who look for a challenge and get in the game or go to the adventure,and make things happen.  These are the people stories are written about, they are the people who do.

Then there are the people who write about people who do.  These are the people who have some amazing storytelling gifts and who share with the world, via word of mouth or writing, about the antics of those who are making things happen – those who do.

And then there are those people who soak it all in, wishing they could be the one to go and make the adventure happen, or wishing they could tell a story like that.  The majority of the world is this kind of person.

If you try to be all three, you’ll end up being the third.

If you try to be one, will you end up being the one you’ve chosen?