Story Work

Story Work, GG Renee Hill. Broadleaf Books (ISBN: 9798889832652) 2025.

Summary: How telling and reframing our stories in writing not only leads to self-discovery, but also to finding our voice and calling.

We not only love stories but our lives are stories. But how we understand those stories, the story we tell ourselves and others about ourselves, matter greatly. And how we become more fully ourselves has to do with telling truer stories of ourselves–not those imposed upon us but those that come from within us. In Story Work, GG Renee Hill takes us through how reflecting on, reframing. and re-writing her own story has been key to her growth into pursuing her calling. And she invites us to follow her example with writing prompts at the end of each chapter relating to the chapter contents.

But first, just a bit of her life (and there is a lot more in the book). She grew up in Pittsburgh in a two-parent family, close to both parents until her mother descended into schizophrenia. Suddenly, hugging her dad was perceived as sexual flirtation. That strained her relationship with both of them and led to an enduring estrangement from her mom. What was she to think of herself? Was mental illness in her future?

As she unfolds that story, she traces her own journey of self-discovery as she writes her story. She begins by inviting the reader to journal and live their own questions, identifying the beliefs that might be limiting. Then she goes on to ask us to look closely at one of the events that reflect self-limiting beliefs and ask ourselves what else could be true. The final chapter in this section on “Roots and Origins” encourages us to take a story of tragedy and defeat and drawing from seven basic plots, developing a new storyline.

Part II of the book focuses on the theme of “Truth and Lies.” She begins by reflecting on the masks we wear and how this hides our authentic selves with our highs and lows from ourselves and others. These reveal clues to our values, and she invites us to write those moments and the values they reveal. One of the challenges of writing our stories, however is that we are “unreliable narrators.” She explores the ways we deceive ourselves and invites us to write on unwanted, repeating patterns and how our responses have changed over time.

But part of our stories is also understanding our strengths and superpowers. What makes us different is what gives us strength. So, she invites us to identify those differences from those around us and how these might be strengths, as well as weaknesses and how we might support the former and manage the latter. Finally, in “Nothing is Ever Lost” she addresses our losses and griefs. She proposes that loss and grief can speak and she offers five exercises to explore loss in our stories.

In Part III, “Voice and Vision” she considers how we might become active agents in our own stories. Hill begins by discussing how “Words Matter.” She illustrates that in a conversation with Aunt Mimi where she learns that “I’m not good at math” isn’t really what she is saying. Rather it is that “math is hard.” She’s challenged to think that she might become good at things that are hard. Here, she invites us to counter limiting beliefs with actionable value statements to achieve aspirations. Then, she turns to “life as a creative process.” She offers a four step creative process to pursue. Finally, in “Love and Fear” she invites us to surrender to our emerging calling. This includes both naming our fears and affirming what we love.

Hill models the power of writing to help us understand and re-frame our stories. In her vulnerable and honest account, she encourages us to shed the masks and self-deceptions behind which we hide from ourselves. She also helps us pay attention to our loves, our distinctives and our values. Then she invites us conceive them as central to the plotlines of our stories. For those who already like to write and journal, this book might lead to new self-exploration. Likewise, for others at one of those junctures where we are re-thinking our lives, this might be a helpful tool. As a society, we need to tell better stories. GG Renee Hill helps us begin to do that with the stories we tell of ourselves.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers Program.