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One-day Short Course: Improvisation for Writers

A one-day short course for writers of all abilities who want to think about their writing in a new way.

Improvisation for Writers is a course for people who want to disrupt their thoughts and open new avenues for ideas. It’s designed with an understanding of how hard it is to be open to surprises, and encourages participants towards seeing them as wonderful opportunities. They can then apply that newfound openness and enthusiasm to their writing.

The beauty of employing the improvisation exercises that comedians and other actors use is that they give us tools for overcoming our fears and finding our natural mental flow. For writers, this means that we stop second-guessing ourselves, develop our confidence, and give writer’s block a kick in the backside.

Practicing the skills offered shows participants where they are holding themselves back, and how they can learn to trust the ideas that catch them off guard. How willing are they to use the ideas that their improv partners throw at them? How willing are they to admit to the first idea that comes into their heads, rather than second-guessing themselves? Participants quickly recognise how their resistance to improv ideas mirrors the ways they limit their writing, and leave the workshop feeling able to motivate themselves out of old habits and into new territory.

 

Biography:

Alison Jean Lester is the author of the novels Lillian on Life and Yuki Means Happiness, and the short-story collection Locked Out: Stories Far from Home. After 25 years in Asia, where she performed improvisational comedy at The Tokyo Comedy Store and taught it to musical theatre students at the LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore, she now lives in Worcestershire. She is working on a new novel.

Course dates:

Saturday 1 December 2018, 10am-4pm.

Please note: you must sign up for the full course even if you cannot attend all dates. No partial course ticket is available.

Short Courses are for over 18s. If you are a young writer, you can sign up for our Spark Young Writers Programme.

All Writing West Midlands short courses are collaborative, and you will learn as much from your fellow course attendees as from the tutor. You will be expected to play an active role in group tasks, and you will also have time to reflect on your own writing during sessions.

Course handouts are sometimes (but not always) available, and notes may be available in advance upon request. If you have any additional needs, please contact Writing West Midlands in advance of the course starting and we will try to assist you.


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Location

Birmingham and Midland Institute
9 Margaret Street

Date

01 Dec 2018

Time

10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Cost

£45