By Jorjeana Marie

The SCBWI-L.A.Virtual Writers Day this year, on June 12-13, was incredibly special indeed. Perhaps because I had waited over a year for it. It was my first opportunity to present with one of the most welcoming and genuine organizations I have ever had the honor to be a part of. I thought after my session: “Definitely worth rescheduling, despite unusual circumstances and constraining parameters. Magical moments showed up for us. In droves.”

Thank you to Nutschell Windsor, Sally Jones Rogan, and all the volunteers and team members for paving the way for a day of productivity and group inspiration and creating such a positive, uplifting place to gather. Events like this and the opportunities therein make the loneliness that creeps up sometimes (okay, maybe a lot, recently) in writing easier to move through. Even though this was different from events in the past, there was again, those magical moments to be gained.

I was delighted to talk improv and the philosophy of improvisation as it pertains to life and writing. Creating something out of nothing and bypassing blocks is just about my favorite thing to do (and discuss doing). I was especially thrilled the fantastic organizers included time to play some of the games from my book, Improv for Writers, based on years of teaching kids and kids-at-heart.

There were lectures throughout the event that were helpful and focused. Our playtime complemented the discussions throughout, adding to it all with on-the-spot-in-your-seat-right-there-writing.

The tips from Save the Cat Writes a Novel with Jessica Brody were timeless and helpful reminders of the importance of structure. You can take detours and have some fun joyriding with your writing, but knowing how to maintain story and engagement through the cycle of story is just as important as letting freedom and discovery take us off-roading.

Our lives have always been about needing a balance, writing lives included. We are more aware of that than ever, and a day like SCBWI’s Writer’s Day, where both pantsers and plotters can test-drive other styles, is key to expanding style and story both.

What was unique with this virtual Writers Day experience was how integrated and interactive it was. Many people connected with me before and after, and shared how using improv helped them breakthrough blocks or barriers, resolve some aspect of their protagonist or antagonist. We also just… let go.

So much was shared in the chat about where each game we played took the writers. We discovered together in real-time aspects of the stories unfolding, based on suggestions we came up with together. If you are reading this and wondering, “What happened, what was this?” Essentially, we wrote. We wrote a lot — short, concise writing sprints together to create something unusual. A day of writing that opened up new worlds and characters and reminded us the best kind of writing — writing free from self-criticism.

Early on we did an extremely brief centering exercise and then off we went, exploring comedy, no judgement zones and committing to our characters and careers as well as other ‘secrets’ of improv. (Which are really simply another way to remind us how to play with the abandon kids have).

I was eager to lead the charge of ignoring everything but the page for an hour and dive into making something without analyzing or critiquing. It was only a space made for making. That each person had their own unique take on each location or subject we wrote about — even though there were overlapping coincidences — we also really felt connected. I was in awe, as I often am during this special space, of those playing the games and afterward what they shared they had come up. It seems we had all, for a few moments in time, agreed to write with abandon. And succeeded.

What more can you ask for on a very special Writers Day? A very special writer’s day indeed!

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Images provided by author. Book cover from Penguin Random House.