Writing Words for Nerds #AtoZChallengs—P is for POV. What’s the right one for your story?

 Choosing the right POV (Point of View) for your story can be a challenge. I know, because it’s challenged me. But after writing five novels and moderating a critique group for several years, I think I’ve learned a few things I can pass on to you.

I was probably halfway finished with Ride of Your Life before I realized it needed Josh’s POV. Until then, Josh was kind of flat. The reader only got to see him through Tracy’s eyes, and Tracy had a tendency to idealize him. In her eyes, he was this cute boy, a boy who made her imagined ghostly heart beat faster. Love doesn’t let us see the whole person, just the parts we like. That’s the way Tracy sees Josh.  And if I had written the entire book from Josh’s POV, Tracy would have been flat for the same reason. People are much more complex and interesting on the inside than they seem on the outside.

So I went back and added chapters and rewrote others to give the reader Josh’s POV. And that brought this entire ghost story to life.  

Ride of Your Life was probably the biggest eye opener for me, although I think I learned something every step of the way. Believe me, if this is something you’re struggling with, there’s a reason. Getting the right POV is hard! In fact, if you’ve never struggled with POV, I think you might want to reconsider your process. The best POV isn’t always obvious, and it’s worth taking a deeper look.

Okay, so how does POV work? There are three tenses: past (most common), present (immediate, exciting and fun, but a bit challenging), and future (rare, and very difficult to do well). There are also three kinds of narrators: third person (most common), first person (immediate, exciting and fun, but a bit challenging), and second person (common in nonfiction, but rare and difficult to do well in fiction).

While tense tends to be consistent, at least within a scene, the kind of narrator you use can be blended and can shift.

For example, a third-person narrator can get inside a character’s head like a first-person narrator and show the reader what the character is thinking. This is sometimes called “close third,” and the character whose thoughts we get to see is referred to as the “focal character.” If the narrator does this a lot and jumps from head to head, the narrator is omniscient, something that’s generally fallen out of favor in the last few decades (although when done well, like in A Series of Unfortunate Events, it can be delightful to read). A third-person narrator who knows things the characters don’t, particularly future events, is also omniscient.

In most cases, a writer needs to decide if a narrative will be present or past tense, and first-person or third-person.

Past is standard. Readers are accustomed to it.  

But present can be good if you either really want to get into the character’s head at the immediate moment (almost diary style) or you want to give the reader the impression that anything can happen at any moment, for example, that the main character could die. Of course, that made present tense perfect for Why My Love Life Sucks (The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer, book one). The book starts with Gilbert dying. How much fun would that be if the story were told in first-person past tense? It would kind of give away that (SPOILER ALERT) Gilbert doesn’t exactly die. Not permanently anyway. 

Whether a writer should choose third or first person is often a lot trickier.

The main advantage of third person is that the narrator can know things the main character doesn’t know, as well as show a counter point of view to the one the main character might have of him or herself. Sticking with A Series of Unfortunate Events, the narrator, Lemony Snicket, has an adult, reflective and comically morose POV, which contrasts sharply with how the main characters view themselves.  If this had been written in first-person, it would have lost half its humor and charm. The books simply wouldn’t be the same without Lemony Snicket’s strange point of view.

The main advantage of first person is that it really lets the reader feel what it’s like being in the main character’s shoes and seeing the world through his or her eyes. I couldn’t have written Why My Love Life Sucks from any point of view other than Gilbert’s. He has a unique way of seeing things that makes the story what it is.

Of course, the problem with first-person narration is that you can’t show the reader something the main character doesn’t know. That can be a serious problem if something important happens when the main character isn’t there. That’s why in the second book of the Gilbert the Fixer series (Why It Still Mega Bites, which I am close to finishing), Amber gets to be the first-person narrator of about half the chapters. Gilbert spends most of the book away from the main action, and there wasn’t any other way to tell the whole story.

