The Writer’s Playground Series – The Story Spine

Thank you for joining us in The Writer’s Playground series!

Here we run through writing games to spark imagination and sharpen your craft.

Today’s Exercise is

The Story Spine

  • Objective: To practice fundamental story structure.
  • How to Play: Based on the classic Pixar story formula, each person in the group takes one line of the structure and fills it in to build a collective story.
    1. Person 1: “Once upon a time, there was…”
    2. Person 2: “And every day,…”
    3. Person 3: “Until one day,…”
    4. Person 4: “And because of that,…”
    5. Person 5: “And because of that,…” (Repeat this line as needed)
    6. Final Person: “Until finally,…”
  • Best for: Understanding plot beats and causal chains in narrative.

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