Creating a Plot line out of a time line

Using a history as starting point is proving quite useful in terms of devising.

Usually when you start devising, it's hard to know where to begin and a structure is usually one of the last things that comes together, but working from a timeline has made things so much easier.

There are a number of timelines available online for Guernsey. (even comparing them to see what events have more importance or are indeed left out altogether, can be an interesting exercise all on its own)
Printing them out and then seeing it in one long line makes its so much easier to visualise the flow of the overall story.
We've sat down and discussed each period and broken them down into roughly 10 different blocks. (it doesn't take amazing maths to calculate that if each block were five minutes long, we'd already have fifty minutes) Then placed in that timeline are all the extra bits that people have asked about or we have found in our research and having a rough plot line makes it easier to see where we can insert them.
We have already devised some of the blocks, now it's time to refine those and magnify the staging. Then we'll piece them together with a through line, which may already be developing through the devising process.
Although improvisation is my first love, it's exciting to be creating something and developing those ideas both theatrically and by adding research. The thrill of improv is immediate but often the wonder of the stories you've just pulled out of thin air are then lost to the next moment/thrill. But with devising you have the space to return to interesting stories, go away, learn more then add to them and the luxury to stage them in a way that will tickle the eyeballs not just your imagination.