Story Chapter 18 - Advance/Extend

 We do this exercise in theatre sports called Advance/Extend. You play a scene and off-stage someone calls out whether you are to advance or extend the story we're playing out. To extend the story is to give more detail and look more in-depth at the characters. To advance the story is to move on to whatever is going to happen next.

Something I'm trying to consider as I work through my story this year is when to extend and when to advance. And sometimes even how to advance- when I've done all the extending I can but seem to be stuck.

What I'm finding is that it's easy to advance on the small stuff- but so much harder on the big. It's easy to move forward when you know what's coming next- but not so easy when you don't know- or when there is a risk involved. It's easy to extend a story that's right in your comfort zone- but not so easy when it's a tender subject.

It's important to extend the story to look at things in-depth and make a small study of them so you have a better understanding of yourself and have the information needed to go forward. But you need to get to that advance stage or else the frustration builds and you feel like you are treading water. This can also be complicated by the rest of the cast in the story- if they aren't ready to advance- this holds you back and that also is frustrating.

To really improve my story I need to dare to advance more... and extend less. I know what I need to do- I've figured out 'the thing I cannot do'- and now I need to be courageous enough to do it.