{"id":7654,"date":"2016-03-30T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewritelife.com\/?p=7654"},"modified":"2022-02-23T15:09:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T20:09:36","slug":"5-fun-storytelling-exercises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/?p=7654","title":{"rendered":"Want to Improve Your Writing Skills? 5 Fun Storytelling Exercises to Try"},"content":{"rendered":"

Football players practice ballet. Pianists repeat small sections of music until it\u2019s perfect.<\/span><\/p>\n

In <\/span>Outliers<\/span><\/i><\/a>, it\u2019s called \u201cputting in your 10,000 hours.\u201d In <\/span>The Talent Code<\/span><\/i><\/a>, Daniel Coyle names it \u201cdeep practice,\u201d small exercises that are both challenging and repetitive. <\/span><\/p>\n

The goal: Get better, quicker. <\/b><\/p>\n

As Daniel Coyle writes in <\/span>The Talent Code<\/span><\/i>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDeep practice feels a bit like exploring a dark and unfamiliar room. You start slowly, you bump into furniture, stop, think, and start again. Slowly, and a little painfully, you explore the space over and over, attending to errors, extending your reach into the room a bit farther each time, building a mental map until you can move through it quickly and intuitively.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But what about writers? How do <\/b>we<\/i><\/b> pursue deep practice? <\/b><\/p>\n

Tired of the same advice to \u201cread more\u201d and \u201cwrite more,\u201d I\u2019ve been experimenting with my own challenging and repetitive exercises to<\/span> improve my storytelling<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the five techniques I use.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. People watching <\/span><\/h2>\n

Every Sunday, my husband and I sit at a little outdoor cafe in D\u00fcsseldorf\u2019s Altstadt. It\u2019s perfectly positioned on a busy cobblestone street. We order coffee, tie our dog under the table and watch.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every week, without fail, someone fascinating catches our eye.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like the scruffy middle-aged man with long hair, black jeans and a heavy metal T-shirt. He had band stickers plastered all over the beat-up guitar case in his hand.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s G\u00fcnter,\u201d my husband said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, definitely. That\u2019s absolutely his name,\u201d I replied.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhere do you think he\u2019s going?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe just got back from Chicago. He had an audition.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor a jazz band.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut he lied to his bandmates and said an aunt died,\u201d I said. \u201cHe was embarrassed. He\u2019s been harboring a secret desire to become a jazz guitarist, but because this is Germany and he looks like <\/span>that<\/span><\/i>, he fell into heavy metal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u2019d the audition go?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t get in. They didn\u2019t think he looked jazzy enough. He doesn\u2019t know how to improvise and he kept screeching into the microphone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On and on it goes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our ritual is part improv, part eavesdropping. It helps to have a friend during this exercise. Always <\/span>say yes<\/span><\/a> and always ask follow-up questions. This encourages you to work with <\/span>plot twists<\/b> you might not have considered otherwise \u2014 and it\u2019s a ton of fun.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Buy old postcards and photographs<\/span><\/h2>\n

Who doesn’t love reading stranger’s letters? Imagining stories untold?<\/span><\/p>\n

Flea markets, antique stores and even eBay are perfect for snagging piles of old notes. Old postcards often sell for pennies each.<\/span><\/p>\n

It works just as well with photographs. Heck, you don\u2019t even need to buy them. Just <\/span>search for \u201cantique photographs\u201d on eBay<\/span><\/a>. Don\u2019t read the description though \u2014 the story should only exist in your head.<\/span><\/p>\n

Turn off all distractions and stare at the image or letter. What immediately comes to mind? Write it down.<\/b><\/p>\n

Consider these questions or just let your mind wander: <\/span><\/p>\n