First Time Stories

We have been brainstorming and drafting our stories about the first time we did something and the emotional core of that moment.  Here is the assignment so far:

First Things Story: Theme

Capture a feeling—a human connection to a personal experience that you have had in your lifetime.

Brainstorm: put the words, First Things, in the center of a web and connect all of the first things experiences of your life that you can think of.

Go back and read the experiences you have written down and cross out those that do not spark an emotional response.

Choose the “best” of your first experiences, and write a list of at least five emotions that are connected to that experience.

As you look over the list of emotions from that experience—choose that one that resonates with you the most.

As you begin to draft your story about your “first experience,” focus on the emotion that is the strongest, and make that the focus of your story.

Be sure to include something about that strong emotion in the first paragraph of your draft.

EXAMPLE: experience: first baby. Emotions: fear, wonder, love, humility, confusion, ferocious protectiveness.

Choice: Love.

Expand on what you mean by that emotion:

EXAMPLE: Unconditional love—as in: I would die for this person that I don’t even know yet. As a matter of fact, I don’t know much right now, because I have not had a lot of sleep or time to think, and yet, what I find bubbling up from within me is the idea that, without any doubt, I would die for this person, my child. An unknown life.  Another thought: I have experienced the feeling of love before, but I have never known, or even thought about whether or not I would be willing to sacrifice my life for the person I loved. I hope I would, but I never really knew it. However, in this particular situation, I find myself thinking this thought, “ I would die for this person,” and I know it is true. How odd! Something very elemental has changed in my understanding of myself and my relationship to others in the world. Nothing in my experience compares to this: it is a true first. It is not the last.

Start your narrative with this idea that comes from thinking about your strongest emotion.