The Creator's Playbook Podcast, Episode 84: "The Eclipse Coin" ~ Storytelling Warm Ups

The Creator's Playbook 

Episode 84: "The Eclipse Coin" ~ Storytelling Warm Ups

Hosts: My bros Steven and Robbie

This podcast has a different feel.  Here Robbie and Steven are going to show what we do to warm up for an episode by doing different prompts and coming up with ideas.  The stories are more free flowing.  Prompts are something I always struggle with.  Ruminating in my ideas and thoughts is my go to natural thought process. But there are times, after recording an episode, it seemed the ideas explored during the warm up prompts were stronger and more interesting than the actual episode.

It's fun doing these warm ups.  Challenging, spontaneous, you'll surprise yourself with what you discover.  These are also fun to do around the dinner table or on car trips.

Creator's Playbook is a story creativity podcast found on Spotify and other podcast locations.

"If you were to look behind the curtain of the production of Creator's Playbook, there are several stages that would be very obvious. Research, writing, episode preparation, recording and scheduling, down to the editing, effects, and music selection. But one thing a lot of our listeners might not know is that we actually take the art of warming up before a recording very seriously.As much research goes into our show, there is still a very real sense of improv. Because of that, we need to be in the state of mind to allow for that creative exchange to occur!

"With the holidays coming up, we wanted to record a shorter episode today and show the process we use to get our creative juices flowing! Here are several of the warm up games we've designed to get us in the creative mind-set:"Key-Prompts" - One player give a key word or phrase, the other must develop a story around this concept using the key word as inspiration. That player then gives a key word to another player, who must use the inspiration to develop another part of the story. The only rule is that each player is adding to the same world or story, until a basic story comes together."Break and Tell" - A key word or phrase is given to start the prompt. The first player must begin telling a story until they trip over their own words or pause. The next player must immediately continue telling the story from where the last player left off. The story is traded back and forth if there are only two players, or in a direction if there are more."Pass Backs" - A player gives a basic phrase as a prompt. Player two takes the prompt and develops the idea a little further, typically adding a twist or a concept. Player one then begins to describe a scene from a would-be story that illustrates the prompt as a fleshed out idea. This scene it stand alone, and the next play is a new scene for a new would-be story."Not My McGuffin" - A player gives the name to an unknown item. Player two takes the name and describes what the item is, how it is used, and why it is essential to the plot of the story the item appears in. Try these games out and let us know what we think by tagging Creator's Playbook on social media!"

Have a great week!

Sarah

 

The Creator's Playbook Podcast, Episode 76 - "Light in the Shadows" - Celtic Fairies

The Creator's Playbook 

Episode 76 - "Light in the Shadows" - Celtic Fairies

Hosts: My bro Steven and Myself

"We’ve grown up hearing about Fairies, popularized by a certain Tinker Bell who is small and sassy. Fairies have largely been commercialized, gracing children’s books, postcards, figurines, and shows. But who are the Fairies? They take many forms throughout the Celtic lands of Ireland, Scotland, The Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany. There are legends and stories, beliefs, that are shared and different. Tales that haunt and tales that warn. Join Steven and Sarah as they talk about all things fairies, creating a story, and getting caught up with the lore and mystery about these secret fiends. The book referenced in the podcast is “The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries” by W.Y. Evans-Wentz, who traveled the Celtic lands in the early 1900’s gathering testimonies and first hand accounts."

This was such a fun episode to prep!  I listened to "The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries," which is over 9 hours.  So fascinating, and it brings a whole new light to the Fairy Faith, from the Fair Folk, the Gentry, Tylwyth Teg, Pixie's, Fae and everything in between.  So much information straight from those who lived it, living at a time when the Celtic beliefs were waning in light of Christian beliefs.  If you're interested in the history of myth, folk, fantasy, and apart of what the Celts believed, this book is worth a listen.

It was hard summing up a 9+ hour book in a few minutes, and I left SOOO much out, but it was fun talking to Steven about what was in the book, and a new angle to the mysterious fairies.  I was surprised.  Nothing like what I grew up with watching Disney, but is that a surprise?   A lot of it is dark!  Really dark.

And in Creator's Playbook fashion, Steven and I had fun creating a fairy story.

You can listen to the Creator's Playbook podcast on Spotify and other great podcast places online. 

I hope you're having a great time!

Sarah

 

The Creator's Playbook Podcast: "Leprechauns in Spaaaace!!"

The Creator's Playbook

Episode 49: "Leprechauns in Spaaaace!!"

Hosts: Sarah and Michael

"Ireland is full of lore and mysticism. From fairies who are in touch with nature, luring strangers to their time transporting fairy rings. To Pooka's, ghostly horses who beckon both good and bad omens. And the legendary Finn McCool... who gains knowledge by sucking his thumb. But nothing is more symbolically tied to Ireland than the Leprechauns, magical creatures who tempt with wishes and gold. Join Michael and Sarah as they create a story surrounding the Leprechaun with possibilities beyond space and time."

