Constraints

How do you approach constraints in your storytelling?

With frustration?

With joy?

Or with curiosity?

Storytelling is often a fine balance between freedom and constraints.

You want the freedom to let the story flow but there are often constraints which you have to work within.

Constraints can feel negative but they can also be a way to free your creativity. If you force a subject and a constraint together then your brain will start to make connections.

For example, in my workshops I do an exercise around framing questions - a single question that sums up someone’s story. I use a set pattern that I ask people to follow - at least in the beginning. It’s always fascinating to see how people approach it.

Some consider it as a cage, as though once written down nothing can ever change.

Some write a sentence that’s generic and bland and therefore gives them nothing to play with.

Some refuse to do it at all saying their story can’t be summed up in a single sentence. (I’m one of those people - and it’s usually because I don’t know what my story is yet.)

Others choose to play with it, selecting words and phrases that conjure images and feelings that they can continue to play with as they continue working through their story.

And some see it as a starting block, a place to start from that can grow with them and their project.

I can tell when people have found the right sentence because they light up and ideas start to pour out.

If you don’t have a constraint then give yourself one. You might be surprised to see how it opens your mind.