Our new storytelling deck comes with a little set of instructions to get you started. Here they are – along with a couple of small crowds to get you started.
Here is a vast crowd, looking at you.
There are fifty-two cards, each a little crowd in itself.
You can lay them out as you like.
You can play with them.
The crowd is full of strangers now, but soon you might get to know some of them so well that you give them names. Some of them might look familiar already.
They are here to help you tell stories, if you wish.
You could…
Play a guessing game.
You will need a friend to play with.
Lay out a crowd of a few cards. Your friend secretly chooses a character for you to guess.
Now you ask questions, and your friend answers until you think you can guess who they chose.
Try only using questions about the things that your friend imagines that character would do instead of questions about what they look like. For example:
What would they buy in a shop, a carrot or a sword?
What would they use it for, magic or dinner?
Ask them questions
Lay out a crowd of as many cards as you like.
Ask any question you like and with your eyes closed, point.
Answer the question in the voice of whoever your finger landed on. Let them say the first thing that comes to mind. – They might not be right, but they’ll probably have an opinion.
Tell a story
You can let your crowd help you tell a story.
Start by laying down one crowd card. Pick a protagonist from that card and begin to tell their story.
In the story, they are not in a crowd. They are somewhere else. Start by saying where they are and what they are doing there.
When you need a new idea, lay another card down. Imagine everyone on it is here to listen to your story and help it along. Pick a new character to inspire you.
They could play a part, if you want a new character to join the story.
Or you could imagine what they might suggest as they are listening to you.
Maybe they can supply an item that should appear in the story next, or know about a place. Maybe they remember something that happened in the past. For example, a bear might remind you that someone in the story is very hungry, or that they could hear about a mysterious cave.
Keep going like that, and see where the story takes you.
Illustrations by Chris Riddell, text by Viviane Schwarz.
CROWDS is published by betonmond.
