Hammer and Chisel by Linda S. Glaz

  Yes, it had to start somewhere.

   Hammer and chisel, reed pens and papyrus, quills on parchment, pens on paper, typewriters, word processors, desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and I-phones.

   We have come a long way.

   And the message is the same. An individual has a story to tell. And so he must.

   Still and all, what prompted the first man or woman to make up a story and tell it?

   Storytelling has certainly evolved. Early man passed along family and societal information via stories. Some spoken, some written. But at one point, an imaginative person took a simple idea and wove a tale. That might have been the first release of voices in the head.

   The next natural step was jotting down ideas and sharing them.

I laugh when I think of the first story I wrote for a class on an old typewriter. Then, one needed carbon paper if they wanted to keep a copy. And sending off to an editor meant copy after copy after messy purple copy.

   We’ve come a very long way and all for one reason: to tell our stories.

   Whether we chiseled them out of rock or made copies on our printers, we have stories to share. Ideas in notebooks in the middle of the night. Quick summaries on a computer. A scribbled note at a stop light.

   The stories must be told. Whether or not a writer uses a keyboard or a pen and legal pad, or whether or not the story is ever published, if a person is called, they must write.

   So chisel, or type, or share with a friend, but do tell your story.