In addition, first-person narration can be challenging for those who don’t feel they have a good handle on how their characters see the world. I get complimented for how well I write from a male point of view (considering I’m a woman), but I have seen writers struggle with trying to write from the point of view of someone of the opposite gender. I’ve also seen adults write kids as they imagine kids to be, rather than as they are. Beverly Cleary’s Ramona books—indeed, any of Cleary’s children’s books—are great examples of a writer who knows how to get into a kid’s head. And these books are written in omniscient third with focal characters, not first.   

Third-person narration is more flexible than many writers think. Not only can you get into a character’s head, unless you’re one of those rare writers like Hemingway or (sometimes) Capote, you generally should. At least you should know how to write third-person with a focal character. If you decide not to, that should be a conscious choice, not one made because you didn’t know there was another option. 

Writing in third makes it easier to jump around from one character’s head to another, although in general it’s preferred to have only one focal character per scene. And you can write about things the main character doesn’t know or see, so it would seem that third-person is the obvious choice.

But is it? Well, no.

It really depends on the story. 

Like Gilbert Garfinkle, sometimes the main character has a very interesting way of seeing things. In my post about writing humor, I  mentioned the House of Funny lens that is character. I love the lens of character! I love seeing thing through the unique perspective of a character who sees the world very differently. Sure, you can sort of get that with a close third-person narrator, but it’s like the difference between hearing a reporter talk about something and hearing the person who was involved talk about it. I'd rather hear the story first hand. 

Whatever point of view you choose, I hope you won’t be one of those writers who deliberately hide information the narrator knows. I consider that cheating. If your narrator gets to see all the cards, your reader should get to see all the cards, too. The only time cheating is acceptable is if it’s a part of the story. If your narrator is meant to be a liar and a cheat, it’s fine to lie and cheat here, too. But if we’re meant to see the narrator as honest, the narrator has to be honest and open with the information he or she shares, too. Lay those cards on the table where we can see them, narrator!

Okay, so let’s say you have a story, but you don’t know which POV to use. How do you decide?

Who are your characters? Do they have interesting points of view and interesting voices? Do they have a lot at stake? If so, first-person or close third-person with focal characters will probably work best for you. The more interesting and unique their voice and way of thinking are, the better your story will be in first person.

Do you want to tell the story from an outsider’s point of view? Are there things you want the reader to know that the characters don’t? If so, third-person is probably the way to go. Whether or not you use focal characters will depend on how much you want to get into your characters’ heads. If you do decide to show their thoughts, I recommend going all the way. Really show the entire landscape of what they’re thinking and feeling. If you do it, don’t do it superficially. Dig deep.

Are you trying to give the reader a sense of immediacy, the feeling that all this is happening right here and right now? Do you want to give the impression that anything could happen at any moment at any time? If so, present tense is the way to go.

Do you want to give the impression that the story you’re telling has already happened? That it’s over and fixed in stone and nothing can change it? That calls for past tense.

Let’s say you’ve decided to go with first person or third-person with a close focal character, but you’re not sure whose point of view it should be? Obviously, you’ll need to choose a character who’s present in the scene, which can change from scene to scene. After that, the character who has the most at stake is usually the most interesting.

One thing to keep in mind is that readers prefer it if there’s a clear pattern for who the narrator or focal character is. If you plan to write a book almost entirely from one character’s point of view, don’t let the first time you switch to another character’s point of view be halfway through the book. It’s jarring. Just let another character be the focal character earlier on so that readers know to expect a shift.

Like with anything else, don’t be afraid to change the POV when you edit your story you see something that will make it better.  Yes, it can be challenging, but it will be worth it in the end. 

Writing Words for Nerds #AtoZChallenge--C is for Creating Characters

Anyone can write a story. 

It's true, and if you've ever played pretend or with dolls or action figures when you were little, you know it. 

Illustration:  © Shevi Arnold, 2003

Unfortunately, many of us lose that ability when we turn into adults. 

So how do we get it back? How can creating characters and plots become easy again? 

There are two ways to write a story: you can create a plot based on a character, or you can create characters based on a plot. Like a noun and a verb are required in every complete independent sentence, a character and a plot are required in every complete independent story. If you have one without the other, you might have a vignette. What you don’t have is a story.

