Shorts
In writing scenes, the important things will be for the actor to get the opportunity to explore a range of emotions, demonstrate comedic timing, and/or create a memorable character. With little or no introduction, scenes should convey a moment in time that the viewer can follow, with just enough background for the scene to move forward.
Improvisation
Where is the scriptwriting in improvisation? Actually, improvisation is a group effort in spontaneous scriptwriting. From a writer's point of view, it could be seen as collective brainstorming, and being a part of it certainly gets ones creative juices flowing.
Riding on the popularity of television's Whose Line is it, Anyway?, improvisation is also creating new audiences. But the range of improvisation styles and techniques goes far beyond the short, snappy segments created by the witty comedians on television.
In fact, improvisers employ a lot of childhood games and exercises in their rehearsals and shows. Do you remember Freeze Tag? Everybody moves around until someone yells, "Freeze." To improv groups, once they've frozen, their challenge is to start creating a scene based on the positions they're in. Another is the "add-a-line" game, where someone starts off a story and then the next person adds a line, and so on. But with improvisation, one of the keys is to keep in mind that a play is the goal, so as lines and scenes get added, they need to connect for a coherent story line and consistent characters. This is where a major challenge of improv occurs.
The long form of improvisation takes this even further, creating plays lasting an hour or more. Development of complex characters, situations, and relationships can occur with surprising and delightful results.
I recently sat in as a guest musician on an improv session, making up melodies, rhythms, and riffs to enhance and season what the actors were doing. As a musician, it was both fun and challenging. As a writer, I often found myself not playing, but rather riveted on the story being created before my eyes.
Many of my plays and ideas for plays arise from a single overheard statement, or a glance at a unique person, or reading about some unusual situation. Similarly, I came away from that session thinking of all the things I'd seen, and how so many of them could be starting points for a new play.
Conclusion
I don't think anyone will ever get rich or famous just from writing short scripts. But they're
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