Wendy Ross
Wendy is a researcher at London Metropolitan University, main topic: Serendipity in higher cognitive processes. Wendy is a cognitive psychologist with an interest in how external events and accidents spark ideas. She believes that thinking is not just something that happens in our heads but something that we do in interaction with the people and things around us. She has worked on projects as varied as online experiments to ethnographic projects. The thread that runs through all her work is a fascination with the non-linear process of idea generation and making and how she, as a researcher, can understand that.
The experience was offered to six screenwriters or filmmakers from six different European countries. Here, the StoryTANK provides an opportunity to explore and shed light on the creative process.
Below, a debrief by Wendy Ross, as she reflects on her experience.
THE INCREMENTAL DEVELOPMENT OF STORYTELLING
“A recursion and slow forward change that are the essence of storytelling.”
Most research on creativity assumes that it must be radical disruption. But this kind of radical disruption is incredibly rare and not necessarily as useful as the more incremental movement, overlap, development, recursion, and slow forward change that are the essence of storytelling.
AN IDIOSYNCRATIC NARRATIVE FABRIC ?
“Decomposing the factors of narrative composition to observe their eff ects.”
What’s interesting about narrative composition is decomposing what was idiosyncratic—what could only have occurred with a specific combination of factors—and what is generalizable and repeatable. Even if they won’t necessarily produce exactly the same effects, and which could then be observed and changed.
THE CAVE
THE SINGLE ACT OF CREATING THE STORY
“What happened in the Cave will never happen again.”
What happens in the Cave will never happen again. It is in no way reproducible, with the same ideas, the same people. Even if you brought everyone together in a week, the people would be different, the ideas would be different, everything would be different. The interesting thing about creativity research is that every creative act is necessarily individual. ere is no such thing as a repeated creative act.
There’s something very pleasant about these groups that form very quickly and intensely. It’s wonderful to trust people you don’t really know, I love it!
THE FACTORY OF WORLD
REGRESSION AND TRANSGRESSION IN THE COMPOSITION OF THE STORY
“It’s really important that the space created to act out the story be a safe space for taking risks.”
There’s something transgressive about playing with the story. It’s really important that the space created for acting be a safe space; that’s what keeps it a game and allows for risks to be taken.
HUMOR AS AN ACCELERATOR OF STORYTELLING
“THE FACTORY OF WORLDS made me realize how important humor is, and by offering these safe spaces, we can go further.”
I saw a lot of humor emerge, and humor seemed to be really important in maintaining safe experiences. Whenever someone felt like they weren’t succeeding, there was laughter, not tears. ere was a lot of laughter. And it made me realize how important humor is, and by offering these safe spaces, we can go further.
