Stories and Due Dates

Here are today’s Wonderful Words:

It was my first hint that life takes back what it gives. A hard lesson, but a necessary one. Things we’ve loved get lost, or traded in. The stories of our lives have a due date, like books at the library.

Not Fade Away, Peter Barton, page 37

Background

Peter Barton was a hippie, a musician, a ski bum, a graduate of Harvard Business School, and eventually a business mogul. He was also the unfortunate owner of a terminal cancer diagnosis in his late 40s. Barton lost to the disease in 2002 at the age of 51.

Not Fade Away is the memoir he wrote as he was dying. It’s a wealth of wisdom for anyone trying to live a great life. In fact, I’ve applied Peter’s lessons to my life.

In these lines, he was reflecting on his first glimpse of change—the day his family moved to a new home when he was five years old.

What makes it wonderful?

Peter’s words in this passage pulled at my emotions and shot me back in time.

He took me back to old friends, old homes, old romances, and old jobs. I played the montage of my life in my mind, much like you see in the movies at a character’s funeral.

Things we’ve loved get lost, or traded in. Lost like the Crayola bucket hat I loved as a boy. Traded in like the truck I loved for the car I didn’t.

The stories of our lives have a due date, like books at the library. Due dates. Time’s up. Game over. Move on.

The relationship ends. The dog dies. You graduate college. You move to a new home. You leave one job for another.

Transitions aren’t always bad, but they’re almost always emotional. And as Peter points out, it’s an important lesson—life changes. It’s important because it’s universal.

Let's get technical

Looking at techniques, Barton used symbolism and simile to express the sentiment we’ve all shared.

Stories and books were his symbols, and they represented the distinct periods of our lives. Each transition is the end of one book and the beginning of another. And when the time is up, the book is due back to the library. Whether you like it or not, it’s no longer yours. You keep the memories, but it’s time for another story.

The symbolism wouldn’t work without the simile—a comparison between two things, generally using the words “like” or “as.”

He compares the stories of our lives and books at the library. They both have due dates. Legs of our journeys and books checked out both come to an end. A universal truth expressed in a novel way.

Your readers yearn for universal truths in a fresh form. So wrap those truths in pretty paper and present them like a gift. Use a symbol. Use a simile. Use something they’ll share with a smile.

Happy writing,

Joe