Promoting Passion Week 81: Storytelling Collaboration, Week 1

brookeshaden — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 14:53:22 +0000

Model: Jane Love

Let’s collaborate on an art project! This is WEEK 1, so jump right in! Here is how it works.

WEEK 1

Write a story, true or not, in roughly one-two paragraphs. From those stories I will choose one for us to be inspired by, and the following week, we will all create an image (or any art!) based on that story.

WEEK 2

Create art based on the chosen story. Submit it in the comments of my blog after I release the next video. The top 3 interpretations will be chosen plus featured on my blog, and the first place winner will receive a personalized package from me containing one of my costumes.

Here are my top tips for storytelling:

1. Know your character. A character can be anything from a person to an animal to an inanimate object. Think of character as the main subject of focus in your story. It should have an arc. For example, often that means the character will make a tough decision, go on a journey, or discover something about him or herself. Understand who that character was, why you are choosing this particular moment to write about that character, and where that character is going.

If you are writing a true story, still consider each of these things. Often they lead to the most compelling part of a story which helps to narrow your focus on what to include in the narrative.

2. Connect the dots. It always helps me to think, as simply as possible, in terms of beginning, middle, and end. For example, I ask myself the following questions: How did my character end up here? What is stopping my character from getting what he/she wants? How will my character resolve the problem?

3. Find the theme or moral. Every good story has an overarching theme to it, or something that a viewer can connect with because they inherently understand the point the story is trying to make. Often this comes in the form of a moral, or a lesson to be learned from the story. Other times it comes from a motif, or a recurring tone that the story takes on which lets you know it is dealing with a bigger picture.

Great movie examples of this would be The Lord of the Rings or Alice in Wonderland. In the Lord of the rings the moral is that truth, honesty and goodness will win. In Alice in Wonderland, the theme is magic and the importance of believing in the impossible.

Post your stories in the comments of this blog post, and have fun!

This isn’t about finding the best writer, just the most compelling story. Put yourself out there in a new way this week. Embrace it!

Good luck!

Promoting Passion Week 57: Write Your Story

brookeshaden — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 14:33:42 +0000

What if we lived every day as though we were writing a new page in a book?

Has your story already started? How will you continue it? What messages do you want it to convey? What is your character like? Where does it take place? What conflicts do you run into? What makes you sing with joy?

The simple fact is that most people don’t see their lives as a story. So many people sit back and let life happen instead of taking control and sculpting it to be as they wish. A writer would never simply scribble words down on the paper without thinking about their meaning. A photographer does not idly point and click and hope to find a masterpiece in their camera. And so should a person take from the same ideology, that instead of waking up each day and going through the motions of life, take control and live it.

I believe that seeing life in this way will help the artist in anyone. It doesn’t matter if you create art traditionally or not: everyone is part artist because an artist is someone who sees the world a little bit differently and acts on it. So everyone has an artist within, and it is up to each individual if they release those stories. By understanding how to not only see, but live life with more intent and more story, you begin to understand more about how stories are told, why they are worth living, and how to put that out into the world.

1. Think of each day as a new page in your book. Just as a writer would not write a new page for no reason, we should not live our lives for no reason either. Try to do something each day that furthers your story – that moves you forward and incites emotion or change. Do something unexpected, or kind, or witty, or scary. Do something that you find interesting. And write down what that thing was.

2. Define what kind of character you are or want to be. Are you strong and bold? Weak and timid? Shy but fearless? How would you describe the character you are playing now, and how would you describe the character you want to be? Who are your favorite characters from books, shows, movies? And why do you love them so much? I am always changing the person I am into the person I want to be, and I will never stop because my life experiences change how I see the world. Strive to write yourself into the character of your dreams.

3. Every character needs a good story arc. Create a goal for yourself or for your art, or both! When you create a dream for yourself, your days are spent contributing to the fulfillment of that dream. Every character in a movie, TV show or book will have a goal they are trying to achieve – it could be an epic saga, a huge journey, or personal growth – and very often, it is many things rolled into one. So set a goal for yourself and work to achieve it every single day so that your book pages are filled with meaning.