The Brave Skill of Defining

A GIFT FOR YOUR PARTNER

Defining unseen details in a scene is a gift to your partner. Seeing the poster on the wall or the footsteps of the Giant gives the scene direction. Ignoring the details removes possibilities for adventure and exploration. 

While other performers search for a “great story” by putting pressure on themselves to create conflict, great improvisers light the way towards memorable moments with the elements ignored by everyone else. 

Definition connects the audience and performers with clear understanding of the location, who the characters are, what the world around them is about and where their paths might lead. Without the details there is fog and confusion and stories with multiple legs walking in every direction but getting nowhere.

Early in the scene, the details create reasons for things to happen and it seeds the story with fertile possibilities when the end of the tale is at hand. The details become inspired solutions when there was “no possible hope” for the hero to overcome the final obstacle. You won’t have those magic moments, without the bravery to create details early in the story.

The enemy to this brave work is something called, “WIMPING”.

reflection of woman on glass

Wimping

Answer the phone. Your Mother asks who you were talking to. You pause, then say, “Uh, it was a wrong number.”

After your journey through the dark forest, your partner asks what’s that object on the pedestal at the tomb. You answer, “I’m not sure.”

When you say  you “don’t know”, and when you don’t define, you are doing what Keith Johnstone called WIMPING.  

 Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary. defines WIMP as::

  • wimp, n: a weak, cowardly, or ineffectual person

    Additionally:
  • A timid or unadventurous person
  • A person that lacks confidence, is irresolute and wishy-washy

 Keith defined Wimping as a failure to define. Where “blocking” is a fear to go into your partner’s offer, Wimping is a fear to commit to your own  ideas.

Fear that our idea isn't good enough

Why it Matters

Wimping holds the story back. The fear to define, forces the responsibility for definition onto your partner and if your partner wimps as well, then there’s absolutely nothing for the audience to collectively understand.

In the short term, wimping messes up stories because no one knows what to do in the uncertain fog. In the long term, it breaks trust in the group because no one feels safe being abandoned or forced to carry all the responsibility to paint the scene.

Some groups even ban the use of questions because many of those questions are tools used by the fear filled mind to deflect the responsibility to move the scene forward. 

Weak questions:

  • What are we going to do next? {WIMPING}
  • Can you read this? I don’t understand Latin. {WIMPING}
  • What’s that?

SPECIFIC FORMS OF WIMPING

  • Saying "I DON'T KNOW." When you could have some answer.
  • Not understanding writing, language or other forms of communication
  • Not being "smart enough"
  • Creating an environment where you can't express the answer (Too dark to see, Too loud to hear)
  • Vague ideas. (That's an old book is not as good as "The Magician's book of spells was first penned to paper in 1121)

ALTERNATIVES TO WIMPING

  • NAMES! "Fernando" & "Beatrice" are more detailed than "those people there"
  • There are no Flowers or Cars. There are Petunias and Avantis. Algerian Booby-hatch is better than "a bird".
  • BE AN EXPERT!! Know what the curse is that's written in the hieroglyphics..
  • The Numbers are exact - 1744 is better than "a long time ago". 16 Kilograms is better than "Heavy". May 3, 1989 is better than sometime last year.
  • Erase the words "Sort of...," "around..." and "about...".

“The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.”

― Socrates

Practice Defining

One simple day to day practice to improve your skills of detail is to LISTEN to everyone who speaks. 

Add definition in your mind to the couple speaking loudly at the coffee shop:
You hear::  What do you want to do? – I don’t know? What do you want to do?”
You re-define to yourself:  “We should go to part two of DUNE at the Mega-plex.”

You hear:  “Do you want to get some food?”
You re-define to yourself: “Do you want to make some Koshari like we had in Egypt?”

You hear: “I think that guy over there is listening to us.”
You re-define to yourself: “That weird Improviser in the ripped jeans is listening to us and taking pictures.”

(Stop taking pictures. You’ve gone too far.)

In rehearsal, do scenes and tag each other out when you can offer a more specific definitions.

Defining Games

There are some good Definition games:

  • Gift Giving
  • Circle of Definition
  • Enough About Me

I’ll include details in upcoming articles and newsletters.

In the meantime, 

  • Be specific,
  • Define, 
  • Offer detailed observations rather than fear based questions, 
  • Use questions to ADD detail and not just to run away from creating it.