ALLISON MARTIN

The significance of trees and how their biology-inspired me to understand my own storytelling

A charred and blackened tree stump sits in my yard like a gateway to a magical land or alternate universe. In truth, it’s a standing burnt tree from a forest fire that happened before I was alive. 

Trees give life to the world, breathe oxygen into the atmosphere, provide wildlife homes and people shade from the burning sun. But the true magic of trees lies beneath the soil in which they grow. 

Intricate root systems bind entire forests together (with the help of fungus!) and communicate in ways that feel otherworldly. A mother tree sends nutrients to the smaller trees around it. Tangled with the mycelium, the plants are able to communicate like an internet chat room.

The beauty, magic, and functionality of the forest is similar to the way I see stories. 

Stories are how humanity survived and thrived throughout history. Oral traditions of first peoples across the globe told tales of caution and glory. They weaved their history into words and images, they breathed life into their cultures, and allowed people to learn and grow. 

But behind the meaning of words and sentences lies a vast and intricate root system that drives humans to seek out stories, to make space in their hearts and minds for worlds that may not even exist. Spanning genres and categories, under every story is a network of research, ideas, concepts, lessons, themes, and a driving statement at the core of human experience: “What happens next?”

Your story is as strong as its root systems

In order for a tree to grow tall and stand strong against the elements it must have a root system that is deep and sprawling so that the tree can have a wide and stable foundation to support it as it withstands hundreds of years of being battered by the elements. 

If a tree is not able to grow a solid root network, it cannot get the nutrients it needs to thrive. Its trunk will be thin and brittle. The branches and leaves will be sparse. Maybe the other trees around it will help feed it but it will never be as strong as it needs to be. 

The same can be said for your story. Without the strength of the roots, the story will not be as strong as it needs to be to captivate your readers. It will ‘fall flat’ as readers say and that’s because there wasn’t enough beneath the surface for it to stand strong.

The mother tree and the way everything is connected beneath the surface.

Trees form relationships with the plants surrounding them, even creating kin bonds with other trees. The largest is the Mother Tree and using the fungi network it will send carbon to the other seedlings, even favoring its ‘kin’ over other trees. 

The protagonist of your story is your Mother Tree, and through their roots life is given to secondary, and even tertiary characters. The truth of influence and relationship lives beyond the words on the page and are formed deep beneath the surface of the story–meaning, your protagonist has history with every other character, and in some way they are tied together by invisible threads.

The strength of the forest is determined by the strength of the Mother Tree.

Today’s exercise: Write out the threads that connect your protagonist to the secondary characters. Explain their history.

THE STORY ROOTS SERIES WILL CONTINUE, SO BE SURE TO COME BACK NEXT WEEK! SEE YOU THEN!

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