Join us on this episode of Creator/Shift as we dive into the multifaceted world of writing with our guest, Lauren Matsubara. Lauren explores her journey from literary prose and memoir essays in graduate school to her current passion for writing comedic sketches and fan fiction. She shares insights into how improv classes have shaped her approach to fiction writing, the challenges of balancing a full-time job, personal life, and creative pursuits, and how she maintains her well-being amidst her busy schedule. Whether you're a writer, a creative professional, or just someone looking for inspiration, this episode offers valuable perspectives on managing creativity and life’s demands.

Some Questions I ask:

• What creative medium do you most like writing for? (Stage, screen, scripts, improv, literature, audio dramas)

• How do you navigate working in multiple disciplines?

• PROCESS AND DEVELOPMENT: What did you need to learn when you switched from writing prose to writing comedy sketches?

• What have you learned about writing comedy?

Impact of Improv on Everyday Life| Lauren: "I think taking improv classes, at least for me, has helped in all areas of life, because it is such a skill that you have to, you need it everywhere. Everywhere. In every situation, emergency or not, you need to be able to improvise just to go with the flow. I think it makes you more easygoing in general."

Feeling the inspiration? Share this slice of creativity with someone who’d appreciate it! 🌟

Erika Christie is the host of Creator/Shift and as a Filmmaker/Writer/Producer has worked professionally in many different fields. Erika will be interviewing all types of amazing art-folk and delving into the best ways that artists up skill themselves- meaning, what they do to better themselves and their creative work. We'll also be putting a special focus on transitioning your skills into new artistic mediums and how to best work and collaborate with artists who have very different skill sets from your own. On Tech Tuesdays we will be delving into software, design, and gear reviews as we cover many artistic disciplines.

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TRANSCRIPT

LAUREN:

Actually, I like writing literary prose the most, which is not. I wrote a memoir ish essay set of essays in grad school, but I haven't gone back to it since I got out because then I started taking sketch writing classes and completely veered off course into comedy. So I do love writing sketch. I love creating characters that are wacky, and I actually like writing a lot of fan fiction as well. I've written some stuff, Gilligan's island, little sketches with that, and I like playing with characters that are already in the culture, like Santa Claus. I've written a character where he has a kind of bratty style teenage daughter. And so, I mean, I love writing sketch, but eventually, I'd like to get back to writing prose. I've got a lot of material that is written and in file folders in a filing cabinet at my house, not on a computer and not with a thousand tabs open on my computer.

But I do have real archived work that I'm just waiting for time to get into, and then I'll put it into the computer. Okay. I say no to a lot of things because I'm also an introvert, and I need lots of time to energize in between projects. So I work a full time job, which most people in the creative industry do, and then, you know, have to do this stuff in the margins. I'm also married, and so I have, like, a husband to come home to and spend time with. And, you know, sometimes I just feel like I don't have enough time to do all of it. So I guess my answer to that question is, not very well. How do I navigate it? Not very well.

But, no. The most important thing to me is that I'm still taking care of myself and have a balance between all of it, and then I can get to other projects as they come, as they feel good and they're not feeling toxic or like they're taking too much away from my time. Yeah. Storylines and, like, plot points, because I mostly wrote, you know, like, literary analysis and more creative nonfiction. So I'd say when I started writing sketch, it got my brain working in the sketch formula of escalating, you know, the obstacles when you have this thing and then taking it to the nth degree and then taking it as far as you can go. So I was not in that practice at all. I didn't study theater. I didn't even start.

I mean, I started doing improv while I was in grad school. I didn't have any background in that besides, like, you know, plays and stuff that you read in college. So I'd say that's the biggest thing, is like, getting my head wrapped around more storylines and then when things need to shift, when there needs to be a turning point and tension between characters and all that stuff, because it's more fiction. It's more of a fiction writing than it is. You know, what I was used to in the kind of literary world, I think taking improv classes, at least for me, has helped in all areas of life, because it is such a skill that you have to, you need it everywhere. Everywhere. In every situation, emergency or not, you need to be able to improvise just to go with the flow. I think it makes you more easygoing in general.

Yeah. That it comes most easily when you're not trying to force it, when you're having fun. It's about having fun.