We founded Enigmatic Events Collective on a love for storytelling. We are avid consumers and creators of tales both large and small. From the simplest one-person Fringe show to the longest Role Playing campaign we’ve ever run, we love telling and hearing compelling stories. 

Storytelling by parts

For the last few weeks, on our Social Media, we have been highlighting components we think make narratives interesting. Giving characters motivation, really setting the scene, and building to a climax that pays off all culminate into a narrative that folks can connect with. Stories are not only a source of fun, but also are a vehicle for connection. If a narrative can make an audience or its actors connect to the material, or even just find it interesting, they can better empathize with its subject material. While personal change and empathy may not be the goal of all art, the formula for creating something successful still requires reeling in the audience.

Character

When talking about media, we often ask “Who’s your favourite character?” My favourite member of Vox Machina is Grog, my favourite Friend is Chandler, and my favourite Hobbit is Pippin. We choose favourites for many reasons, but what that boils down to is that the characters themselves are often the most important parts of the story. Without their emotional journeys, we would simply have plot! And a plot with no empathy is empty and unfulfilling.

Creating a character can be as simple as putting on a silly voice and adopting a new physicality. However, there are countless pieces that make up a person! The depth to which a character can be explored may not be the same in every format, but a grandmother from a two minute improv scene must still seem to exist in the same way that an Oscar-winning, historically-inspired performance of George VI does. When creating a character, it is important to consider what parts of them make them this character. Think about their age, style, ability to move and speak, their connections to others (be it their children and grandchildren, or everyone listening to a particular radio program). You have free reign: there will only ever be one version of this character in the way that they are being created, so you have free reign.

Natasha sat with her green hair up and one leg crossed over the other. She was working; for now…

Motivation

Now that we know who is in the story, we can navigate why they are there. Even without knowing the setting, we can infer what part of the story would be most interesting for audiences to see. Watching someone attempt to achieve their goals, create something, or establish connection are all great forms of entertainment! So what does each character want or need to do? Perhaps grandma wants to reconnect with her estranged sister at the family reunion. King George wants to get his message to listeners across clear and strong. The motives of the characters are what will create the eventual emotional catharsis of the climax. The payoff of a story is always the success or failure of a particular goal, and if your audience is invested in the character’s goals, then they will keep watching.

This morning she had set out to do one thing: write a damn blog.

Setting

Where a story takes place does not always matter. A gas station can just be a gas station. But the reason a setting can make a difference to a story is that it provides some structure to the social parameters of a situation. Wherever the scenario takes place, there are constructed understandings of what happens within that space. What is expected from a character at a gas station would be different than seeing them at a romantic dinner.

In so many improv scenes, we start by asking an audience for a suggestion of a place. The setting they suggest becomes a sort of social contract for those in the scene. We set up expectations, just by knowing where we will be. It can be interesting to think about whether characters will conform to or defy these expectations, and what that could mean for the rest of the drama that plays out next…

The office she had recently renovated filled with the sounds of lo-fi. The binaural beats helping to focus her mind on the words she wrote.

Circumstance

Throughout a narrative, it is vital to remember the greater world around the narrative frame. The characters, setting, and every relationship within this tale is influenced by how the world works around them. Thinking about what year it is, what tensions are in the environment, possible emotional or economic stresses in a scene can contribute to the journey. Every piece matters.  

This whole thing was taking longer than expected, and the lo-fi wasn’t doing much to cover the intrusive sounds of construction from down the block, or to quell the feeling of unease at the state of the world. But still she typed…

Climax

The reason we consume stories isn’t just so we can enjoy a romp in a fantasy world. We live for the payoff! The final moments of success or failure before the end of a story are what make the whole thing worth it. Using the character motivations and the circumstances in the created world, the narrative has set up a task to be accomplished or an issue to be conquered. Audiences want the catharsis of seeing this completed! The ring must be thrown into the fires of Mount Doom, Belle must tell the Beast she loves him, John Tucker MUST die. We know what has to be completed (or failed) and the high point of the story is where characters must use every last thing they have to push through and execute the task. 

It doesn’t need to be a battle. 

Sometimes, it can be as simple as an acknowledgement: “I’m sorry”

Sometimes, it can be a connection: They hug

And sometimes, it doesn’t even need to work: “I can’t do this”

Audiences just need to have a finality; a conclusion. We need satisfaction that something has happened. We crave growth, and narrative allows us to explore an entire cycle. We’ve met the characters, seen their wants and needs, and followed their circumstances from place to place. The climax is the point of the story circle where everything comes back together; wraps itself up. This is the final encounter. Make it count.

It was done. The construction went on, but the words did not.

Natasha shut her laptop.