So how do you create a character out of a plot?

And how do you create a plot out of a character?

For the first, take your plot and ask yourself who might have the greatest need to do the things the plot requires and the hardest time doing them. Need and obstacles to achieving the thing that’s needed are great hooks. When a character has both, the reader will need to see if the character gets what he or she needs, and the reader will need to find out how the character will try to overcome those obstacles. It’s as simple as that.

For example, our plot is that someone has been murdered and someone else will figure out who did it. Okay, so our main character is probably the person who needs to solve the murder mystery. But why? Maybe our main character is a detective, and it’s the MC’s job, but that’s been done a million times before. Let’s go for something original. Maybe this person is an astronaut on a space station, and the murdered person is the only other person on the space station. Hmm… That sounds too much like a 2001: A Space Odyssey. Let’s keep looking.  Maybe our main character is a kid who was taken from her foster home, and the murdered person is her abductor. She doesn’t know why she was abducted, if the murderer or the abductor were on her side, or even who she can trust. That’s good, because it’s original, the need is great, and there are a ton of obstacles. 

There are millions of possible characters we can create out of this simple plot. Maybe that’s why so many murder mysteries have been written.

For the second, take your character and ask yourself what he or she needs most. Then create a story around him or her having to overcome obstacles in order to get that need fulfilled.

For example, if you created the character of Harry Potter but didn’t know what the plot of his story would be, you’d see that his greatest need was “to have a family.” You’d then have to create obstacles for him, such as his parents having been murdered, him living in the wrong world for a magical boy, the Dursleys treating him like an outcast, his parents’ murderer wanting to destroy him, and so on. The plot would be all about Harry overcoming these obstacles to eventually create a new family, the one he has in the end with Ginny, Ron and Hermione.  

Is this the only possible plot for a story based on the character of Harry Potter? 

Of course not. However, if you have a clear and detailed idea of who your character is and what he or she needs, the best plot for that character should be fairly obvious: create obstacles for that character and watch him or her overcome those obstacles in a quest to fulfill that need.

But what if you don’t have what you need to even start creating a story? What if you don’t even have a plot or a character?

I’m reminding of something the great playwright Neil Simon said in his autobiographical book Rewrites (I’m paraphrasing): “Writer’s block isn’t when a writer has no ideas. It’s when a writer has so many ideas and doesn’t trust himself to choose the right one.”

The answer to that is to simply stop asking yourself what the right one is and just go for it, right or not. 

As in improv, your answer to any character or plot you think of should be “yes, and…”

Will it be the right one? Maybe, but probably not. The thing is, though, that if you keep answering “yes, and…” to every plot or character that pops into your head—and you keep showing the character trying desperately to overcome obstacles in a quest to achieve a great need—eventually you will discover the right one.  

And in the meanwhile, like a little kid who decides a stick is a sword and that means she’s an awesome pirate on an adventure, you’ll be having fun. 

Have a character but no plot? Three easy steps you can use to make one

If you have an idea for a character but don't know what to do with it, here are three easy steps that will help you create a great story:

1. find out what your main character wants most and make him/her want it or need it more and more.

2. find something that prevents him/her from getting that thing and make the obstacle bigger and more urgent (it can be internal, another character, or the world your character is in). 

3. bring the conflict to a head until the character resolves it by getting what he/she wants, letting go of what he/she wants (and possibly getting something better in return), or coming to accept being without the thing he/she originally wanted. 

A plot can have several steps, so your main character can start out wanting one thing, get it, and then want something else.  For example, in The Cat in the Hat, the main characters ("me and Sally") want something to relieve their boredom until they get it; then they want to avoid getting in trouble. 

These three steps have infinite possibilities depending on the main character(s), other characters, setting, style, and want/need.

If you have an idea for a plot but not a main character, you can easily turn that plot into a main character, too: whatever the objective of the main character in a plot is supposed to be, create a character who is strongly motivated to achieve that objective. Create other characters who are strongly motivated to stop the main character from achieving that objective. For example, some of the people who are motivated to solve a crime are a detective, a reporter, the accused, the victim, and the likely next target. Notice that the more motivated the character is to achieve the objective, the more compelling the story becomes. 

