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Improvised Storytelling

Improvised Storytelling

by | Mar 21, 2019

Improvised Storytelling

Create a collaborative scene with a partner, using their questions to help you better understand your main character’s point of view.

Style

Collaborator

Skill

Improvisation

Time

10 minutes

THE STUDIO:

Improvised Storytelling

While you certainly can improvise by yourself, improvising with a partner introduces the randomness that often sparks spontaneous insight. Before you begin, you’ll want to take on an experimental mindset. You’re not planning your scene with this game. If your partner heads off in a direction you truly don’t want the scene to go, never fear! You’ll draft the story as you wish to tell it later. For now, follow your collaborator into the unknown. You may discover that your main character’s resistance teaches you something new about them, or helps you to see what might happen in the scene in a new light.

No matter what, improvisation begins with saying yes. Say yes to the ideas your partner introduces, and then add your own ideas, and see where the moment leads.

Materials

Improvised Storytelling

  • Space to move
  • Paper
  • Pen

NOTE: This game can be played before you draft a scene to explore what you might write, or after you’ve drafted it to find a deeper connection to what’s happening in the scene.

1. Choose an authority figure with whom your main character might interact. In this game, your main character will retell a scene from your story to this authority character as though the scene has already taken place. Set up a scenario where that retelling makes sense. Maybe your character is in trouble for what happened, and has to speak to the principal about it. Maybe your character is upset about their day, and they tell a favorite aunt about what happened.

2. Give your partner a few details about their character, especially so they know the tone of the questions they should ask.

3. Choose a setting, and if appropriate, an action for your characters to be engaged in together. They may be baking cookies, or folding laundry, or eating dinner. As in all improv, the action makes use of imagined props. The goal of the action is to help you engage in the scene physically and emotionally.

4. Begin the action, and once you’re both engaged in the scene physically, begin your conversation. Even though your main character is telling about something that happened to them, the scene should flow back and forth. Your partner should have plenty of opportunities to ask questions and share their thoughts as part of the scene.

5. Once you finish playing through the scene, take time to jot down your notes. Also, make sure to ask your scene partner about any insights they had while playing. They see your scene from the outside, and are likely to have thoughts that will open up your thinking to new possibilities.

6. Ideally, your scene partner is a writer, too. If so, you can now swap roles, and be their collaborator for a scene they’re working on, too.

 

Try On Other Creative Styles

The Who, What, & Where Experiment

FOR ARCHITECTS

Use this structured improv game to experiment with options for your next scene.

Try This

Step Into Your Character's Shoes

FOR INVENTORS

Take on your character’s mindset and play through a scene in a variety of ways in this improv game for writers.

Try This

Improvise the Highlights

FOR SPECIAL AGENTS

Use this quick-thinking improv game to identify key moments in your scene and shortcut the experimentation process.

Try This

Step Into Your Character’s Shoes

Step Into Your Character’s Shoes

by | Mar 21, 2019

Step Into Your Character’s Shoes

Take on your character’s mindset and play through a scene in a variety of ways.

Style

Inventor

Skill

Improvisation

Time

10 minutes

THE STUDIO:

Step Into Your Character’s Shoes

Many writers have the experience of “hearing” their characters speak once they settle into the flow of a drafting session. Improvisation can be another quick way to tap into this powerful emotional connection with our characters. For me, flow can be an elusive state to find when I’m writing, but improv allows me to tap into that mindset much more predictably.

In this game, you’ll take on your character physically and through that connection, tap into their emotions, perspective, and intuition.

Materials

Step Into Your Character’s Shoes

  • Space to move
  • Paper
  • Pen

1. Stand up and shake out your body. Loosen up and begin to walk around your open space.

2. Take on your character’s body layer by layer, starting with your feet. Imagine a typical day, and what your character might be wearing, how that clothing affects how they move, and what emotion they might feel.

2. As your character, imagine you’re walking to a location where you’ll talk with someone you trust. Be specific about that location, the person, and the timing of this moment. Choose a moment after the scene you’re about to write. Your character will tell the story of what happened to this trusted friend.

