Many forms of creative media are not just restricted to solo work. Collaborative works between several authors are a long standing and valid way of creating and sharing stories. For this activity you will be starting with the basic premise of a story and crafting the first few lines. Then you will pass it along to either a friend or family member and ask them to contribute the next part of the story. After they finish, they will then pass the story along to the next person who will contribute. As such, it acts as an opportunity to be creative on the fly and learn how to work together with other to reach a desired end goal.
STEPS:
1) Seek. Find 2 or more family members or friends willing to help you with this exercise. It’s probably best to keep the overall number of people seven or lower.
2) Brainstorm. Think for a minute or two to identify an overall concept or idea for a quick story you would like to tell. Share your idea with the group.
3) Grab a timer! Begin a timer and over the next half hour to forty-five minutes you will all work together to form a group narrative.
4) Start writing. Begin the activity yourself and write the opening paragraph of the story. Then, hand it over to the next member of the group and they will contribute a similar length of writing to the text. So on and so forth, going in a complete cycle until either you reach an end point or the timer runs out.
5) Reflect. Review the completed piece and see where you ended up in the grand scheme of things. Reflect on what you liked and didn’t like about the process.
By Jake Semerdjian
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