How Tyler Perry Effortlessly Creates Stories

How Tyler Perry Effortlessly Creates Stories

 

Tyler Perry is a man of many characteristics.

  • A writer.
  • Director.
  • Actor and much more.

 

He’s been consistent for a long time.

He gave the blueprint on how to build an empire.

 

Learn as many skill sets as possible, do whatever work you need to do to make things happen, grunt work is a rite of passage, learn how to hire people, prioritize ownership etc.

 

But at the end of the day, if you ask Tyler Perry what he identifies with the most, he will say:

‘Storyteller.’

 

Let’s learn the simple technique Tyler uses to create mesmerizing stories.

 

The What-If Technique?

 

One time, an interviewer asked Tyler Perry:

‘How are you capable of creating so many different stories?’

 

Tyler said he looks at his daily life and thinks, what if?

 

Let’s say he’s grabbing coffee, and there’s a woman who hands him the coffee.

He gets the coffee and goes about his day, right?

 

Nope.

Instead, he activates the ‘what if’ technique.

 

He thinks:

  • What if instead of just grabbing the coffee, I asked the lady for her number?
  • What if she was married?
  • What if despite being married, she still gave me her number?

 

From those 2 simple words:

  • What if?

He’s capable of creating an alternate scenario.

From that alternate scenario, a story is born.

 

Why the What-If Technique is Beginner Friendly

 

The reason the what-if technique is beginner friendly is because we don’t have to create anything from scratch.

Instead, we’re working with what we have.

 

As a beginner storyteller, one of the best places to look for inspiration is in your everyday experiences.

 

As you look at your everyday experiences, you’ll notice there are a lot of settings, characters, conflicts.

Why not apply the ‘what if’ technique to your own life?

 

‘But Armani, don’t I need to only look out for grand moments from my life?’

Not really.

In Tyler Perry’s scenario, he cited a routine situation of him getting coffee.

 

Storytelling Challenge

 

I want you to pick 1 routine moment from your life.

It can be:

  • Waiting in traffic.
  • Buying coffee.
  • Walking back to your car from the gym.

Then I want you to create 10 what-if scenarios of that routine moment.

 

Let’s go with the gym example.

What really happened was that you finished working out at the gym, walked back to your car, got in, and drove back home.

 

Let’s remix that:

  • What if, instead of getting into your car, you were approached by a burglar right before you got in?
  • What if, you recognized the burglar’s voice as your cousin’s voice?
  • What if, after you confronted the burglar as your cousin, he became furious and said he was going to shoot you?
  • What if, you continued to talk and he shot your foot?

 

You get my point.

 

What was an ordinary situation suddenly became riveting.

 

Gluing your Responses Into a Story

 

Don’t just stop at ‘what if.’

One day, I want you to actually tell the story.

Convert the ‘what ifs’ into a beautiful tale.

 

Here’s a preview of our exercise from earlier:

One day, I was walking back from the gym to my car. Right as I was about to get in, I felt a pistol being pressed up against my back.

The person says, ‘give me your car keys.’

 

I automatically recognized the voice.

It was my cousin, Bucky.

 

‘What are you doing, Bucky?’ I asked.

The robber said, ‘I’m not Bucky. I said, give me your car keys.’

 

‘Bucky, I’ve known you my entire life. Why are you robbing me?’

 

Sounding fed up, the burglar says, ‘I don’t know who the hell Bucky is. If you call me that one more time, I will shoot you.’

 

Pushing my luck, I called the burglar Bucky one more time hoping to talk some sense into him.

 

That’s when I heard a loud gunshot and felt an excruciating pain in my foot.

He shot me!

 

Was I wrong? Was this Bucky? Who was this man?

 

This is just the preview of what the story can turn into…

 

Learning from the Greats

 

Tyler Perry gets a lot of hate.

One reason he gets a lot of hate is because people think he’s a clown.

Many know him as the guy who wears dresses.

 

But I have a different perspective.

I think Tyler Perry is a genius.

 

Whenever I see geniuses, I notice their methods are not too complex.

They don’t use 50 words when they could have used 5.

 

Routinely, I see Tyler Perry using 5 words.

But in this situation, he’s only using 2 words.

What if?

 

Apply the what-if technique to your ordinary experiences, and watch the mundane become magical.

 

If you enjoyed this talk and want to learn more about storytelling, then be sure to check out my book, The Art & Science of Storytelling.

 

Within this book, you will learn how to:

  • Create relatable characters.
  • Create mesmerizing conflicts.
  • Gracefully turn conflicts into resolutions.
  • Sprinkle lessons into your stories.
  • Find inspiration from first-hand experiences.

Plus, many more other topics.

 

If you are ready to level up your storytelling skills, then be sure to check out The Art & Science of Storytelling!

Ebook
Paperback/Kindle
Audiobook

 

– ArmaniTalks 🎙️🔥

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