At the Write4Life Creative Writing Workshop on 27 and 28 March, participants were asked to write about the books that they have read, the stories that have impacted on their lives. Each participant contributed one idea to this compilation piece about all the different kinds of stories there are…

***

There are stories about crime – people cause other people to commit murders or even suicide by means of persuasion and blackmail. There are stories about crime where a young man rapes and kills young girls.

There are stories about politics, controversy and greed, in which people whom we admire appear. Many hope that they too can change this place we live in, which we call Earth, and make it a better place.

There are stories about challenges that have a negative impact on the economy (crime, poverty and piracy).

There are stories about human trafficking, where people are transported to other countries or cities against their will and are sold into prostitution or slavery.

There are stories about god’s suffering where god sacrificed everything for everyone so that they can do what he wants them to do.

There are stories about our African history.

There are stories about apartheid, where people fight for what they think is theirs, for what is right.

There are stories about struggle of men through apartheid in South Africa, where people of South Africa were oppressed by the apartheid regime.

There are stories about freedom, where they are telling us what they did. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail for South Africa, people!

There are stories about teenagers falling pregnant at a young age; where teens do not want to listen to their parents.

There are stories about young children, who grow up without their parents and they end up joining gangs.

There are stories about homeless children, homeless because of disease and poverty.

There are stories about abortion or children becoming abandoned which leads to their parents being followed by bad luck.

There are stories about love at the first sight – how fate is real.

There are stories about young lovers, where the boy and two girls are going to the same school – but the boy is dating both of the girls.

There are stories about falling in love with dangerous people, where girls fall in love with gangsters without thinking about the consequences and challenges of that.

There are stories about abusive relationships, where abuse – emotional or physical – occurs.

***

What kind of stories have you read? What kind of stories have you liked? What themes resonate with you?