She says, "You can't base your life on the past or the present."

Brandy says, "You have to tell me about your future."

[...]

"Now," those Plumbago lips say, "You are going to tell me your story like you just did.  Write it all down.  Tell that story over and over.  Tell me your sad-assed story all night."  That Brandy queen points a long bony finger at me.

"When you understand," Brandy says, "that what you're telling is just a story.  It isn't happening anymore.  When you realize the story you're telling is just words, when you can just crumble it up and throw your past in a trashcan," Brandy says, "then we'll figure out who you're going to be."

-Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters