The importance of story writing in the digital age

Story writing is not something that comes naturally to me. I do often wish I could write with the ease and flow and precision of a professional story writer, but I simply dont have that exceptional God given gift. I really dont. But just because one doesnt have the gift of writing doesnt mean that one should shy away from the art of creative writing. I would even argue the case that not being able to write creatively may well present one with a higher motivation to strive to write creatively simply because when dedicates oneself to something that is vexing and frustatingly difficult….only then can one gainfully improve and make real progress. As humans we dont really improve ourselves just because we happen to be smart or born rich. To me those sort of metrics contribute very little to real character building, what really builds character and makes a man a better person is the willingness to understand oneself along with others, not just superficially, but deeply at a meaningful level. When a man writes even if its a just a short simple story, he is forced to go deep into a process of exploration of himself and others – he is compelled to ask questions like why does he do that? Why does he say the things he says? What’s really behind the motivation accounting for his words and actions? In a sense writing isnt just about stringing sentences and words its much much more and I would even stick my neck out to say, it may well be mankinds only way to reliably understand himself and others….as the various aspects of what makes up a believable human in stories remains a very complex construct. So much so that, I keep a small note book to jot down observations about people who I regularly come across daily and usually its not uncommon for them to appear in many of my stories. By cultivating this discipline one can learn alot about oneself by just observing others…infact one of the things that I often do in my stories is weave my own character into the narrative and often I discover very unpleasant things about myself that I am usually contend to negotiate conveniently away or sweep under the carpet, but when one is forced to juggle different characters and personalities to weave together a story, its not that easy to negotiate the truth about oneself. Because to write convincingly one needs to study the various motivations and nuanced aspects of what makes up a person. People are often complicated in my stories, but above all they are very real…irrespective of whether you like them or not, but none the less they all deserve respect and a measure of fairness that can only be gleaned from understanding and not judgement. One of the books that I always carry around is Homer’s Illiad. At one level of reading its really just a story about a king who goes off to fight a war in some faraway land only to encounter delay upon delays on his return trip, but when one gets to really know the various characters who make up this story. These characters become stories by themselves. Suddenly it becomes awfully complicated and even at times difficult to understand. In Penelope the wife of the main protagonist, we can discover steadfastness and fidelity along with forbearance in many of her struggles with the suitors. Telemachus the son, we can make out how maturely and at times immaturely how he approaches the question – why doesn’t my father return home after so many years. Here we see the details of a young man struggling with very complex geo politics and even economic problems along with a tome of psychologies and by and large the boy seems to do a reasonable job of figuring out life. Eumaeus the best friend Odysseus represents what it means to be a true friend and how difficult it is for one to remain truthful, honorable and noble. As for Odysseus himself, he best represents how it is like for man such as myself who doesnt have one molecule of the gift of writing. He struggles endlessly with mangling his sentences, spelling and ten other mundane things like how to pace a plot so that it engages the reader instead of alienating him. He struggles not only with the smallness of his courage like I often do, but also the sense of unfulfilled yearnings and desires that haunt all men, but despite his many travails, he returns home not only to his family but most importantly himself.

In this story writing season of the Brotherhood press may I wish you all happy reading and encourage some of you to try your hand at story writing.

George Chong 2025