"Why My Love Life Sucks is a book that from the very beginning, is engaging and enjoyable..."

"Why My Love Life Sucks is a book that from the very beginning, is engaging and enjoyable. Gilbert is so very likeable and what he has to go through is at times funny and touching.  Shevi Arnold wrote a great book!" ~ Coffee and a Book Anytime

Yes, I did write a book specifically for geeks like us. We are all Gilbert in my book, and that makes us all geeking awesome. Thanks for noticing. You rock!

You can check out the rest of this review by clicking here. 

The Fine Art of Talking to People Who Aren’t There: Drawing Fictional Characters to Life

 I’m delighted to have a wonderful, multi-talented writer as a guest on my blog today, Jeff Davis. Jeff is the author of a new YA fantasy novel, The Seeds.  

I was surprised to discover that, like me, Jeff likes to draw his characters and put them somewhere he can see them when he writes.

For at least 20 years, I’ve had a drawing of Toren taped under the hutch that goes over my desk. The look on her face tells me that she has a story that needs to be told. More recently I’ve had a drawing of Gilbert Garfinkle taped there too. Unlike Toren, the look on his face says, “Oh, no. What are you going to do to me this time?” Sorry, Gilbert, but I have to follow what I call Murphy’s Law for fiction writers: namely, if anything can go wrong for your main character, it should.

Jeff shared with me his thoughts about drawing characters and how this helps in the writing process. Even if you can’t draw, just having a visual representation of your character—perhaps an illustration or a photo you found online—can help you in the same way. I know some writers who collect photos on Pinterest that they use for inspiration.

So what exactly can a drawing of your character do for you?

Here’s Jeff with the answer to that question:

__________

There’s a demon on my screen giving me attitude.

Matra from The Seeds by Jeff Davis

As a kid, I was always drawing. Usually heroes and dragons. Facing them, riding them, conjuring them, my characters were always captured within an action. Something was going on. I would sit and stare at them, waiting to find out how their stories played out in my mind’s eye. The stories were always so much more intriguing than my meager talents could portray. It was as if each drawing was seen through a window into whatever world I was dreaming up.

Fast forward to the present.

 Writing blog posts, web copy and promotional materials doesn’t leave much room for fantastic characters or muscle-bound heroes, even though that kind of writing does weave a narrative that’s suppose to whisk you off to a more utopian world. But fantasy fiction? Ah! 

That’s the thing.

When I started writing my first fantasy novel, “The Seeds”, it was written in my head far longer than it has existed in print. I would watch the characters move through scenarios in my mind’s eye, just like when I was a kid.  But, where a budding artist can draw a sword in a hand if the situation calls for it, a writer must make having that sword consistent, it must make sense.

 As an exercise in continuity, I decided to create a more complex set of designs for my first major effort. Each of the main characters was created in full color that I could pull up when necessary. Does he carry a sword? I might want to mention that fact somewhere before he whips it out. Physical descriptions? To avoid the characters from becoming perfect in every way, some boundaries are needed.

But, the most surprising and most frequent use of these visual references came when writing dialogue.

Witty banter is fun to write, and usually rolls right across my keyboard. For Varia and Dartura of “The Seeds”, being twins makes their conversations appear pointed and clipped. They know what the other is going to say almost before it's said, so only what is needed is expressed. It’s almost like the lossy compression of video for the web; only the pixels that change from the last keyframe are rendered. (If that makes sense to you, Yay! You’re a geek like me!)

But, it was the shadowy antagonist that vexed me.

How many times can one rely on writing “Bah!” to express contempt? I had to really convey a personality that I didn’t have in me--that of a conniving trickster old enough to be bored with her world, yet sinister enough to care little for the damage she does. So, I created Matra in graphic form.

