5 Ways to Inspire Your Writing: Part IV

4) Do Improv.

Okay, so I do comedy in New York. I studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater’s sketch and comedy program. I am very very very biased in this tip. However, improvisation does not always have to be about comedy. The true glory of improv is its ability to force you to get out of your head. Most writers already have strong instincts and observation skills. Harnessing them is half the battle. Improv teaches you to collaborate—something ALL writers have to do. Even the novelist sends her manuscript to her editor for notes. 

Does this mean you must be an actor to write? No. Improv exercises, however, can be glorious for a writer.

The following exercise is one I’ve work shopped in the classroom for a while. It’s a variation on an improv exercise and quite frankly something you’ve probably done for fun with friends and loved ones.

For Practice:

A)   Get 4-10 people in a line.

B)   Let one person begin with “There once was a person who.”

C)   Each person in line will add one sentence. It must be visual. It must add to the world the group is creating and not detract. So if someone says, “The boy is in Santa Monica,” the next person cannot say “no, he’s in Coney Island.”

D)   As a group or with a leader, make sure the group completes a beginning, middle, and end for this story.

E)   As a group or with a leader, identify the plot structure of the story you just created. 

Stay tuned… Part V coming tomorrow. 

Ben Cohen is a Brooklyn-based comedy filmmaker and Screenwriting Instructor at the New York Film Academy. He studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Theater. He co-wrote and directed the “Godamsterdam” web-series and wrote and directed the short film, “Is It Because of My Penis?” He performs improv and sketch in New York with indie groups, “Diddler on the Roof” and “2 Single Guys.”