From ‘101 Drama Games and Activities’
Age: 7 to adult
Players: Whole Group, Small Groups, Pairs
Time: 10 minutes
Skills: Storytelling, Speaking and Listening, Co-operation
A story is told, with each person adding one word at a time.
In a circle, the story is started, with each person in turn adding one word. It usually starts with ‘Once – upon – a – time’. The idea is to keep your thoughts free flowing, so that you don’t try to guess what is coming or force the story in a particular direction. It is not always easy to maintain a logical flow for the story, although it is always amusing. If the group is too large, break into smaller groups or pairs.
Variations
- Players can say “full stop/period” to end a sentence
- Play the game in pairs, where both participants act out the story as it is told. In this case, tell the story in the present tense and as ‘we’. For example, ‘We – are – climbing – a – mountain. – Look – a – giant -spider – coming – towards – us. Quick – run!’ You can soon create an adventure story in this way. You can also use the one word at a time technique to create characters made up of two or more people – great fun for interview scenes!
- Throw or roll a ball around the circle in any order. Add your word then pass the ball to the next person. (This variation ensures that players pay more attention)
Play Online
Using Zoom or other video-conferencing software, demonstrate the game with around five students (making sure they are unmuted). Give each student a number so that they know whose turn it is. Then divide the class into break-out rooms to play the game in small groups.
Socially Distanced
The game can easily be played if students are spaced out on a grid (marked on the floor) or at desks. They can then play the game in small groups or as a whole class.
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It’s an age-old game: Take turns telling a story one word at a time. But has it been done in Dovahzul yet?
The rules are as follows:
- One word per post. It should relate to the story being created. That means you should leave room for other players to add on to the sentence unless you intend to end the sentence.
- End the sentence only at places where it would make sense, and anyone can end a sentence by typing a period (or «full stop») at the end of their word.
- Canon Dragon Language dictionary only. No Legacy Dovahzul words!
- Each new post should be a single word, but compound words are acceptable. That means you can say grah, or you can say grahsemindolle if you want. Names are also allowed, but only those relating to the Elder Scrolls series. (Multiple-word names are allowed in one post.)
- No runes. (I’ve heard that some people have trouble with them on mobile.)
- If you want to say something other than the word you’re submitting, type it in parentheses and make sure it’s seperated from your word. I recommend making your word stand out if you do this, possibly by typing it in bold or a larger font size.
- Wait at least two posts before posting again. We don’t want this to become a game of tennis between two users. If that sounds like fun (and I admit it does), take it to Private Messages.
These rules are subject to change depending on how this goes.
I’ll start our story here:
Dovahkiin
(this exercise was co-created as part of a collaboration day between myself and Geoff Watts)
Timings:
About 5-10 mins for new teams, longer for more mature teams or creative types
Dead easy to set up, quick and very fun. Even more fun over beers. Sit team in a circle. Ask the team for a boy or girl’s name, a household object and a location. Write down somewhere visible if required.
The team must then make a story by only speaking one word at a time, and going around the circle.
Rules:
- The story must “flow”
- Players can add the words “full stop” to indicate a new sentence
- The story elements the team chose must be used
Learning points:
Collaboration & Emergence. Players must be able to build on the previous word successfully. Nobody knows what the story will look like at the start, and it changes based on peoples own input. Some players will throw in “bad” words which are difficult to build on. These are BLOCKS. A good collaborator can turn a BLOCK into an OFFER which allows the next players to build the story more easily and create flow.
You can read more about offers and blocks in collaboration on my blog.
Paul is the founder of Agilify, has been an active Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) since 2006, and also became only the fourth UK-based Certified Scrum Coach (CSC) in 2011.
From developer to ScrumMaster, and from ScrumMaster to Agile Coach he has been working with agile development teams since 2000.
Paul was part of the coaching team which took on one of the largest agile transformations to date in a major UK telecoms company in 2003 and since then has been training and coaching other organizations, teams and individuals across the UK and Europe.
On one of the communities I used to visit alot, we made a thread where every post was one word and we would all pitch in to make a story.
(Example Post 1: Once)
(Example Post 2: Upon)
(Example Post 3: A)
(Example Post 4: Time)
And on and on. Its pretty fun.
Rules and Exceptions:
- And I think any word that is written must be atleast 3 letters long to be considered a word. «a» shouldn’t be considered one word, but «big» should, and anyone who posts something like «a» should be able to post another word. (it’s, is’nt, etc… are included)
- Do not end a sentence unless you can start a new one in the same post.
e.g.
Do’s: . Because
Don’ts: because.
