A Manifesto For Narrative Agency

We are story-creatures. We make sense of our shared world by developing tales that help us to navigate it with as little confusion, and as much comfort as possible. We move from chapter to chapter, hopefully in an expanding and increasingly complex arc, collecting adventures that transmute into memories that we then filter through our  imaginations, so we can draw upon them when we need to contextualize a new experience. And it is at the nexus of our imaginations and memories where our narrative apparatus really shines. But if we are not careful, this is also where it can fails us.

Our imaginations are narrative engines that can make and unmake our worlds. Whether we collectively tell a story to bring about some higher good in our communities, or we fall into the trap of repeating a tale about someone who is diminished by our telling—sometimes without ever having any interactions with this person—we have been given an awesome gift. We have been given an awesome gift that can easily be weaponized against us, or as a weapon on our behalf. It is in this choosing, choosing between the helpful or harmful promulgation of stories, where we have agency.

We have Narrative Agency. We are story agents.

We need to see ourselves as such, or we will be at the mercy of other tellers, tale-tellers who do not have our well-beings at the top of their minds.

Having narrative agency means:

- Not repeating a story that you cannot verify, or that you know isn’t true.

- Interrupting and dispelling false narratives. The rotten tale ends with you.

- You are the primary author of your life, and you need to act accordingly. Do not let others narrate your existence. Even if an oft-told story about you ricochets in your family, if it distorts or diminishes you, your duty is to retell it with as much accuracy as possible. You have to inject a counter-narrative. If you don’t tell your story, someone else, and unqualified someone else, will.

- Sometimes we will refuse to tell a story that includes others. We do this out of  respect for the people in our lives. Remember, it is also your story. You can tell your part in it to the best of your recollection, without compromising relationships. Never refuse to tell a story that needs telling.

- Information is power. If someone trusts you to hold their story, you do so with respect, honor, and integrity.

- Be cognizant of when to tell, and when not to. Silence is a skill.

- Not everyone deserves your story. Think of your story as a kind of energy. You don’t give just anyone your energy, do you?

- Stories are only as effective as the recipient’s capacity to receive them. Work towards telling stories that make sense to the people who are listening. Context, matters.

- Narrative agility is Narrative Agency’s most important skill. Learn to tell stores in as many mediums as possible. This will allow you to reach a wider, more receptive audience.

- This is written in the geographic, cultural, and social context of the English speaking world. In this world (unless you speak another language) everything you’ve read or heard (and understood)  has been crafted with just the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet. Those twenty-six letters have been used to create infinity. If you tell stories for the eyes, you have an infinite palette. If music is your vehicle, there are twelve basic notes that has given everything from Jimi Hendrix to Esperanza Spaulding. If your chosen narrative vehicle is gastronomy, you understand that a recipe is just a suggestion. There is so much more, and it is your responsibility to discover what works best for you.

- You are a one of one. Your specificity matters. Never believe otherwise.

Go tell.