International Day for Sharing Life Stories

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January 1, 2008
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Sharing Stories:

Storytelling Prompts & Activities

PROMPTS

Each of these prompts can be used with 4 x 6 index cards. Have people spend 5-10 minutes free writing, in response to the topic.

1. Write about a scar.
2. Write about the time when you were the most scared you’ve ever been.
3. Describe a time in the past when your life changed dramatically.
4. Write about your earliest childhood memory.
5. Describe an especially vivid dream you’ve never forgotten (or the dream you had last night …).
6. Share a story about the first time you did something
7. Share a story about the second time you did something (or a time that you did something again).
8. Write about when you were most wrong.
9. Write about an appliance in your house.
10. Write a letter thanking someone you can’t talk to anymore.

Ask people to pair up and share what they’ve written, or ask volunteers to share their writing with the entire group.

ACTIVITIES

Grab Bag

Collect a bunch of every-day household objects, such as kitchen utensils, common nick-nacks, sewing implements, tools, a hairbrush, etc. Put the objects in a cloth bag. At the workshop, pass this bag around and instruct each person to reach in and, without looking, remove one object. Give the group ten minutes to write a true, first person story about that kind of object, on the front and back of a 4 x 6 index card. Share the stories in pairs, debriefing with everyone at the very end, or share them in the larger group.

Love/Hate*

Have each person take out a piece of notebook paper and draw a line down the middle, making two columns. At the top of the left-hand column, instruct them to write “love”; at the top of the right-hand column, have them write “hate.” Give them about 3-5 minutes to complete a list. One by one, go around the circle (or organize people into pairs, if you have limited time) and ask each person to choose one item on either the “love” or “hate” list and tell a 3-5 minute first-person story about the item (verbally). * Adapted with thanks from the BBC’s Capture Wales project.

Sensory Experience*

Sound: Bring a CD player with speakers to the class, and a variety of types of music. Hand out 4 x 6 note cards, and, in rapid succession, play about 15 seconds of three different pieces of music. Ask participants to write in first-person voice for five minutes, about whatever the music stirred up for them.

Smell: Collect a variety of items that smell strongly, such as spices, sweet things, incense, etc., and place the items in a cloth bag. Pass the bag around and ask participants to close their eyes, select an item from the bag, smell it deeply, and put it back. As above, hand out 4 x 6 note cards and ask them to write in first-person voice for five minutes, about whatever the scent stirred up for them.

Touch: Collect a number of items of various textures, like soft (a bit of cotton), scratchy (a piece of sandpaper), fuzzy (a small stuff animal), ribbed (a big of corduroy), and, as above, place the items in a cloth bag. Pass the bag around and ask each person to close their eyes, select an item from the bag, touch it, and put it back. Again, hand out 4 x 6 note cards and ask them to write in first-person voice for five minutes, about whatever the tactile sensation of the item stirred up for them.

Once you’ve done all three exercises, have participants get in groups and share their favorite piece of writing with each other. Debrief the activity with the larger group and ask a few people to share. *

Adapted with thanks from San Francisco Women Against Rape’s “Fearless Words” project.

ACTIVITY KITS

HOST ORGANIZATIONS

* Center for Digital Storytelling

* Museu da Pessoa

NAVIGATION