How to start a story

The group of students should close their eyes and be in one silent concentration in a quiet room. The teacher is the guides the experiment by telling following story. Between every sentence, there should be a rather long pause so the imagination of the individuals in the room can have a free flow. In a first series of sessions, you can do version A of the exercise which concentrates on the free flow of original starting points or plot points without having a further goal or target. Only when this goes well, without self judgement, go to version B of this exercise

Teacher:

“Think of an event you experienced this morning. For example while waking up, during breakfast, on you way to somewhere… That event can be very simple an elementary like something you saw, an interaction with something or someone, something that drew your attention…

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Make the event even shorter. Keep only the essential part of it, a single action with a single emotion attached to it.

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A: Connect the elementary event and emotion to a movement you will make or do in a moment. Just draw all your attention to the part(s) of your body that will execute the movement and than imagine yourself doing that movement in the space around you.

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Execute the movement you imagined before. Try not to think, not to judge. Just do it. Amuse yourself while doing it.

B: Use this event to start a totally new story. As a variation you could use it as a plot point as well. First do it in the same group silence. Take your time. Than, in a second step, every individual can tell his “event” to the group. Next, in a new silent moment you can connect other events you remember from your group members to your event in an way you don’t interpret the new situation. Only now the individuals can write down their sequence of events and emotions an fill up the gaps by interpreting what could have happened in between.