Veteran TV writer Trevor Colgan introduces his new project StoryPower, a fusion of creative perspectives that aims to empower individuals with storytelling stills.
When people find out that I write for television, the most common question they ask is… how do you go about making up stories?
This question became the inspiration behind StoryPower.
My co-creator and oldest and best friend, Stephen Byrne, has a long history in youth work, and as a career guidance counsellor. We realised there are many striking similarities in the processes and exercises an individual goes through in becoming a professional writer, and those they undertake when building a standout CV, figuring out what vocation they wish to pursue or how to master successful interview techniques.
This led us to create the Story Room Experience. The idea is to provide a welcoming and safe environment were people of all ages, and from all different walks of life, can join together and sample the rare delights and happy headaches that are unavoidable when tasked with conjuring up a story out of nothing.
But how do we go about achieving this aim?
First of all, we replicate the dynamics of a professional story room, the kind you use when working on a TV show. We have blank whiteboards and coloured markers. We break our participants into teams and then introduce them to our secret weapon: the prompt deck.
This multicoloured marvel is broken into five categories.
Genre / Character / Location / Event / Item
Each team picks a card from each of the five categories - we then give them thirty minutes to work out a story on the whiteboards.
When the buzzer sounds, they pitch their ideas to the other teams, receive feedback from myself – acting as 'Executive Producer' of the room – and take a further thirty minutes to rewrite their story and pitch again.
Our emphasis is that this is not an exam or a test - there are no right or wrong answers.
To illustrate this point, I have taken the five prompts I chose at random in the above video and created a story: Rom-com / Leader / Desert(ed) Island / Plague / Letter.
The first step in creating a story is to ask questions - tons of questions.
The obvious starting point was – Why are my characters on a desert(ed) island?
Fortunately enough, a convenient and plausible answer was available to me in the form of one of my accompanying prompt cards:
There is a plague that demands the quarantining of infected individuals.
The next question to ponder over was – how is an island full of quarantined plague victims a fertile setting for a romcom?!!
Only by trying and failing, do we ever succeed.
This led me to decide that the impact of infection and quarantine in this story, would serve as the unseen influence of Cupid and Destiny, conspiring with circumstance and situation to bring together my love interests.
The next thing to do was define the role of my main character. Working from my character prompt – he or she needed to be a leader.
That inspired me to imagine a Bridget Jones type, funny, flawed, unlucky in love but always full of optimism and good cheer. I saw her running the island and endeavouring to make it into a Sunkist paradise, full of beach parties and vacation pastimes. A fun and clever distraction for all those unlucky people forced into quarantine, because they are suffering from a plague!
A billboard at the island airport or ferry terminal sprung to mind.
Welcome to Exile Island – Think of it as Club Med for the Incurable!
This I decided, would be a funny opening scene for the story. And that brought me onto the final prompt: A letter.
The idea occurred that the leader's love interest could be a newly arrived guest. A handsome and outspoken rebel type – think Tom Hardy, with an aesthically attractive red rash on his skin. 'Tom' would quickly go to work recruiting his fellow islanders, inspiring them to band together and overthrow their gaolers. This would lead him into drafting a letter to the outside authorities, a proclamation of intent to break free, sail back home, and to hell with their quarantine and patronising vacation distractions.
The conflict that would arise between Tom and the Bridget Jones leader type, would involve a madcap and chaotic civil war, where the future of their island 'paradise’ would be decided. Within this battle, they would of course, fall in love… and perhaps, even as a subplot, find a cure to the plague!
Ultimately, our focus is on designing a fun and engaging game. In a team setting, the prompt selection leads the participants to ask questions. These questions will ignite debate. And before you know it, the ideas are flowing - and a story is created.
Along with our core ambitions to promote teamwork and provide people with the opportunity to speak publicly and communicate and debate their ideas with others, we are always eager to remind our participants that the Experience is a place designed for them to feel comfortable with the process of trial and error. To get things wrong and come up with lousy ideas. This, after all, is the essential lesson that every person with creative ambitions must embrace and savour. Only by trying and failing, do we ever succeed. My twenty-five years of experience in television have taught me this lesson well.
Our philosophy is as follows…
-Every person is born with and possesses a unique creativity and imagination.
-These are our mental muscles.
-Much like our physical ones, they thrive and grow stronger with exercise.
In other words, the Story Room Experience is like a Bootcamp for your gray matter. Why not come and join in with the fun?
Find out more about StoryPower here
