I am a little behind on posting the inaugural episode of Season 2. My time blindness convinced me that I could learn an entirely new editing platform and crank out an episode in 2 hours.

This turns out not to be true.

But we soldier on!

In Season 2 we will be exploring more of the nuts and bolts of story creation while bringing in some of the awareness work that we covered in Season 1. In today’s episode, we are looking at the RULES OF THE UNIVERSE (…verse verse verse verse…) and the different methods of portraying those rules for your audience.

As usual, the first step in defining rules of the universe is by becoming aware of how the rules function in real life. I give a few examples in this episode that are worth checking out for your own entertainment if not edification.

First, a nod to Mike Judge who brilliantly breaks the first rule I offer- Show Don’t Tell. Somehow that guy seems to find ways of showing AND telling with painfully funny insight. I give you the opening section from Idiocracy.

Rowan Atkinson’s character Mr. Bean has a way of defining the rules of his specific universe by transgressing upon every one of them. While this is at the heart of most of Atkinson’s comedy, this scene (accessed through the link above) illustrates it beautifully.

Finally, this social experiment highlights a feature of human behavior that explains why understanding the Rules of the Universe in your storytelling is integral to your story’s effectiveness. I feel safe in assuming that your stories are FOR human beings. To earn the trust of your audience, you must acknowledge social realities and be true to them even when the world you may be creating is utterly fantastical. We respond to what we relate to!

Thanks for joining me for the first episode of Season 2. If you are interested in exploring Writers’ Groups or Memoir Workshops, I offer several options through my theatre company, Playful Substance. We are also active on Instagram as @playfulsubstance. This podcast is offered for free through my Substack Unreliable Narrator where you can support our work by becoming a free or paid subscriber.

You can always message or comment here! Reach out. I’d love to hear from you!

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