Her eyes would stare malevolently at me as I posed questions to her. I would form dialogue, out loud, and actually ask if that was what she would say in that scenario. She didn’t really answer. (Thankfully, or I might be writing this from a padded cell.) But the disdain in her expression was enough for me to interpret when something worked (I hope), or when it didn’t.

I usually write whenever I get the chance, but most frequently at night, when the house is quiet. Often, my wife would open the door to my office, only to quietly close it again as I sat arguing with Matra. (“But, you hate this guy! Why would you be cordial?”) More than once my wife searched my eyes for some physical sign of the madness that was surely creeping over me. When I announced that “The Seeds” was complete, I was unsure which of us was more relieved.

Still, not only sketching but fully realizing my characters is a practice that I will continue to use as my writing improves. The illustrations take on a new life when complete, and for me at least, really form the basis of the inner workings of a character. The downside for the reader may be that they interpret the character differently, but that’s okay. I would like nothing more than for a reader to tell me, “I saw this character like this…”

If you are reading my work enough to form such opinions, it can only help me become a better writer.

Jeff Davis

____

Author bio:

Jeff Davis has worked with some of the finest high technology teams in the business and has delivered to some of the world's most recognizable companies the high quality graphics, multimedia and print materials they demand, all over the world. He majored in art and design, and he continues to regard himself as a student of the history and reinvention of popular culture. As an author, Jeff hopes to bring his unique ideas to life in this medium. A visitor to his studio office will be treated to the sounds of Led Zeppelin, Sheryl Crow, Kate Bush and traditional Celtic music. Jeff resides an hour north of Manhattan, N.Y. with his wife and two children. www.jdsavage.com/theseeds.htm

THE SEEDS 

This is not your grandmother's fairy tale. A fantasy novel that turns the genre on its head, "The Seeds" follows Trooper Angus Mayweather as he is thrust into the conflict faced by twin sisters Dartura & Varia, Generals of the Tarol Nation. As the sisters uncover a new threat from an old enemy, Angus must do what he can to help as the Tarol Nation faces all-out war.

Click here to check out drawings of Characters from“The Seeds”.

Order "The Seeds" from Smashwords. 

Find Jeff Davis on Google+, Facebook, or Twitter @JDSavageTV

  

Do you find drawing from other mediums helps you with writing?  If so, what medium, and how does it help? Do you have a picture of your main character or a place in your story? Does listening to a certain kind of music put you in the right mood? If you haven't thought of using pictures this way before, how do you think they might help  you? What would you ask your main character, and how do you think your main character would respond? 

Please leave your answers in the comments below. Thanks!

Improv for Writers, Part 3 of 3:Speed Writer--a Lesson Plan for a Writers' Conference

I sometimes like to imagine giving a class at a SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) conference. I have a long list of things I’d like to teach, and one of them is Improv for writers. Here’s my lesson plan for that class.

1. Hand out the information from my two previous blog posts on Improv: “How Improv Can Help You Write Better, Faster, and More Creatively“ and “Mind Games: Five Solitaire Games for Fiction Writers,” as well as recommendations for further reading. In each hand out, include an index card with the name of a well-known children’s book character, like Harry Potter or Clifford the big red dog: a different name on each card. There should be a note on it about not showing your card to the other people in the class. Also hand out several small pieces of paper that might be used later for suggestions. (Each handout should be attached with a paper clip. Bring a hat for scenes-from-a-hat type games. Also bring in a well-known children’s book, like The Cat in the Hat or Guess How Much I Love You, and a box that can be opened and closed.)

2. If there isn’t a space at the front of the room, ask everyone to help me make a space.

3. Ask “What is Improv?” Explain that Improv requires players to come up with ideas and scenes on the spot and that following the rules of Improv can help writers not only come up with lots of ideas fast but write faster and better. Explain that the most important words in Improv are “Yes, and . . .” Explain how this affects a story, that it lets the story move forward. Explain that we will be playing several Improv games that deal with voice, emotion, character, raising the stakes, coming up with story ideas, revision, and if we have enough time, using all your senses. There’s a lot to learn from Improv, and it takes most people months or years to hone the craft. We’ll do our best to cram as much as we can into the time we have.

