Anyone familiar with the improv show Whose Line is it Anway? is familiar with a vast number of improvisational games that actors can play to create a scene. But did you know that some of these games can also be used in the context of creative writing?
One such game is “Two-Line Vocabulary.” It involves three people on the stage: one is the “straight man,” or the foil, who has the freedom to say whatever they want. The others have been assigned specific lines—two different phrases each—that are the only things they can say for the entire game.
Find a trusted friend or family member and ask them for four random phrases that have no specific context to them. (You could also eavesdrop on a conversation or steal a line or two from a movie or TV show). Then, write out a scene involving three characters: one foil to drive the scene forward, and two characters who can only speak their two lines each. Be sure, as the actors in Whose Line is it Anyway? do, to play with tonal shifts and added contexts to make the scene make sense in spite of the limitations set on you. And remember the improv rule of “Yes, And…”: do not let your foil dismiss or deny outright what your other characters are saying. Rather, have the foil accept the response without question (Yes,), and then add onto it to further drive the scene (And…).