This is the first episode Michael and I hosted!!

For this episode I did the writing prompt and research.  At first the general theme was going to simply be about Irish lore and mythology, but it really is so vast that each creature and theme can have its own episode, so I narrowed it down to Leprechauns, which a lot of people associate with Ireland, and it's still the month of St. Patrick's Day.  

Goodness, though I did fall down the rabbit hole in regards to Fairy Rings while researching, watched someone's "true story" retelling, and was so creeped out that night I had to sleep with a night light.  (Yes, I sleep with a night light when I'm creeped out, but on a positive note it doesn't happen that often.)  There's a lot to play with and explore in mythology, and there are so many myths and legends, etc, that it's just one big giant sand box.

Hope you can listen!  If you can I hope you find it fun and creativity inspiring. 

Sarah

 

Heads Up on the Podcast

Just a really quick update.

My brothers Steven and Robbie started a podcast last year: the Creator's Playbook.  They took a little break, but either this week or the next (the goal is this Wednesday), they will start posting episodes again.  Some exciting stuff, the official announcement isn't until the end of the month, but my brother Michael and I will be joining the podcast permanently.  We will all be hosts and each episode will be two of us, so we'll be taking turns and mixing it up.

I am announcing this early, just in case there might be those wondering if the podcast may have been abandoned.  It hasn't!!  And episodes will be starting up here really soon.

A month ago I recorded an episode with Steven, but we were trying a new program neither of us completely understood, and there was this echo default setting thing selected.  It messed up the audio a little in parts when we talk over each other.  I haven't heard it, so don't know the extent of how it sounds, but we've decided to post the episode within the next few weeks or so.  It was so much fun to record.  Hopefully we didn't talk over each other too much!!! Heh....

So we're all excited.  We decided to do this podcast fully as siblings last month.  I've got two episodes recording soon that I'm hosting, and the topics are really fun.  Planning for that.  

The podcast I was going to do with Michael is getting put on hold for now.  We've talked that it's something we would like to do, but for now Creator's Playbook is the priority.

We're still learning and growing and developing, and the podcast will get better and better as a result.  Hope you will take a listen when it comes back, or check out what has already been released.

Sarah

I'm on a 4th Creator's Playbook Podcast Episode: "Save the Cats, Save the World" :0)

"Save the Cats, Save the World" is the name of the 26th episode of the Creator's Playbook, a podcast created by two of my brothers, Robbie and Steven, and this is the 4th episode I've been on.  Steven was on vacation, so this time it was just Robbie and I doing the episode in which we created a story around a time machine.

It was a really fun episode to be on, heh, though I think at times you can hear the wheels turning in our heads.  Being on the Creator's Playbook is always an interesting experience, because I never know what we're going to create.  Honestly it's a little scary!  What if I can't create anything?!  My head was freaking out at times recording this episode!!  And it was quite the journey.  Imagine a boulder racing down a mountain bouncing this way and that, this is what this episode felt like in my head.

Robbie says this was in his top five favorite episodes he's done.  Of course this is in my top five because I've only done four. :P

But we did have a lot of fun.  And I really like where the story ends up!  I wish we got there a little sooner, but I like the ending.

So if you're curious and wish to listen, the Creator's Playbook is on Spotify and other podcasting sites.

Have a great day,
Sarah

(PS: I mentioned in a previous blog post that I'm working on developing a podcast with my brother Michael.  That's moving along, so hopefully it won't be much longer.) 

I'm on a 3rd Podcast Episode: Creator's Playbook, Episode 19, The Vigilante of Vigilantes

Creator's Playbook, which is on Spotify and other platforms, is a podcast my brother's Steven and Robbie created.  It's all about the creative process, and by the end of each podcast they've formed a story idea.

This is the third episode I've been on, the previous episodes being 6 and 12.  What was fun about this episode is that my brother Michael got to be in it as well.  Steven is in the beginning of the episode, but then leaves to help photograph a line of Jewelry my Mom has been working on (the pictures turned out amazing!!), so this episode is mainly Robbie, Michael, and I creating a story.

The episode, The Vigilante of Vigilantes, is all about extraordinary schools.  Originally we were going to make it about Magic Schools, but we broadened it, and we really love what we created by the end.  Before starting each episode none of us know exactly what's going to happen or what we will create.  It's a little nerve wrecking!!  A little crazy, but it's fun seeing what we can create by the end of an episode, and this is the first time I wanted to take what we created and turn it into a full story.

If you love the story creating process, or simply stories in general, give Creator's Playbook a listen. :0)