Story Grow

Story Grow Instructions *What you need: *

1. One six-sided die

2. Person, Problem, Place cards

3. Fertilizer Deck cards

4. Blank sheets of paper or Google Doc

5. Cell phone with a timer

To Play

1. Use the Person, Problem, Place cards as a model. On a blank piece of paper, write the word ”Person” at the top and the numbers 1 through 6 down below. Do the same for “Problem” and “Place.”

2. Hand each piece of paper to any three players.

3. Each player adds one new entry and passes the card/paper to the right.

4. For the Person card/paper, think of a person that everyone who is playing would know, like a public figure, fictional character, or celebrity.

5. For the Problem card/paper, think of an escalating problem that will be hard to solve.

6. For the Place card/paper, think of a place that is real or imaginary. If it is a very specific place, be sure it is one that everyone who is playing would be familiar with.

7. Each player writes on the cards/papers, adding in a person, problem, or place. They then pass it on until each slot is filled.

8. Once the cards/papers are filled in with six potential people, problems, and places, roll a six-sided die for each card. For example, if you roll a 5 for the person list, circle the fifth person’s name. Do the same for problem and place until you have selected one person, problem, and place to begin your story.

9. Read aloud the person, problem, and place to the group.

10. Each person needs a blank piece of paper to write on. (To play without paper, create a Google doc that each player can write in.)

11. On the top of their blank piece of paper, each player writes their name followed by the person, problem, and place that was randomly selected.

12. Discuss as a group the perspective for the story. Why is this particular problem challenging for your selected person and place? Come up with a group backstory that explains the character’s motivation to solve the problem.

13. Start a timer for 5 minutes, during which time each player starts the beginning of the story on their piece of paper. Each player should create their own story based on the person, problem, place and perspective that was chosen.

14. After five minutes, each players passes their story to the person on their right.

15. Each player reads what the previous person wrote for the beginning of the story.

16. One player draws a Fertilizer Card and reads it out loud.

17. With a timer set for another five minutes, each player begins adding to the story that they received from the player next to them, incorporating the prompt from the Fertilizer Card that was drawn.

18. This is what’s called a story pass. For every story pass, each player should only read what the player immediately before them wrote, not the entire story. To ensure this happens, before each pass the players should fold their paper over so that the next writer can only see the writing of the person passing the story forward.

19. After the next section is written, everyone passes their story to the right. Draw another Fertilizer Card and add that into the next section of the story that each player receives.

20. Continue passing the story and drawing Fertilizer Cards to add in for as long as you want the story to continue. For a short version of the game, have the first person write the beginning, the second person the middle, and the third person the end.

21. Once the final section has been written, share the completed story. Offer to have each player read the section that they added in to make it a communal sharing of the collaborative story.

Environmental Version

To create local environmental stories:

1. For the Person card, think of a person that everyone in the room knows— like a public figure, fictional character, or celebrity.

2. For the Problem card, think of an escalating environmental problem that will be hard to solve and will likely impact your community.

3. For the Place card, think of places in your community or city/region that all the players will know.