One improvisational concept that really intrigues me is “automatic writing” (coined by Keith Johnstone in Impro).
Automatic writing is one way of getting students to understand that there is ’something inside them besides themselves’. … You just look at a blank sheet of paper, and ’see’ a word, and then write where you ’saw’ it. I’ve filled many exercise books using this method, partly to see where it led me, and partly to know what happens if you go past the point where you feel impelled to stop. I’ve learned a lot about myself this way. Again there’s a great gap between what I would choose to write, and what actually emerges.” – Keith Johnstone, Impro (pp. 121-2)
Stare long enough and, eventually, words will start appearing. For me, they started out unrelated and the writing seemed to resemble an odd poem. Eventually, I got to the point where my brain wrote complete stories.
I like to alternate this concept with one I learned in a creative writing class: free writing. In free writing, which many renowned authors swear by, you sit down and write whatever is on your mind for around thirty minutes a day, every day. With free writing I tend to write more consciously about topics that enjoy me. The two practices are closely related, yet distinct in their execution. For me, free writing generates more content, but automatic writing provides more unexpected ideas. Often, I later free write about those unique ideas.
