One of the strongest tools I use—be it for screenwriting, making movies, directing, or even acting—is to push myself. This is not only for screenwriters, but for independent filmmakers, actors, directors, and anyone involved in filmmaking creativity.
If you like telling stories, this will make you more skilled at telling stories to an audience. I highly recommend it to independent filmmakers because it allows you to capture feelings in the best way possible.
1. Write Your Challenge First
Before you write or record something, ask yourself: What do I want the listener to feel?
A challenge may be of different kinds:
Emotion-Based: "I want to make my audience cry."
Perspective-Based: "I want to change someone's perspective regarding grief, loss, or failure."
Character-Based: "I want to make a struggling child, a lost teenager, or a hopeful old man."
Global Audience-Based: "I'd like to create a feeling of oneness."
You do not have to make it complex. Just observe what you need to do.
2. The format of choice: Recording
Recording is the best and most interactive medium. Why? Because:
Audio engages emotionally. People are more connected when they hear voices.
You can work with tone, pauses, and emotion.
It is the nearest thing to pure storytelling.
Set a Time Limit (Suggested Duration)
10 minutes is perfect. It provides you with sufficient time to write an interesting, emotional stream.
15 to 20 minutes is the maximum. After that, the interest starts to decrease.
If you choose a very tough work out, 1, 2, or 5 minutes is my suggestion. Briefer is tougher—but more effective if done properly.
3. Writing as an Alternative (If You Prefer It)
If you like writing better than talking, test yourself with a page limit, not a time limit.
Say it in a page, two pages, or half a page.
The task is to fit all of that into that small space.
It's okay but sound is even better.
4. Make It More Engaging
Write it as if you are conversing with one person. Be personal.
Experiment with tone. Attempt soft, urgent, emotional, or calming deliveries.
Add some visuals, music, and dialogue, and it becomes a movie. Just keep in mind, you are not creating a full-scale movie here. Simple is the word.
5. Try It on a Stranger
Do not give it to relatives or friends. Rather:
Get someone impartial. Perhaps an online forum or a random meeting of individuals.
Observe how they reacted. What was their nonverbal cue?
Ask for feedback. If possible, request that they share with you in two sentences how they felt. Did they feel what you intended to communicate?
Why This Works for Every Creative
This is not a writing or recording exercise. It's a moment-by-moment storytelling challenge that allows you to:
✔ Identify emotional reactions.
✔ Improve your ability to write engaging narratives.
✔ Practice to make it an emotional impact.
✔ Establish good storytelling habits.
No matter whether you're a writer, actor, or director, this exercise develops storytelling habits. I believe in this process—it has radically altered the way I construct stories. Try it. Challenge yourself. And see what happens. Now I'm seriously wondering—how do you really tell a story? Are there any techniques or tiny tricks that make a story leap off the page?
If you have a mind to share, I would greatly appreciate knowing what works best for you in sharing a good story.
2 people like this
This is a great challenge, Somay Gupta! "Before you write or record something, ask yourself: What do I want the listener to feel?" I ask myself something similar when I write scenes and dialogue. I ask myself "what emotion(s) do I want the reader to feel?"
Great action lines can help a story leap off the page. I used to write plain action lines, and it bored readers. Something like, "She runs through the room." Now, I'd write that same action line as something like "She bolts through the room, crashing into furniture. The only thing on her mind: get out!."