Here’s How You Can Improve Your Today Writing Today

Introduction

Writing every day is not revolutionary. Everyone writes regularly, emails, texts, messages, poems, love letters etc. Like I said nothing groundbreaking here.

I won’t waste your time, the “something” you can try right now to improve your writing is … writing 😮.

Before you close this page, hear me out.

Everyone seems to write with purpose. We typically write with intention. Let me propose something you may not have come across before on Medium.

Impromptu writing.

Just write.

Open a blank page and spill words, and sentences. They don’t have to flow or make sense.

You’re probably thinking, what in the world are you talking about?

Give me a sec, and I’ll try and explain more clearly.

I came across a form of theatre called improvisational theatre. It involves a theatrical performance that’s conducted without any scripts or planning.

Everything is just…spontaneous.

Here is an interesting video to give you an idea.

The thing is, improvisation theatrical performance is not limited to theatrical performances, any method of expressing art and creativity can also be subjected to the act of improvisation.

So, singing, painting, dancing, comedy can be performed through an improvisation style.

And writing, when it’s done well, is art.

Let’s talk about the benefits of improvisational theatre, for performers, perhaps that will convince you.

Benefits

There are tons of benefits to improvised theatrical performances, take, for example, there is no concept of failing. There are no expectations or standard of performance the actors have to aspire to, they simply do what feels right and natural. No failure.

The fact that with a lack of structure and planning, you focus more on the act of doing. There are no scripts, or hours spent learning character dialogue. The main focus is the actual acting.

One last benefit of impromptu performance is discovery. The spontaneous nature of improv performance can uncover hidden truths in characters and personalities. The free flow of conversation and action enables the enactment of the purest form of thoughts and speech.

All the benefits I just mentioned for improvisation theatrical performance can be easily transferred to the act of writing.

No failure: No standards of publication submission criteria to uphold; no followers to please.

No structure: You are free from the shackles of structure, you are free to let your writing to take whatever shape or form.

Discovery: Find your writing style, or go deeper and uncover thoughts that you haven’t been able to verbalize convey themselves in your free form writing.

Convinced?

I bet you are convinced now.

If you are, then here is how you can get started.

1. Open a blank page
2. Write!

There’s no pressure to commit to impromptu writing, there’s no time limit, there’s simply you and a blank page.

I’m not a guru when it comes to impromptu writing, to be honest, I’m only a week into discovering it, and I’ve had about six sessions lasting roughly thirty minutes.

I was terrible at first. On day two, it actually felt a bit stupid and pointless. However, by day four I started to notice that when I sat to write an actual article, everything seemed to flow seamlessly.

I spent less time having to think about what word or sentence to write next.

If there’s one key benefit I would like writers to walk away with, it’s the fact that impromptu writing is a method of exercising your creative writing muscle.

With consistent practice, you will find that it gets more comfortable and enjoyable.

You might even surprise yourself with what you spill onto the pages.

Now, open that blank page.

This story was originally published on Medium