3. Using past tense, your character will explain what happened, and how they felt about it. Let your character be as animated as possible. Maybe they stand up while recounting this story, and tell it almost as though they’re reliving it. Choose a method of retelling that feels believable for your character, but make sure they engage emotionally, not just intellectually, in the retelling.

4. Once you finish the telling, pause, and consider the other character. What might they ask? Answer at least one question and note what you discover.

5. Now, it’s time to decide. Would you like to improvise the story again, taking it in a new direction? You may have felt some moments ringing true, while others felt a little off. Review those problem areas and consider what changes might help. Do you need to add a character, change the setting, or add an action? Did your character express an emotion you aren’t sure they’d actually feel? What shifts need to be made?

6. Either play through the scene again, or sit down with your fresh inspiration and write.

Try On Other Creative Styles

The Who, What, & Where Experiment

FOR ARCHITECTS

Use this structured improv game to experiment with options for your next scene.

Try This

Improvise the Highlights

FOR SPECIAL AGENTS

Use this quick-thinking improv game to identify key moments in your scene and shortcut the experimentation process.

Try This

Improvised Storytelling

FOR COLLABORATORS

Create a collaborative scene with a partner, using their questions to help you better understand your main character’s point of view.

Try This

The Who, What, Where Experiment

The Who, What, Where Experiment

by | Mar 21, 2019

The Who, What, and Where Experiment

Use this structured improv game to experiment with options for your next scene.

Style

Architect

Skill

Improvisation

Time

10 minutes

THE STUDIO:

The Who, What, and Where Experiment

One way to invite your creativity to play is to ask it to work within specific limitations. In this game, you’ll brainstorm a variety of characters, settings, and actions, and try them out in a scene to find a strong combination for your next drafting session.

Remember: there is no right way to play an improv game. So, while you’ll start with the limitations to point your creativity in the right direction, let go of rules as much as you can as you engage more deeply in the game. As in all improv games, say yes, and … to your ideas and see where your spontaneity leads you. 

 

Materials

The Who, What, and Where Experiment

  • Space to move
  • Paper
  • Pen

1. Start by making three quick lists. Who could be in this scene? What could the main action of the scene be? Where might the scene take place? Push past your first ideas toward the more unusual ones that come after you’ve cleared your mind of what’s most obvious or likely.

2. Stand up. It’s important that you don’t just think about this game. You need to play it!

3. Choose a combination from your list:

  • at least one character to join your main character in the scene.
  • an interesting action
  • an unexpected setting

4. Strike a frozen pose of your main character at the beginning of this potential scene. Once you’ve frozen, emphasize the action and the emotion of your pose. You’ll know you’re starting to play when you begin to feel the emotion in your body.

5. Fast forward to the middle of the scene. Strike at least one pose to show the middle of the scene, or use a sequence of a few, if you like.

6. Create one more frozen pose of your character at the conclusion of the scene. Here’s an excellent opportunity to make sure you’re truly showing the emotion rather than just having your character think about it. What action might they take at the scene’s end?

7. Now that you have your key moments, try putting the scene in action. Move your body through the scene, listening as your mind silently narrates the scene. You might take ten seconds or so to play the scene through.

8. Now, rewind, and try out a different option. Try at least three possibilities before sitting down to write. You may have found an interesting combination of who, what, and where to include in your scene. However, even if you write the scene as originally imagined, you’ll have a more expansive sense of what’s possible as you write, and will shake loose the possibility of surprise as you capture your ideas on the page.

Try On Other Creative Styles

Improvise the Highlights

FOR SPECIAL AGENTS

Use this quick-thinking improv game to identify key moments in your scene and shortcut the experimentation process.

Try This

Step Into Your Character's Shoes

FOR INVENTORS

Take on your character’s mindset and play through a scene in a variety of ways in this improv game for writers.

