Changing Lives: Telling Kin Stories

We all have amazing stories – but we don’t always tell them. Or tell them well.

Why?

We load our stories with facts and data about how we organized an event and how much money we raised.

- While this is important, the heart of the story is the person whose life you changed.

Mark Rovner of SeaChange, a non-profit consultant says:

“Too many facts and too much data in your stories are the equivalent of emotional Novocain.”

So what does belong in a story?Character, conflict and solution.

Who is the main character? A good protagonist is human and someone up against a serious challenge (the conflict). Your event and club are the supporting cast.

What is the solution:

What your club has done to help the person face or overcome their challenge.

Ex. Donated money, raised awareness in the community, organized an event

Here’s how it works together…

1. Introduce your character and the event that changed the person’s life.

2. The character faces obstacles and conflicts to get to a goal.

This is the real meat of the story, when your character is struggling to get i.e a new wheelchair ramp built or a bursary to go to university, or a new park for their neighbourhood.

3. The struggle engages the reader. It’s not clear if the character will prevail.

4. You can then introduce how your Kin Club helped the person meet their goal.

Every story does not need to have a perfect ending and it’s not necessary to make your characters perfect. It’s more interesting if they are real.

Here are some things to AVOID:

1. Fear of emotion

2. Making your hero an organization rather than a real person readers care about

3. Too wide a focus (individual people are better than many)

4. Too many numbers and data

How we change lives and better our communities is the foundation of Kin.

Share the stories of people whose life your club has changed.