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I have a question about a potential word that may or may not exist.

I'm trying to find a word that would basically mean something like "to make a story out of" or turn into a narrative.... like, i think I'm trying to say.... like, to turn ostensibly unconnected events into a trajectory of some sort. to connect them and make a story out of them. What would be a word for that please?

I don't know if one even exists for this. If I had to make up a word to perhaps give better insight as to what I mean I suppose I would say something along the lines of.... to "narracize" or to "storyicize" does that make it any clearer?

Thank you regardless!:)

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  • My first thought is yarn, as in: verb (used without object) Informal. to spin a yarn; tell stories
    – Lemons
    Commented Oct 3, 2022 at 2:21
  • Could use it as such, "he could yarn any old situation into a fantastic story."
    – Lemons
    Commented Oct 3, 2022 at 2:23
  • 3
    How about "narrate"?
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Oct 3, 2022 at 3:08
  • Are the story details and their connection factual or is the whole thing concocted?
    – Jim
    Commented Oct 3, 2022 at 6:34
  • I agree with @HotLicks ... "narrate".
    – GEdgar
    Commented Oct 3, 2022 at 11:10

3 Answers 3

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Storyweaving appears to be a neologism of weaving a story, which is more common.

Storyweaving determines how the illustrated story points will be revealed or unfolded to the audience.

Dramatica, not a dictionary

The same source also defines storyencoding.

Storyencoding turns raw story points into specific scenarios, events, and dialog.

To me storyencoding has a jargon sound and loses the connection to weaving a story, which I imagine most readers would recognize as in storyweaving.

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  • Yes, I'd say storyweaving has enough currency (and it's easily transparent enough) to qualify as a neologism, a new word, rather than a DIY effort. ... weave a story out of ... is needed for a transitive usage, but OP does add the 'phrases' tag.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Oct 3, 2022 at 14:24
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    Using weaving metaphors for stories is older than writing, which uses the same metaphors.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Oct 3, 2022 at 18:46
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Serialize may be suitable.

"After hearing about a pattern of mysterious fires, two journalists serialized the events into a coherent timeline and published a sensationalist article about rogue arsonists."

I would expect to read compose a narrative or fabricate a narrative.

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    – Community Bot
    Commented Oct 3, 2022 at 11:45
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storify transitive verb

Definition: to narrate or describe in story
History and Etymology: STORY entry 1 + -fy
[Merriam-Webster]

Storify also had a social media definition:

to use the social networking service Storify to create stories or timelines using social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

She asked him to clarify his comments but he stood by them. She has storified this on Twitter.

[Macmillan]

The service "Storify was shut down on May 16, 2018." [Wikipedia]

Note: Due to the popularity of the now defunct service, Storify, most usage examples of the verb storify will not be found in the top results.

Example of usage (defined in text):

Storify: Make science tell a story.
6/3/2013

Elsewhere I have written about the potential power of narrative to help students understand and remember complex subject matter (Willingham, 2004; 2009). Now a new study (Arya & Maul, 2012) provides fresh evidence that putting to-be-learned material in a story format improves learning outcomes.

—Daniel Willingham [Science & Education Blog]

Herein, a link to other examples gathered by WordSense.

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  • The FreeDictionary only cites Webster's [1913] for this word (storify), so I'm guessing it's at best archaic in the 'make into a story' sense.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Oct 3, 2022 at 11:14
  • @Edwin Ashworth - See under 'Practical examples' here, if we can use any sort of "dictionary" (wordsense.eu/storified). But the proper suffix would be -fy (not cize).
    – HippoSawrUs
    Commented Oct 3, 2022 at 14:14
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    It is certainly still used, as well as being in Merriam-Webster and Wiktionary (which cites a 2014 example). There was a social media site called Storify, and uses such as this and this.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Oct 3, 2022 at 15:02
  • Yes, the examples certainly add weight.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Oct 5, 2022 at 18:44

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