Writing tips: Improv

I took improv classes for quite a while around Amsterdam, and did a bit of improv performing (that one time). It was important to me to have writers with an improv background in the first graphic novel weekend, and I sincerely recommend to anyone else attempting a 48 hour graphic novel that you seek out improv experienced people. 

Creating within 48 hours means that things will change and shift, and you need people who are ready to go with the flow. The foundation of improv is taking any idea and saying yes to it, and building on it. It is essential to have that feeling in mind. 

Why? Because you do not know how things will go. If you get to stuck in the idea of how things are supposed to be, you will find that the pages don’t get drawn that you need. Or there’s a subtle difference in them that leads you in a different direction. 

“Yes, and” will keep the story moving, and in a direction that will benefit everyone. 

As a writer in a 48 hour graphic novel, you are not trying to build the detailed plumbing system for a house, and determine where the water will flow. You are riding a river of creativity in a raft that you have to continuously rebuild – so keeping loose, accepting what comes along, and looking for new directions that will be more fun but still keep you heading in the right direction (while avoiding sharp rocks) is the best plan you can have. 

How to say “no” in improv

Saying “yes, and” doesn’t mean you can’t say no within the story, it means you have to embrace the idea, and the character has their perspective and feeling within that idea. On stage, for example, if someone turns to you and says “look out there, the sea looks rough tonight” and you reply “that’s not a sea, it’s an audience” — you might get one laugh. But the scene can’t move forward, because you would destroy the story of it. And you would ruin the connection with your co-creator.

But you could say “I’ve seen rougher seas,” as a way to stay in the world, and build it, but argue within it.

So, the key is to embrace the idea and the world, and react to it.