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the sense that what one does has an impact
If you’ve ever played a video game using a wonky controller, you know how frustrating it is to lack a sense of agency. The game doesn’t respond to your input, no matter how hard you mash the buttons. To feel a sense of agency, things need to be responsive to your input.
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to provide the opportunity for spects to contribute
For spects to play as co-creators, you need to allow room. If you’re so busy making offers that there’s no room for spects to contribute, they become observers. Allow room for spects to say and do things.
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When you have an idea that seems too obvious, use it. Trying to find something clever or interesting impedes the flow.
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anything outside the time or style of the story
When playing stories set in particular time periods or within particular styles, anything that is outside the time period or inappropriate to the style is an anachronism.
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clarify what the spect doesn’t understand and hasn’t asked
Next to the fear of being judged, the biggest obstacle to spects’ ability to play is not understanding what’s going on. This is to be expected. Spects start off not knowing much about the story. They’re discovering it as they go along. If they don’t understand who someone is or what’s going on, it’s hard to play. It’s doubly-difficult when there’s no reason for their character to ask for clarification. To support spects, you need the ability to recognize and answer their unspoken questions.
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Questions need answers. If you can’t come up with an answer, it limits the ways in which you can serve the spect and the story. Here are some ways to make answering questions easier.
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addressing a need before it is articulated
One of the most magical ways to make spects feel like you’re on the same page is to do a form of advance follow, giving spects what they need before they even have the opportunity to ask.
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Questions can be helpful or problematic, depending on how you use them. Before we explore how questions can be useful, let’s consider the issues they sometimes create.
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thinking of something related to something else
If you hear the word “birthday,” what do you think of? Birthday cakes? Parties? Presents? Getting old? Whatever you think of, those are associations.
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