My husband has been taking improv classes at a local comedy club for well over a year. At this point, the only classes he hasn’t taken have been for stand up. He performs some weekends and we have all spent quite a bit of time at The Comedy Arena. Everyone kept asking me when I would be taking a class. They knew I had a background in theatre and assumed that meant I would love to jump right in. They were wrong.
I did finally give in and join the Humorous Storytelling class. We have met twice now (third class is tonight). To say that I was intimidated that first week would be an understatement. I can’t really pinpoint why, but my social anxiety was turned up to its loudest setting. Thankfully, by the second class I was much more comfortable. I’m not entirely sure what the difference was, but maybe it was knowing I have stories to tell. While I have a lot of imposter syndrome when comparing myself to “real writers,” I do know that I’m not bad at throwing together a short story or personal narrative. When I shared my ideas with the class they seemed to agree.
I’ve written a first draft of my story, but I’m not happy with the ending. It isn’t as humorous as I’d like it. And I realize that the next few classes will be structured so that we share our stories and give feedback and help each other make our stories better, but this is one of my big fears. Critique has always been difficult for me. I’m just hoping I don’t shut down when I hear what people have to say. I think that might be why I have not looked at the story in a few days and have purposely left it exactly the way I wrote it initially with no editing. Maybe if I see areas for improvement before they say anything I won’t take it so personally? I don’t know. It’s worth a shot.
We will be performing our stories for an audience at the end of August. I’ve had several people say they want to know when it is so they can come, but I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that. My gut jumps to anxiety at the thought, but I hope that I can call upon my skills as both a theatre major and librarian to get through without a panic attack. I am trying to remind myself that I have an advantage. I know what makes a story. I know how to express stories in entertaining ways. I have performed stories for children hundreds of times. I can do this.
In addition to working on this Storytelling class, I signed up for the Book in 90 course from Sage Adderly. It doesn’t start until September, which is perfect. My Storytelling class will be done and I will have a bit of experience with peers critiquing my work. I’m not sure if there will be any critique involved in B90, but if there is I’ll be ready for it (I hope). Once I get through that course, I think that the Story Intensive that Traci Skuce is offering will be a good next step. I feel like being in classes like these helps to keep me accountable and push me to keep going even when I doubt myself. Here’s hoping it works and I can have a novel ready to publish by this time next year!
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