‘All stories are fundamentally about a 5 second moment of change.’
-Matthew Dicks
That change is often Internal.
Personal
Sometimes foundational to that character’s understanding of their world, & therefore themselves as a person alive in it.
What do they change their mind about?
What do they do about it?
Storytellers’ job is those moments.
Build the context, honour the moment, & follow it through.
Don’t half ass it.
Let’s call this game Zooming Out (co-op possible, would be better in person):
Play the tape in your minds eye of the most impactful 5 seconds of change you can.
then do it again for a completely different moment of change.
Write them down, and another as well.
Hell, make it a dozen.
20 if you’re bold (and we know fate’s a sucker for it)
You now have a list of your best ideas of a moment that matters.
Pick one to explore.
I don’t care how.
Now flesh it out.
What do they change their mind about?
What do they do about it?
What story to they stop telling themselves?
What story do they start telling?
What happened to lead us here?
What’s about to happen because of this?
Where are they?
Who with?
How was it before?
How will it be different now?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Come up with as many answers as you can for those or any other questions.
Same moment, different stories.
Different people / motivations / consequences / relationships / contexts / worlds / stories.
Play with the combinations.
Who? With/against whom? For what reasons?
What are they going to do about it? Then what?
One thing I try not to do:
Try not to worry too much about what it means until after it exists.
Come with questions, not with answers.
We’ll find out what it is later by writing it.
Then, after enough separation to distract from its creation.
Read it.
Experience your work.
Be your own first audience.
Then decide what it means to you
& work out how to do that with more conviction & craft.
Thank you for reading.
If you’d like to make it a conversation, please feel free to reply.
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