Session 1.1 - What is Your Story About?
THE GOAL: Generate a bunch of different story ideas (old and new, good and bad) using the improv game FIVE THINGS.
Time commitment: 20 minutes

Welcome to "Improvising Your Crappy First Draft!" Whether you're starting a brand new story or coming back around to a past idea, this first session will give you some perspective on the kinds of stories floating around in your head before you commit 100% to one story.

More importantly, you'll practice coming up with ideas quickly while resisting the temptation to judge, hesitate, or overthink things.
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Improv Game: Five Things
You will generate lists of five things in a category (like breakfast cereals or pizza toppings) as quickly as possible—without hesitating! The priorities are SPEED and committing to the FIRST THING that comes into your head. Your answers do NOT need to be "good" or "right" or even "appropriate."

If the category is Pizza Toppings and you quickly type "Pepperoni, Mozzarella, Anchovies, Alka-seltzer, and Mice" that's GREAT. It means you were going so fast that you didn't have time to be correct.

Improv Drill: List FIVE breakfast cereals as quickly as possible.
Don't think! Just start typing.
Improv Drill: Great! Too easy? Do it again. Go so fast you get at least one of them wrong. Let's try another one. List FIVE kinds of exotic birds!
Start typing!
Improv Drill: One last time. List FIVE fake medical procedures.
If you're willing to be silly, try yelling "Yes!" enthusiastically after each answer.
Writing Goal: List 15 Different Story Ideas
Use FIVE THINGS to generate a bunch of different story ideas (old and new) for your novel (or screenplay or graphic novel). You'll likely be tempted to spend more time generating "good ideas", but try to keep up your fast pace from the improv drills and give yourself permission to be occasionally "bad" and "unimpressive."

**If you'd like to see an example, click the link to check out my attempt at the following exercises (some of the ideas are pretty weak-sauce, so it might be encouraging!) http://acrouch.com/?p=1768
Writing Exercise 1: You have probably kicked around a few ideas for a novel, screenplay or graphic novel in the past. LIST FIVE of these PAST STORY IDEAS that already live in your head somewhere. (If you don't have old ideas, start listing new ones)
Please number each story idea and aim for a minimum of five words and a maximum of a couple sentences for each one. E.g. 1) A high school cheerleader who hunts vampires. 2) A family heads west to California to escape the Oklahoma Dust Dowl in the 1930s. 3) A humanoid duck from an earth-like planet (but with ducks as the dominant species) is transported to Los Angeles in the 1980s. If he's going to get home again, he'll have to get a job, find love with a human woman, and fight an evil inter-dimensional creature., etc.
Writing Exercise 2: Again! List FIVE MORE story ideas. If you’ve got more past story ideas, keep listing them. If not, start generating new ideas.
We’re not looking for quality here. Your only job is to list FIVE THINGS without freezing up or stalling out. Try yelling "Yes!" after each idea (especially if that feels dumb!)
Writing Exercise 3: Great! No more old ideas. List FIVE more NEW story ideas. Go fast and let at least one or two of them be real bad.
When in doubt just start typing a random word and then see where that sentence goes from there.
Optional Writing Exercise 4: If you're having fun with this, no need to stop there. You're welcome to keep spitting out story ideas of variable quality as long as you like. Go nuts. Or if you're happy with your 15 ideas so far, you can call it a day.
Beta Tester feedback (optional)
If you have any thoughts or feedback at all about this process, please drop them here! Enthusiasm, complaints, criticisms and suggestions are all encouraged!
A copy of your responses will be emailed to the address you provided.
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