When telling true stories, how can you identify significant moments to share? What makes a moment “storyworthy”?
Matthew Dicks is a storytelling professional and the author of Storyworthy. He asserts that no matter what kind of life you lead, it’s likely full of stories that are worth sharing
Here’s how to identify the most storyworthy moments in your life to share with others.
What Makes a Moment “Storyworthy?”
Dicks says that your “storyworthy” events are emotionally significant moments in your life—whether they’re extraordinary or mundane—that lead to transformation and discovery. Let’s break this down into three key requirements:
The first requirement is that the moment must be yours. Even if another person’s story seems more interesting, the audience wants to know about your life because personal stories feel more intimate. However, Dicks notes that it’s possible to tell your own side of another person’s story, as long as the story is still focused on you. For example, you could tell a story about how someone you know overcame a major challenge like addiction, but focus on how their journey affected you—what you learned, how it changed your perspective, or how it impacted your relationship with them.
(Shortform note: In telling stories about your life, you’ll likely use a first-person point of view, using words like I and my. First-person point of view is common in creative nonfiction, a genre that encompasses all kinds of true stories, including memoirs, journalism, and the kinds of stories Dicks covers in Storyworthy. Experts note that the first-person perspective creates a sense of immediacy that draws the audience into the narrative, making the story feel more personal. That’s why journalists may insert themselves into their reportage, even when their stories are focused on external events or other people. By anchoring the narrative in their unique experience, they make abstract and distant subjects feel more tangible and relatable.)
Second, says Dicks, you must be able to talk about the moment in your own authentic style. If you have to use overly theatrical gestures, flowery language, or unnatural dialogue to get your point across, you’ll come across as a performer—not someone the audience can form a heartfelt connection with. Dicks says the way you tell the story should reflect who you are, featuring your natural voice, innate sense of humor, and genuine emotions.
(Shortform note: In On Writing Well, a guide to writing creative nonfiction, William Zinsser refers to this sense of authentic style as identity. According to Zinsser, identity is what makes your work stand out and helps your audience connect with you on a deeper level. Readers (or listeners) often choose to follow a creator because they enjoy not only the stories they tell but also how they tell them. Zinsser emphasizes that your identity is what differentiates you from other storytellers—even if two people tell the same story, their distinct styles will appeal to different readers.)
Third, a storyworthy moment must have some element of transformation or discovery. Storyworthy moments are those that changed you by offering you a life lesson or a new perspective. Dicks argues that this transformation is what resonates most with an audience, as it gives them something to contemplate with respect to their own lives. When stories don’t feature some kind of transformation, they’re not really stories—they’re anecdotes. Anecdotes can be amusing, but they’re forgettable and unlikely to forge deep connections.
(Shortform note: In Life Is in the Transitions, Bruce Feiler explains why personal transformations are so impactful—they redefine how we think about and derive meaning from our lives. Feiler argues that everyone has a dominant source of meaning: agency (your sense of personal power), belonging (how you connect with others), or cause (your commitment to a greater purpose, like helping others). Transformational moments shift your dominant source of meaning, prompting you to reevaluate your identity and relationships. By sharing stories about your transformations, you can invite others to reflect on their own sources of meaning and encourage them to think about their life journeys in a new light.)
How to Find the Core of Your Story
Dicks explains that it’s common to assume your audience wants to hear about the most dramatic moments of your life. However, your most storyworthy moments tend to appear relatively insignificant. These are moments where you gain some fleeting insight that creates a meaningful internal change. For example, while stuck in traffic, you might realize that your frustration isn’t really about the delay but about how you’ve been rushing through life without taking time to breathe. Audiences can relate to these minor moments more easily than grand, dramatic events because they mirror the subtle but profound transformations we all go through in everyday life.
Let’s explore two of Dicks’s strategies for identifying your most storyworthy moments.
Strategy #1: Daily Reflection
According to Dicks, you should take a few minutes to write notes about your most impactful experience of the day, every day. Create a list or spreadsheet where you can keep these notes. Your notes don’t have to be long or detailed; just write enough to capture the essence of the moment and why it stood out to you. This strategy allows you to see the meaning and beauty in everyday moments you might have previously overlooked. It also helps you see yourself as meaningful and gives you a sense of your place in the grand scheme of things. All of this serves as excellent storytelling fodder.
In addition, Dicks explains that this strategy can help you identify patterns in your life that you can turn into stories. For example, if you look back over your notes and see that you’ve frequently written about small acts of kindness from strangers, you might realize how these moments have shaped your worldview. In this way, you can turn a singular moment into a story that reveals something about the meaning of life.
Strategy #2: Write by Stream of Consciousness
Dicks recommends that you set aside a few minutes each day to write by stream of consciousness. This means that you capture all your thoughts, feelings, and ideas as they occur, even if they don’t make sense or aren’t phrased perfectly. He emphasizes that you shouldn’t judge your thoughts, edit your writing, or get stuck explaining one idea in detail. The goal is to let your thoughts flow freely, allowing unexpected connections and insights to surface. By avoiding self-censorship, you give yourself the freedom to explore your mind’s raw material and tap into deeper layers of creativity.
Dicks explains that this unfiltered writing process can help you uncover memories or experiences you may have forgotten or overlooked. When you’ve finished writing, you can review what you’ve written and extract any compelling anecdotes, memories, and thoughts that could be developed into a story.
