Bridging fissures in the creative foundation with storyscaping

Storyscaping - building the tonal environment for a story - can be the first step for writing. It’s where we can let our thoughts become free, unfettered wanderers on the creative landscape. It allows us to paint a holistic picture of what the story may feel like without worrying about the particulars.

The process is more important than the progress and the questions are more revealing than the answers. The goal for storyscaping is to develop very general ideas from feelings and to write based on those. It isn’t about the words or the structure. It’s about the tone and creative direction. We need to focus on the general direction of the story idea without focusing on the words.

A great tool to encourage this kind of thinking is music. I believe in the power of music to inspire great thought. Music influences our souls in the right way. It provides perspective in the moment and emotions to stimulate fresh thought and intention. It’s so cheesy to think of music as a soundtrack for life, in the same way it is used for film and television. I believe it can serve that purpose though.