The Games

(Remember to finish each game on a high note, so the excitement doesn’t wane.)

1. It’s How You Say It (3-5 minutes)

This game is all about voice. Ask for three volunteers to come to the front of the class. Tell them they’re going to read from the children’s book you brought with you, but they’re going to change the way they read it according to the emotions or characteristics I call out.  Here are some of the things you can try: angry, shy, surfer dude, bored, nervous, confused, in song, mafia hit man, giggling, suspicious, and overjoyed.  Ask the audience for suggestions too. After the game, ask what was the most fun. Was it an unexpected voice for reading that particular story? A surprising voice is usually more fun.  

2. I Gotta Feeling (20 seconds or less per person so it’s under 10 minutes, I hope)

This game is about embracing emotions. It’s like the first game but with adlibbing, and it’s for everyone. A box gets passed around a room along with a reaction to what’s in the box (the box is actually empty, but players can make up what they find in the box). Tell the players they must react to what’s in the box based on the kind of reaction I will give them. They need to pay attention, because the reaction can change at any time and I could ask for the box to be passed at any time. Pass the box around and call out reactions, like anger, angrier, angriest, indifferent, delighted, overjoyed, confused, perplexed, distraught, like, love, passion, bored, more bored, bored out of your mind, sarcastic, very sarcastic, scared, terrified, with apprehension, anxious, hopeful, jealous, proud, sleepily, reverently, and so on. After the game, ask which reaction the group thought was best. Why was it best? Was it very specific? Was it heightened? It’s usually best to vary the level of the emotions in your writing between five and nine with an occasional ten. That lets the tens stick out.

3. Character Conference (10-15 minutes)

This game is about creating characters. Ask for one volunteer, preferably someone who’s read a lot of children’s books. Everyone else should look at the index card they got with the name of a well-known children’s book character. They should stand until the volunteer correctly guesses who they are. Then they can sit down. The volunteer has to mingle at the character conference and try to figure out who everyone else is by asking questions. Everyone else needs to be their character without saying his or her name, the title of their book, or the names of other characters. They should try to feed hints to the volunteer without giving things away. If the volunteer gets stuck and a person playing a character isn’t helpful, other characters can mingle with that character until it’s obvious who that character is.  

4. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (5-10 minutes)

This game is about story middles and raising the stakes. Ask for three to five volunteers. Ask everyone else for an activity. One person plays the main character and is given a goal related to the activity (like write a great novel, win a race, buy a toy, and so on). When I clap, the main character has to say, “What could possibly go wrong?” One of the other characters then needs to step in and raise the stakes by presenting obstacles related to the goal (make it clear that it has to be related to the goal and not some random obstacle) or by giving a reason why the thing the main character wants is now something he truly needs. The main character has to work to overcome these obstacles. This illustrates how to raise the stakes and how this increases tension and audience interest. Point out Murphy’s Law for fiction writers: If anything can go wrong (for your main character), it should.

5. The Untold Story (10-15 minutes)

This is about using old stories to create something new. Before doing this game, explain that Improv can be used to change an existing story and make it something new by changing the who, what, why, where, when, or how of the original story. The how is about how the story is told, like the style or the genre. Ask for a genre, like paranormal romance, murder mystery, Doctor Seuss, Star Wars, or evening news. Have each person write down on a scrap of paper something they associate with that genre, like if it’s mystery, the word could be detective or gun. Collect the pieces of paper and put them in a hat. Next have the group pick a well-known fairy tale. Ask for one volunteer who’s a really good storyteller. Take two more volunteers. The first volunteer has to narrate the untold story of the fairy tale in the chosen style or genre. The other two have to act out what the narrator says and come up with their own dialogue. The narrator in turn has to incorporate what the characters are saying and doing into the story. Every once in a while the narrator says, “That’s what everyone thinks happened, but what really happened is the character said . . .” The chosen character reaches into the hat and says a line that incorporates whatever is written on the piece of paper that character draws out. All players should try to make sense of and incorporate whatever it is into the story. When the game is over, ask how many variations of Romeo and Juliet the group knows. And what about Cinderella? What’s changed in those variations? Is it the who, what, where, or how? What other changes can they think of to either of those classics that haven’t been done yet?