Forget about a plot! The way these work is that they are almost randomly created, for example:
He
was
flung
across
the
sky
into
a
ginormous
apple
pie
When you read these stories you should be like, «Wtf?»
Seriously =D
By the way, threads like this are the reason I thought you should add a forum where posts are not counted Kerm, that way we could do stuff like this without being accused of trying to balloon our post count 
We should also quote the complete story at the end of each post, eg:
baking
Quote:
He was flung across the sky into a ginormous apple pie baking
a
Quote:
He was flung across the sky into a ginormous apple pie baking a
Quote:
He was flung across the sky into a ginormous apple pie baking a
you have to be sure it is at least RELATIVELY correct. Seriously…
We should start one now just with «Once Upon A Time»
I’m assuming you’re talking to me…What did I do? *Sigh* Sorry in advance 
Ok, lets use this: Kerms calculator collection was stolen.
First Word: Once
Upon
Quote:
Once Upon
NO PLOT!!! GAH!!! It should be a WTF? story!
Its ok Groene, that actually does make sense now that I think about it (an apple pie who is a banker, who woulda thunk it?)
Moment,
Quote:
Once upon a moment,
penguins
Quote:
Once upon a moment, penguins
took
Quote:
Once upon a moment, penguins took
um, Harq…Kerm said baker, and now that I think about it…It made no sense at all
apart
Quote:
Once upon a moment, penguins took apart
their
Quote:
Once upon a moment, penguins took apart their
super
Quote:
Once upon a moment, penguins took apart their super
duper
Quote:
Once upon a moment, penguins took apart their super duper
trashcans
Quote:
Once upon a moment, penguins took apart their super duper trashcans
of
Quote:
Once upon a moment, penguins took apart their super duper trashcans of
pain
Quote:
Once upon a moment, penguins took apart their super duper trashcans of pain
. This
Quote:
Once upon a moment, penguins took apart their super duper trashcans of pain. This
Include the previous punctuation if you need to!
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Synonyms
Word At A Time Story.
Introduction
Please form a circle.
Description
Word At A Time is both an exercise, a handle and a structure that can be added to another structure. Here we discuss the exercise version of this structure.
Each player contributes one word at a time to create a sentence. For example, the first player may say “Once.” The next player in the circle could say “upon.” This process continues until a complete sentence is created. “Once upon a red mat.”
For beginning improvisers the leader will usually stop at the completion of each sentence for a quick repeat before moving onto the next sentence. Run on sentences can be a problem. Run on sentences can usually be controlled by encouraging the players to avoid using “and” or “but.” These conjunctions are a bit of a scourge in Word At A Time story.
Another challenge with players is trying to be funny. Improv comedy happens best by accident. Players should try and hit the next most likely word, not what they think is the funniest word. Word At A Time quickly exposing funny words because of how they disrupt the story more than help it. The leader should be careful to not squash creative spirit, but guide the players towards being boring and predictable.
Every element of LACE (Listening. Accepting. Commitment. Expand.) can be observed quite acutely in this structure. Clearly players must be listening to the preceding word. The results are stronger if the player is also listening to the emotion, and context of ALL the preceding words. Players that are challenged with accepting offers will often contribute words that don’t fit or try to steer the narrative in a preconceived direction. Pausing between words can be due to self judgement and immediate responses help work on commitment. The benefit of expanding versus exploding offers can be demonstrated by the strength of cumulative small steps letting the comedy happen by accident.
Word At A Time allows the leader to expose and play with notes regarding the tool LACE. Be careful not to extinguish the joy of discovery by hammering home super duper important learning points.
As players become more experienced the leader can focus on elements of narrative using this Word At A Time. If players are exercising LACE and the stories are still falling short it is likely because of missing narrative elements. Learn Improv uses the narrative tool STEPS (Setting. Ties. Exploration. Propulsion. Sort). Initially the players can pause after each sentence and discuss which element of STEPS the sentence contributed to.
Word At A Time allows the leader to expose and play with notes regarding the narrative tool STEPS. Be careful not to extinguish the joy of discovery by hammering home super duper important (to you) learning points.
Does grammar matter? Does it ever? The story works better in the correct tense. However most of us cannot write using the correct tense. Some groups will insert punctuation as the next word. This is fine and it is especially good for audiences and early learners.
If a player is having a difficult time with this exercise make it clear that they can insert a gibberish word or a grunt instead of a word. It is remarkable of how little impact this has on comprehension of the sentence created.
Gimmicks
- None
Variations
- Two groups of players have a Word At A Time conversation.
- Play in pairs instead of a circle.
- Cross Circle – All players must listen because the next word is randomly assigned.
- Gibberish – This structure can make sense in gibberish.
Credits
None