Try This

Improvised Storytelling

FOR COLLABORATORS

Create a collaborative scene with a partner, using their questions to help you better understand your main character’s point of view.

Try This

Improvise the Highlights

Improvise the Highlights

by | Mar 20, 2019

Improvise the Highlights

Use this quick-thinking improv game to identify key moments in your scene and shortcut the experimentation process.

Style

Special Agent

Skill

Improvisation

Time

10 minutes

THE STUDIO:

Improvise the Highlights

As a Special Agent, improvisation may not be your favorite approach. If you already have a solid idea, why experiment with other options? However, if your ultimate goal is to be able to quickly draft from beginning to end of your book, improvisation can actually be your most powerful tool.

By trying out a few options before you start to write, you identify pitfalls and possibilities. You end up saving yourself time by avoiding sticky detours and the dreaded situation of writing yourself into a dead-end.

Materials

Improvise the Highlights

  • Space to move
  • Paper
  • Pen

1. Stand up. You’ll be much more engaged with the visualization process if you put your body into motion.

2. Strike a pose of your main character at the beginning of your scene as you’ve planned it. The more you physically engage with your character’s action and emotion, the more information you’ll gain from this exercise. Find two more poses for the middle and end of the scene.

3. Mentally rewind back to the beginning of your scene, and do a quick review of your strategy. What’s your objective in this scene? What information do you want the reader to take away from this scene? What feeling do you want the reader to take away?

4. Choose one element in your scene to shift in some way. You might exaggerate an action, add a new action, or try a setting that evokes a different tone.

5. Either use frozen poses again, allowing yourself to make as many as are helpful to take you through the scene’s sequence, or play through the action of the scene. Play through an active, emotionally connected summary of the scene (as opposed to moment-to-moment action).

6. Try a couple more run-throughs of the scene. You may want to try three vastly different options, or follow one idea, making it better with each iteration.

7. Even if you don’t use one of your improvised versions of the scene in your draft, you have quickly gained a large amount of information. Celebrate your progress, and then use that momentum as you head into your next drafting session.

Try On Other Creative Styles

The Who, What, & Where Experiment

FOR ARCHITECTS

Use this structured improv game to experiment with options for your next scene.

Try This

Step Into Your Character's Shoes

FOR INVENTORS

Take on your character’s mindset and play through a scene in a variety of ways in this improv game for writers.

Try This

Improvised Storytelling

FOR COLLABORATORS

Create a collaborative scene with a partner, using their questions to help you better understand your main character’s point of view.

Try This

The Writer’s Journey

The Writer’s Journey

by | Feb 8, 2019

Recommended Book: The Writer's Journey

By: Christopher Vogler

 

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 THE Writer’s Journey

By: Christopher Vogler

ISBN: 978-1932907360

QUESTIONS EXPLORED:

  • Where do stories come from?
  • Why do we need stories?
  • How do storytellers find the deeper meaning in stories? 

WHAT I LOVE:

 When discussing Joseph Campbell’s insights about stories worldwide, writers encounter dual layers of meaning.

First, we see story itself. When we step back and look at stories from around the world, and over the span of thousands of years, what patterns emerge? These patterns are certainly helpful in the construction of a solid, meaningful story. In Vogler’s book, writers will find deep insight to help them consider character development, plot, and much more.

Second, on a personal level, writers will also encounter themselves. When considering what makes a story meaningful, it’s only natural to add a second question. What makes this story meaningful to me? The journey of finding those points of connection with our artist’s heart often leads us to face challenges. They may be irritations, threshold guardians, or true foes, the enemies we find in the dark of our inmost cave.

I particularly like The Writer’s Journey as a lens for looking at my writerly development because Vogler applies Campbell’s rich constructs directly to the writing process and the writerly life. This book is one to study and to savor. 

PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION:

The updated and revised third edition provides new insights and observations from Vogler’s ongoing work on mythology’s influence on stories, movies, and man himself. The previous two editions of this book have sold over 180,000 units, making this book a classic for screenwriters, writers, and novelists.

Buy from:

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