Transcripts
1. Story Walks: Developing Stories on the Move: Hi and welcome to Story Walks: Developing Stories on the Move. Writers of all
abilities get stuck. It's part and parcel of telling
a strong original story. There will always be moments of thought and reflection
and wondering, and this is totally normal. But there is a really simple way to help that process along. It's one of those things
that will seem totally obvious to those
who are already doing it, but revolutionary to
those who aren't. The thing I'm talking about it walking, or more specifically, walking with creative purpose, something I refer to
as story walking. I'm Kate Willis Crowley and I'm a children's writer
and illustrator. I also go by the
name inky Willis. In this short Skillshare class, I'm going to guide you through
my story walking process, a super straightforward
strategy which I use to develop story ideas and
fix story problems. For storytellers who are able
to walk without discomfort, this can be a hugely
successful and useful strategy for boosting creativity and
beating writer's block. If you're a sticking point
with your story development, then stick with me. Sorry, that's a really bad pun. This won't take long and it's gonna make a whole
world of difference.
2. About Story Walking: Many successful writers past and present have used walking
to spark creativity. And a little research
has shown me, this goes way beyond writing. Am article in
the journal Frontiers in Public Health suggests
a strong link between the development of complex human cognition and the development of
our ability to walk. Meaning that when
we go for a walk, the brain structures
that allow walking also allow us to access our
cognitive creativity. Further to this, researcher, Kathy Perlmutter says
that interaction between left and right hemispheres
during walking may help explain the
inspirational benefits. And there's more. A Stanford study found that walking increased creativity in test
subjects by a whopping 60%. In this class,
we're going to look at harnessing that
creative potential in ourselves so that we can use walking for some
strategic creativity.
3. Your Project : Your project for this
class is your story. Specifically the aspect of your story that needs
developing or fixing. And that's gonna take the form of the question which you'll write down before you set
off on your journey. Step one is to write
down that question. Note that you'll need a
portable writing method. You might choose to write your question in
a small notebook, or you might choose to just
jot it down on your phone, take along wherever you're going to find most
useful. You may be wondering what kind
of question to write down. Let's look at some examples
of story questions. You get the idea. Tailor your question
to your story, write it down, stick
it in a bag or in a pocket and get
your walking shoes.
4. Planning Your Route : Planning your route. Taking a story walk involves inviting
ourselves to daydream. And when we're daydreaming, we're not necessarily taking the same precautions as we
might make when we're more alert. So keep this in mind when
you're planning your route. I tend to stick to roots that I know really well
so that my body can almost be on automatic while my brain is otherwise engaged. And obviously avoid cliffs, avoid busy roads, etc. You can walk for as little
or as long as you like. I tend to find myself for the first five minutes kind
of at my list productive, but you might find otherwise. Generally speaking, I find that walking for around 30 minutes to an hour can pretty
much guarantee me a productive outcome
for a story problem. You might want to use that
as a guideline at first, but you'll soon get a sense of your own creative timings and you can then plan
your week accordingly.
5. Let's Go: Let's go. You've got your story in
your pocket or in your bag. You've got a safe route in mind. It's time to set off. Allow yourself some time to get going. You may find at first that
your thoughts are a little distracted while you adjust
to the sunlight, the weather. Perhaps you have to
navigate a few roads before you can really
find your stride. In that case, put
your question on hold just for a moment. Then when you're really
acclimatize to your walk, ask yourself, your story
question - just think it. There's no need to bring it
out of your bag just yet. For example, let's take one
of my previous examples. How can I drop clues
that my main character's husband is being unfaithful? I'm going to let this
question ruminate for a few minutes and I'm just going to see what comes to mind. I may find that the outside world
continues to distract me, taking me away
from the question. If this happens to
you, just acknowledge the outside stimuli and bring your attention back
to the question as soon as you're able. If initially you're
thinking that question, the answers aren't forthcoming, it may help to think the words 'what if?' I find that if I think the words,
'what?' then my brain automatically tries
to finish that sentence? What if my main
character's husband starts paying more attention
to his appearance? What if he keeps working overtime. What if he's getting
twitchy around his phone? Not all of the ideas are going to be
brilliant, of course, so just let the weaker one slip away until you hit something
that intrigues you. Pull out your phone
or your notepads and making note of your answer.
6. Keep Walking: Keep walking. By this point we're part-way into
the story walk. And there's already
an idea in the bag, both figuratively and literally maybe. Now the decision
needs to be made. Do you want to keep
brainstorming answers for that initial question? Or do you want to develop
the idea that you just wrote down. Now, both options
are equally valid. I would just advise listening to your own
interests levels. If you're excited
about the idea that you've written down and
you want to see where that takes you right at this very moment
then as you walk, allow your thoughts to
focus on that new idea. Asking 'what if' questions which developed
that idea further. Or if you're not too certain that your first
idea was a winner, then just keep asking yourself
that initial question using what-if to
prompt new ideas.
7. Home Time: Home time. As you continue your journey, you may find that
new ideas emerge, which you want to
make a note of. The focus of your questioning may shift from time to time, and allow that to happen so long as it's in the
interest of your story. And eventually as your
route brings you home, you'll be able to return to your writing desk
with new ideas, new story fixes, new solutions. But what if it didn't work? Sometimes when we're feeling extreme pressure or when we're experiencing
emotional upheaval, our creativity can be hampered. If you found yourself unable
to come up with the story, fix that you want it, then don't be hard on yourself. Allow yourself to repeat the process at the
next opportunity, knowing that the
answers are there and they're going to come
when they're ready to do. Your job as a
storyteller is to be open and ready for
those new ideas. But they won't always come
easily to a stressed mind. The more you can practice story walking
without expectation, the more likely you
are to get results.
8. Thanks for Watching!: That's the method,
short and sweet, but personally speaking,
incredibly productive. Many writers are pushed for time and so it can be
quite difficult to allow ourselves
the opportunity to take time away from the desk. But recognizing that walking
can increase creativity means that actually there's every reason to go
outside to feel alive. And that's not you
taking time off, That's part of you
actively creating. I want to say a
huge thank you for watching this short
Skillshare class. If you'd like to stay
updated on future classes, just press the follow button. I'm hoping to develop more writing related
classes in the future. If there's something you'd be
particularly interested in learning about writing or
the publishing industry, then absolutely feel free to start a discussion
thread and let me know. I also have another
class that you may want to have a look at
once your story has taken shape and you're really
happy with it. It's called Getting an Agent: Making the
Leap to Agented Author. And it basically just breaks
down all those stages of searching an agent and making your submission for
representation. Lastly, if you'd like to
find me on social media, I'm on Instagram and Twitter as @inky_willis . Feel free to find me there and tag me in anything
class related. That's all from me. I hope your story
walk is inspiring and rewarding and thanks
so much for watching.
Kate Willis-Crowley, Author and Illustrator
