Award-winning actress, comedian, and screenwriter, Jorjeana Marie, took a break to talk with me about fulfilling her childhood dream of writing for Disney, how writers can rewire their inner-critic, improv as a writing (and life) philosophy, and secrets for beating block and creating countless ideas.

“In improv the philosophy is, there are no mistakes.” – Jorjeana Marie

The talented multi-hyphenate storyteller started out writing and producing plays during her stint at NYU's Dramatic Writing Program, and has gone on to write for several animated television shows, including a popular kids' series for Disney.

Jorjeana is also an actress with extensive film and TV experience, as well as a prolific, award-winning audiobook narrator who has voiced over 300 titles for multiple NY Times bestsellers.

She writes and performs comedy regularly on stage at UCB, The Improv, and The Comedy Store, and teaches improvisation to students across the country, including at studios in Hollywood where she's coached writers of all genres.

Her recent book, Improv for Writers: 10 Secrets to Help Novelists and Screenwriters Bypass Writer’s Block and Generate Infinite Ideas is aimed at "...Aspiring and professional writers, novelists, screenwriters ... suffering from writer’s block and even those new to the craft."

New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman said of the book, “Jorjeana Marie’s generous, joyful, and oh-so-useful book shows writers—both seasoned and new—how to unleash their creativity and find their best story.”

This episode of The Writer Files is brought to you by the team at Author Accelerator. Author Accelerator book coaches give writers feedback, accountability, and support while you write, so you can get that your idea out of your head and onto the page.

 

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In Part One of this file Jorjeana Marie and I discussed:

• How to use improv to quickly generate some pages
• What it's like to work with Dave Chapelle and go on stage after Chris Rock
• Why successful storytelling starts with letting go of expectations
• How to use time-tested methods of writing on your feet to jumpstart your creativity
• Why writers need keep it fun to surprise themselves
• And how constraints and little bit of pressure can be so rewarding

Show Notes:

• Author Accelerator
• JorjeanaMarie.com

Improv for Writers: 10 Secrets to Help Novelists and Screenwriters Bypass Writer's Block and Generate Infinite Ideas by Jorjeana Marie [Amazon]

Jorjeana Marie on Facebook

Jorjeana Marie on Twitter

Kelton Reid on Twitter

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