Switching Between Left-Brain and Right-Brain Creativity (Plus Awkwardness!)
- Chris Head
- 21 minutes ago
- 2 min read
At the start of this excerpt from one of my Zoom TV Comedy Scriptwriting classes, I open up with the observation that asking "what would be awkward?" is a better question than "what would be funny".)
Then I go on to discuss the creative process. I always discuss comedy writing as an alternation between unconscious creativity and conscious crafting. Lately I’ve taken to talking about this as right-brain and left-brain creativity, to give is a veneer of neuroscience!
The right-brain style of writing is the free, playful exploratory style. I always advise writers to write loads. Much more than you will need, not focusing on quality or even laughs, just hammering stuff out to set your unconscious in motion. This applies as much to stand-up as writing comedy scripts. In my Directors Guide to the Art of Stand-up book, I quote Logan Murray: "Allow yourself the freedom of not being funny. Allow yourself to explore ideas without insisting that there is a punchline at the end of every sentence. This period of time is for you to play."
The other side, the left-brain analytical thinking is where the conscious application of tools comes in. This is your rewriting and crafting stage. I always emphasise that the most important stage in comedy writing is the rewriting stage, where you rework what you came up with in the right-brain creative mode.
The key is to alternate between these two modes:
1. Right-brain: Unconscious/Playful: Writing a long, messy first draft, and letting the subconscious work. (At this point, comedy tools can come in, but instinctively.
2. Left-brain: Conscious/Analytical: Returning to the material later to work it up, develop it, cut what isn't working, and use your insights for rewriting and crafting, consciously applying comedy tools.
