Story in Photos: How You View Your World

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about details, perspective, and the filters through which we view our world. The way these three concepts work together are never more apparent than when I study photos, mine or someone else’s.

photo of hand holding tiny portrait photo from the early 1900sI found this tiny portrait in an old empty bank building somewhere in Waxahachie, TX. I was twelve. My mother and I were extras in Places in the Heart (a story in itself).

One particular night, they were filming a carnival scene right outside the bank. It was cold out, I’d been stuck up at the top of a Ferris wheel with another “extra” friend for what seemed like hours. We were in between shoots, and somebody mentioned hot chocolate being served inside the bank. So my friend and I hid out in the building long enough to warm up, drink too much, and discover the tiny photo wedged between two strips of floorboard. I’m sure I was supposed to leave the photo there, not touch anything but the cocoa. But I picked it up anyway and slipped it into my overalls pocket, took it home and tucked it away.

I love this photo for its size, for the look of the woman in it–her expression, her posture, the way the ribbon at her collar falls flat. In this image, I can imagine her view of the world and even her emotion: bored, a little tired, maybe a hint of nervousness disguised as indifference toward the photographer.

Fast forward plenty of years when I uncovered more tiny portraits, this time digital pictures and I knew the photographer: my daughter at four years old who snuck off with my camera and captured her view from 36 inches. The photos she snapped showed the silly moments I missed in my everyday busy-ness and revealed a vision of truth.

The baby.

photos: Special Baby with her friends

The blur.

photos: woman in motion

The brother.

young boy peeks in from behind a door

And me.

image of woman working at laptop surrounded by coffee, checkbook, journal

Each photo as a whole reveals so much about her at that age, but also about those around her, and it’s in the details where she captures that time and space: Special Baby in the spotlight; Mom in motion (that’s me in that blurry shot); her mischievous brother; and me again–this time at my laptop, clickety-clacking away, writing a blog post, journal close by, checkbook just beyond my fingertips, coffee.  (By the way, very little has changed in the last seven years, except that Special Baby has been carefully tucked away and I’m drinking decaf these days.)

My daughter’s photo collage and the portrait of the unknown woman perfectly illustrate the act of storytelling. In a snapshot, we share our framed view of the world and invite others to see life through our lens–a different, often new point of view (literally and figuratively). The story we capture, though, isn’t revealed only in the object at the center, but in the details that fill the frame, in the timestamp of when it was taken (or when it was found), and in the perspective from which we shoot–in focus or not.

I bet you have a favorite photo or two. How does that image reveal your world or the world of the person who took it?

Better yet, how does your writing reveal your world? Because really, when we incorporate the same kind of study in our stories and essays, our words–and our worlds–become that much stronger.


Don’t forget, Principles & Prompts is open for registration.
Join me online for 6 weeks of lessons on storytelling and creativity
and plenty of writing prompts.

Quotables on Story & an Online Course to take you there.

“Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light.”  ~ Kate DiCamillo, The Tale of Despereaux


man with pen and paper and working on laptopYou’ve got a story. You’ve got that urge to write. But where do you begin?

Join me online from November 4th-December 15th for Principles & Prompts, where we’ll discuss creativity and story and put pen to paper every week ($90 for new students; $80 for returning students).

This isn’t just a course for beginners, though. Principles & Prompts is a low-stakes course for writers looking to get back into the swing of regular practice, who are searching for community, who enjoy reading the works of others and finding inspiration in the discussions that follow. It’s one of my favorite courses to teach!

Read more about the course and SIGN UP HERE–make some light!
Seats are limited and registration closes on November 1st!


“We tell our stories in order to live.” ~ Joan Didion

Back to School: Opportunities for #Writing & #Community

It’s my favorite time of year, when every store–drug store, grocery store, and (cue the angels singing) the office supply store–is stocked with back to school supplies. I go in with the long list of necessities sent out from the district, I complain about the 72 sharpened pencils and 36 pens (though I buy them, to be sure), but let’s be honest: I go in with a list of my own.

I can’t help it. There’s nothing like a feel of a crisp new spiral notebook and the draw of good pencil. Even when my kids are through their high school years, I will quietly slip away into the seasonal aisle of Walgreens and run my hand along the row of Mead and PaperMate and Pentel.

I know I’m not alone. Something about the school season fires up a writer. And why not? We’ve just spent the last three months soaking up sunshine on family vacations and quiet bike rides alone and gathering story.

So let’s take advantage of that energy. Use it to get back to the page, to fine-tune a collection of stories or to craft a whole new essay. There are plenty of opportunities, online and in person, to put pen to paper and find a community of writing souls who will carry you through the winter months.


#Writing in Study Hall

Once a month, I lead Study Hall: #AmWriting, where a few of us come together and talk craft, read samples of great works, and write write write.

drawing of person pumping out page after page of writingSunday Study Hall exceeded my expectations. Christi facilitates and provides the structure. The visual and audio elements enhance the experience. Readings, prompts, and the company of kindred spirits spiral out across time zones. I always leave the session enriched by the conversation. ~ Kathy Collins

We spend a lot of time with writing prompts, which push writers in new and unexpected ways. And sometimes the conversations alone are enough to inspire a new structure in a piece that’s had you stumped for a while.

Try one session. All you need is a laptop, high-speed internet, and a desire to hang out with a bunch of other writers. Our next meet-up is Sunday, September 9th, 3:30-5pm (CST). REGISTER HERE or contact me with questions.


#Learning in the Classroom

If you’re partial to face-to-face interactions and are local to the Milwaukee area, Red Oak Writing offers several Saturday morning craft workshops this fall for writers.

  • group of writers around a table talking craft(Extra)Ordinary Content on October 20th with Patricia Ann McNair. “For writers of all genres, this workshop will guide participants to identify and use their most compelling material to create new work and reinvigorate ongoing projects. Drawing from memory, imagination, and observation, writers will discover their own extraordinary content.”
  • Diving into the Details on November 10th with me. “Details play a significant role in our writing, whether we write poems, essays or novels. Details build storydeepen story, and provide more ways for readers to connect with story. In this workshop, we will look at all three functions of details as they apply to setting, place, and person….”
  • Story, Truth, and Beauty, Baby! on December 8th with Barry Wightman. “Ready to take your writing to the next level? Looking for ways to amp up your prose, streamline it, make it jump from the page? Like great music, great fiction is built from magic moments that produce shivers—riffs, choruses and solos that enchant the reader.”
*Photo above from Red Oak Writing’s website

Building #Community

If you’re new to writing or have been on hiatus for a while, Principles & Prompts is an online course that offers community and a fun, low-stakes space for exploring creativity, story structure, and writing prompts.

“Christi Craig’s on-line class, Principles & Prompts, is an ideal environment to open your mind up to not only learn, but also do and the six-week course provides a perfect escape during an otherwise busy time of year. Christi has the uncanny ability of incorporating works, both written and film, that nudge the muse to tackle the writing prompt that follows.  Although there is no pressure for perfection or finished pages, I have to say, the synergy of the group compelled me to do more than slap my thoughts together.” ~ Elin Stebbins Waldal

Principles & Prompts opens for registration in September. I love teaching this course and witnessing the stories that evolve from letting go and diving into the work.

Whichever way you lean–Pentel or PaperMate, online or in person, grab your pencil. Stake claim on your notebook. Find your tribe and put your stories to paper. Your voice matters, and your muse is calling.