6. Work for Hire (about 5 minutes)

This game is a fun game about being flexible and open to revision. Only do it if you have extra time, which isn’t likely. Everyone in the class has to pretend they each have a chance to get hired to write the next book in the hugely successful Happy, Happy Princess series, but they need to prove they can work with an editor. Point at one player and ask him to pitch his story idea for a Happy, Happy Princess book. After about 30 seconds say, “Stop right there. That’s good, but we’re thinking of taking Happy, Happy Princess in a new direction.” Make suggestions for a possible change (different character traits, different setting, different actions, different genres. and so on). “Give me what you got.” After the first person is finished, ask, “Anyone else?” After that person gives me her pitch, I switch the suggestion again. It could be something like “Comic books are really popular, so we want you to give Happy, Happy Princess a superpower” or “We’ve decided to kill off this character, but keep it happy” or “This story needs a werewolf” or “We think we could get a Star Wars tie in, so stick Yoda or Darth Vader into the story.”  This game ends after someone gives a really great pitch.

7. Story Settings (about 10 minutes)

This game reminds writers to think of the five senses when they write. It’s more educational than fun, but it could be a good way to wind things down. Have everyone walk around the room. Call out settings, and have the other writers react as if they’re in that setting. They need to react with all their senses: sound, sight, touch, taste, smell. Their reaction should be apparent in the way they walk, their posture, how they hold their noses, the way they move their hands, and of course the expressions on their faces. Among the settings to use are a crime investigation scene, a beach on the hottest day of summer, a garden in Wonderland, a kindergarten classroom, a funeral, and a space ship.  When the game is over, ask what people heard, saw, touched, tasted and smelled. How can they use this game in their own writing?

CONCLUSION

Improv can teach writers a lot, but perhaps the most important thing it teaches is how to overcome fear. There's no time for fear when you're performing Improv.

When Tina Fey began working at Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels told her, "Don't worry that it's going to be crap, because it's definitely going to be crap." Isn't that freeing? No one expects you to get the first draft perfect, so don't even try. Just have fun.

You have to take a leap of faith in yourself. Pick a genre and a starting point, create your characters, give your main character a goal, and raise the stakes. Don't ask yourself if it's crap, because it's definitely going to be crap. Just accept it and let your imagination go wild. Remember, you do have one advantage over an Improv actor: you can always edit your story later.

Improv opens up your choices in all areas of writing. You can always rewind and do a scene again and again until it's just the way you want it. Sometimes writers are paralyzed by having too many options. Don't be. Pretend it's Improv. Give yourself 30 seconds. Make a choice, take a leap, and find out where it takes you. 

And now, three books on Improv:

101 Improv Games for Children and Adults--just what the title says, this book has lots of fun games of varying difficulty and for varying group sizes.

The Ultimate Improv Book: A Complete Guide to Comedy Improvisation--this book is mostly for those who wish to teach Improv in a high school setting, but it does include some fun games and a lot of information on the skills required to do Improv well.

Truth in Comedy--this book was written by some of the people who originated Improv as it exists today. It gets to the heart of what makes Improv great, and it’s fun to read.



I hope you've enjoyed this series on Improv for writers. Please feel free to use the comments section below to let me know your thoughts or ask any questions. And if you're a conference organizer and you're interested in having me teach a class, drop me an email. I'd love to hear from you.

Why less description might be a good thing

“Psychologists have shown that over describing a character is a bad thing, because it doesn’t let readers fill in the blanks, which is necessary because it helps readers see themselves in the character’s shoes.” This is what an editor told me at an odd sort of writer’s conference . . . in a dream. Apparently I’m getting reassured at writers conferences in my dreams now, and this particular conference looked a lot like summer camp, except with adults wearing suits. The editor wore a funny hat, and she had the bunk bed under mine.Oddly, the advice still seems to make sense.