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From Dr
Eric Miller (PhD in Folklore) Chennai,
August 2016 Workshop on "Role-playing in
Storytelling": Notes 1 When telling
a story about a character other than oneself; that is,
when telling in 3rd person ("He/she/it did this and that...") -- First, to
prepare -- Tell the
story (tell what the character experienced, including what he/she said and
thought) numerous times -- from the point-of-view of a) the
main character in the story. b) any
other character in the story. c) any
object in the story. Then, Begin
telling the story from the point-of-view of a narrator ("He/she/it did
this and that...") -- but occasionally shift into acting mode, speaking
as characters. ************************************* 2 When
telling a story about one's own experiences That is,
when telling in 1st person ("I did this and that...") -- In this
case, you are the narrator of the story, and you are also a character in the
story. First, to
prepare -- Tell what
happened from the point-of-view of a)
yourself. b) any
other character in the story. c) any
object in the story. In these
initial tellings, there may have been a lot of reporting / summarising /
narrating, and not much acting -- not much speaking of your and other
characters actual thoughts and spoken words (not much "direct
speech") at various moments in the story. So tell the
story again from the point-of-view of yourself, but this time use as much
"direct speech" as possible.
That is: Begin in narrator mode -- but occasionally shift into acting
mode, speaking as you and/or other characters spoke at the time. --- For example,
At that point I said to
the cook, "I am going to take out the trash." She replied, "But the trash bag is
heavy. Are you sure you can carry
it?" There is
a big difference between that (narrating-and-acting), and a pure
narration/report/summary such as -- At that point I told
the cook I would be taking out the trash, but she said the trash bag might be
too heavy for me to handle. The
narrating-and-acting brings the scene to life amongst us. The narration/report/summary keeps the
event distant -- long ago and far away. A benefit
of role-playing in storytelling is that role-playing tends to help the teller
-- and thus also the listeners -- vividly imagine, experience, and feel what
characters are going through. This kind
of emotional connection can contribute to making storytelling engaging and
impactful. --- One
always has the option of turning a 1st-person story about one's own
experiences, into a 3rd-person story about a fictional character's
experiences (that fictional character would be replacing oneself). When doing this, one could follow process
1, as given above. ************************************* Notes: When
telling about personal experiences:
You know what you were thinking at various moments. You can only imagine what other characters
were thinking at various moments. You might
seek to shift into acting mode ("direct speech"), speaking as a
character, especially during emotional, dramatic, and turning-point moments
in a story. Two types
of "direct speech" are: A
character may speak to him/herself (a soliloquy), or he/she may speak to
other characters in the story. When a
character speaks to other characters, the audience members (especially
individuals one makes eye contact with) are put in the position of those
other characters. So what we are talking
about here is active "role-playing in storytelling" by the
storyteller -- and, in a sense, passive "role-playing in
storytelling" by the story-listeners. Seek to
express each character's nature and state-of-mind through unique ways of
speaking, and through unique ways of sitting/standing and moving. Exaggerate.
"Stylise": For
examples, at times: Add rhythm and
melody to a character's voice. Move
rhythmically and repeatedly. Strike a
pose and hold it as one continues talking. Remember: A narrator can become a character
temporarily and instantly, by taking on and expressing (through voice and/or
body) an emotion a character is experiencing.
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