Most stories have a common structure. So common we usually don’t even have to think about it. But when we do think about it, the “story spine” is a model for a well-constructed story with:
- A beginning that establishes a routine, “Once upon a time…” “And every day…”
- An event that breaks the routine “But one day…”
- A middle that shows the consequences of having broken the routine “Because of that…”
- A climax that sets the resolution to the story in motion. “Until finally…”
- A resolution, “And since that day…”
It goes like: Once up, upon a time… And every day… And every day… But, one day… Because of that… Because of that… Because of that… Until, finally… And, ever since then…
EXERCISE
- Everyone stands in a circle.
- One person starts with “ONCE UPON A TIME…” and says a few lines that start the story, such as, “Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Ben who planted a carrot seed.”
- The next person says, “AND EVERY DAY…” such as “And every day, Ben watered and weeded his seed. And nothing came up.’”
- The next person says, “AND EVERY DAY…” such as “And every day, Ben’s family told him ‘Your carrot seed won’t grow!”
- The next person says, “BUT ONE DAY…” such as “But then one day… The carrot came up, just as Ben knew it would!”
- The next person says, “BECAUSE OF THAT…” such as “Because of that, Ben’s family said, ‘You were right!’”
- The next person says, “BECAUSE OF THAT…” such as “Because of that, Ben grew more carrots.”
- The next person says, “UNTIL FINALLY…” such as “Ben had an entire carrot farm.”
- The last person says, “AND EVER SINCE THEN…” such as “And ever since then, Ben’s carrot farm has been famous.”
— ORIGIN: Thanks to Kenn Adams. Kenn has a book published on this topic: How to Improvise a Full-length Play: The Art of Spontaneous Theatre.
