For Love of Story: The Beginning of Scribe

By Corey Williams

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In 2005, I was a junior in college. At the time, I thought I might like to be a lawyer. I'd read a half-dozen John Grisham novels. I enjoyed a television show called The Practice, a dramatized depiction of a Boston law firm. And I enjoyed arguing with my friends. Clearly, I had no idea what it looked like to actually practice law.

What I did know at the time was that enjoyed stories (hence the love of Grisham novels and TV shows) and I enjoyed writing. Other than some fiction and non-fiction assignments in a Creative Writing course, I didn't have much experience telling a story. But I did have a roommate who needed a writer.

Jeff Whalberg and I had been roommates for two years. I hadn't known him well when we started sharing a dorm room my sophomore year, but by the mid-point of my junior year, his senior, we had become close. Jeff had started dating a girl between his junior and senior year of college and by the Christmas break his senior year, he had a ring and was ready to propose. He knew how he wanted to pop the question. He wanted to surprise her. And he wanted to recount the history of their relationship. It was remarkable that God had brought them together. They'd known each other as kids (Elisha had actually had a hug crush on Jeff), but then they'd drifted apart over the years. They reconnected in college and quickly realized this was more than friendship.

As Jeff started to plan the engagement, he had this idea of writing out their story and leaving a printed copy of it in Elisha's room. When she came home from work, it would be there. She'd read it. When she finished. Jeff would materialize, get down on one knee, and ask her to spend the rest of her life with him. Wanting to make that story incredible, Jeff asked me if I'd be willing to help. I must admit. I was a little terrified. I didn't want to screw up this massive moment for one of my closest friends. But I also didn't want to say no. I knew Jeff was honoring me by asking me to be involved in one of the biggest moments of his and Elisha's lives.

Jeff and I started with an interview. Well, it was actually more like a series of conversations in our dorm room. I took a ton of notes. I listened closely. Tried to ask interesting follow-up questions. I didn't realize it at the time, but listening well is one of the best attributes for any storyteller, especially someone who is ghostwriting. After we'd traced Jeff and Elisha's relationship from their first meeting in elementary school until their months of dating, I sat down and started writing. At the time, I didn't know how to structure a piece. I didn't know the three-act structure or the need for tension. So I approached the story in chronological order, the way Jeff had told it to me. That's not always the most effective way to tell a story, but in this situation, I think it was effective.

As I started writing, I tried to lean into Jeff and Elisha's emotions. I remember trying to capture the magic of their relationship--the providential way God weaved their lives together and brought them together at the perfect time. Again, I didn't know this a the time but leaning into the emotions--instead of just reciting the facts--was an effective storytelling tactic.

The final thing I did was work really hard on that story. I wrote and rewrote and reworked the story. I decided I wasn't going to give a draft to Jeff until I couldn't come up with anyways to make it better.

Jeff loved the story, which was great, but the only reaction that really mattered was Elisha's. Thankfully, she loved it. When she got home from work, found it on her bed, sat down and started reading, tears welled up in her eyes. When Jeff surprised her (he'd been hiding in her closet while she read), she told him it was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever read.

Making this couple happy through a story I wrote was an entirely new feeling for me. And I loved it. In fact, I loved it so much I started to consider being a journalist. It was the only profession built around telling other people's stories. I ended up working for a few different newspapers because of my experience writing Jeff and Elisha's love story.

Nearly twenty years later, I've had the privilege to ghostwrite books, including a New York Times bestseller. That feeling of joy and satisfaction when I help someone tell their story is still there. I love what I do. That's why I started Scribe. It's the next step of a life of storytelling that started in my college dorm room, interviewing Jeff, documenting his relationship with Elisha.

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