Story 1 : Last summer I had visited my sisters place in Bengaluru. Enroute, I happened to take a turn which wasn’t permitted. Cop caught me and wrote a ticket. I agreed to pay, but he had no intention of letting me go easily. He insisted to leave the vehicle in police custody and take it next day. After lot of pleading he allowed me to take.
Story 2 : In my team of five, there are two people with similar nature. Both are dominant, heavy headed and the kind of people who wants to be heard first. It is either their way or no way. One is manager and another is engineer. Any new idea presented, doesn’t always move forward because they both fail to reach a consensus.
Story 3 : In my apartment, we can often hear conversations from other near by houses. One night we heard a voice of man shouting at his wife. Soon it followed with a sound of wife crying. It continued for few days, with wife crying from night to dawn. One day when the husband woke up, wife wasn’t there anymore.
If you observe carefully, in each of these stories there is a power equation. Either the equation is well balanced between both or it is more leaning towards one than the other.
Playing with power equation is a powerful tool in story telling. If you want the story to move forward then shift the balance of the equation. What it does is, it gives story an option for catharsis. Of course you need to support this change with a narrative.
What is even more useful would be to apply the same tool in real life. If you observe your interaction with people around you, you will soon realise that there is power equation in every relationship. There is a power equation between you and your manager, you and your spouse, you and your pet and so on.
Now with this awareness you may want to play with power equation to move your story forward.
What equations do you want to change?
Loopy Thoughts 