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Exercises
Player A establishes an activity using oblique offers. Player B joins in when the activity becomes obvious. Both players go deeper into the details of the activity without advancing the plot.
Exercises
Players stand in a circle. A theme word is given. Players step into the circle and act out an associated word, phrase, or concept. The other players guess what the associated element is.
Topics
establishing the location using space work
When playing in imagined-world stories, engage with the physical environment through space work. This avoids the trap of talking heads and introduces elements that can be reincorporated later on. If spects seem uncertain about the location, clarify it with a defined offer.
Topics
getting a spect to hand you an object without telling them to do so
In medical dramas, there’s a classic scene in which a surgeon is about to operate. He holds out his hand, says “Scalpel,” and a nurse gives him a scalpel. This same approach can be used to get spects physically activated. It’s called, appropriately enough, the scalpel.
Topics
talking about the activity that’s being done
When you talk about what you’re doing, that’s subtitling. We already know what you’re doing. Talk about something else. Focus on the relationship.
Exercises
Paired players face each other. One is the leader, the other the follower. The follower reflects the moves of the leader. After a while, they switch who leads and who follows.
Topics
People are like icebergs. There’s often more that lies beneath the surface. When a scene feels flat, go beneath the surface and read more into it. Assume that something significant underlies what the other character has said or done, and respond to that. Even if there wasn’t an intended subtext, respond as though there were.
Topics
talking too much, to the detriment of the scene
When a scene suffers because the players are talking too much, this is “talking heads.” Talking a lot isn’t inherently bad, but if it impedes the story, it helps to know how to address the issue.
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