YES AND, A Game

When I worked as a drama coach, we played a game called, “Yes and.” We’d stand in a large circle, and I’d give the students a story prompt, such as “An elephant danced in the rain.” The students would then go around the circle and add to the story in 3 words or less.

One student might say, “Carrying an umbrella.”

Another may add, “Singing show tunes.”

It didn’t really matter what the students added, if it progressed the story forward and was appropriate. By the time we made it around the circle, we had a wild story.

Not many students liked being in the middle or the end of the story, though, because the easy answers had been taken at the beginning. We alternated at practices who started and ended so that everyone experienced the story in different stages.

At the time, the point was to help students practice impromptu lines that fit a story. It was possible in any show for a student to forget one of their lines, so if one of the other students could adlib, they could work their way back to the original story line in the middle of a production. It helped performances flow, and we had fun when we did it.

The Author Connection

Recently, on Jane Friedman’s blog, Monica Cox shared about three little words that improve revision: Because Of That.

Her blog post reminded me of the “Yes and” game because she explained that at the end of every scene, authors ought to be able to link to the next scene with the words AND THEN or BECAUSE OF THAT.

AND THEN reads like a list of events, whereas BECAUSE OF THAT “indicates that your protagonist has made a decision or taken some sort of action as a result of the scene propelling the reader into the next chapter where a consequence or obstacle will no doubt result from this choice.” (Cox)

I believe this works in all writing, children’s literature included. It’s a little too tempting to write our characters reacting to their situations, without giving them agency to make choices and see those choices impact what happens in the story. To do so, we must get in the head of children and think like a child.

If our child character doesn’t like potatoes and they are served potatoes, then what? How does the child act? We can’t just say, “John doesn’t like potatoes, and his mother served them.” That’s what is happening to him. How might John react to potatoes?

Does he swallow them anyway, after slathering them in ketchup?

Does he refuse to eat?

Does he secretly feed them to the dog?

Does he beg for different food?

The Stakes

However John chooses to react to being served potatoes tells us a lot about him. Is he obstinate, resourceful, or compliant? If John is this, then what will he do with bigger stakes?

The stakes must always be considered because something always needs to be happening, and each event must build on the previous scene. Cox encourages authors to:

1. Make meaning. Summarize the plot of each scene to show plot and emotional arc.
2. Look for connection. Which phrase best connects your scenes? “And then or because of that?”
3. Word backwards. If “And Then” is your connector, as yourself these questions:
   • Is the problem plot or emotion? Are they balanced?
   • Does your character have agency? Let your character try and try again. They rarely get it right on the first try.
   • What is the scene goal?
   • Can you identify the scene stakes?

These questions are akin to playing the “Yes and” game I used to play in drama practice with students. Now, I just need to go back to my manuscripts and make sure my scene connections are caused by character agency and create “because of that” moments. After all, isn’t that what God did for us in the greatest story ever told? We sinned—AND BECAUSE OF THAT, God sent a Savior (1 John 4:14).

Marci Whitehurst is a former educator, theater and speech coach, a children’s author, rancher’s wife, and mother of three who lives on a cattle ranch in Montana. Her passion is sharing light and life through stories, poems, and blog posts. She blogs about connecting with the kid inside all of us at www.marciwhitehurst.subtack.com. She can also be reached through her website at www.marciwhitehurst.com. Find her on Facebook at MarciWhitehurst and on Instagram marci_whitehurst