There is pretty much nothing funnier than saying "Acting!" with an extremely dramatic and pompous tone (in the style of comedian Jon Lovitz). Some people make a whole lot of money from this trade while some do it simply to express themselves artistically. There are thousands of plays going on in the world today and tens of thousands of actors making them work (or not, depending on the production :)). For you actor/writer/director folk like myself, these freecreative writing prompts about acting may help you to come up with some new ideas no matter what your current focus is on. If I learned two things from my Dramatic Art degree in college it's that there's no one right way to act and that anybody if given the proper guidance can do it. If you wish to express your acting thoughts a bit right away, feel free to use the submission form below.
Free Creative Writing Prompts: Acting
1. Talk about a time in which you had to act in front of people, whether during a class presentation, a school play you were roped into, or in an off-broadway production. It doesn't matter what it was, what matters for this prompt is to talk about how you felt and what you think the "audience" thought of your performance.
2. What is your favorite acting performance of all time: movie, television, stage play or other? Why was this performance so moving and why has it stuck with you?
3. You are stepping up to the podium for your first Academy Award speech (you won for Best Actor or Actress)! What do you say and who do you thank? Also, how does the post-show party go?
4. What was your worst acting experience? Split pants on stage? Lines go completely out of your head? Totally off-key during a musical number? Booed into oblivion? Talk about it and for fun write a version in which everything instead went right.
5. You are in the cast of a well-received play or sketch comedy show. You have just found out that a big-time reviewer is going to be in the audience that night (and I'm not talking about Guffman! :) ). How does it affect you and the rest of the cast? Does it change the way you decide to go about things?
6. You have just begun what was supposed to about a five minute scene during a packed-house show. Your scene partner has forgotten all of his lines and is just looking at you as if he is mute. What do you to salvage the scene and save the show?
7. What kind of style of acting most appeals to you? Are you an Uta Hagen fan? Stanislavski? David Mamet? Dissect a few of your experiences with all the styles you've encountered and decide on the one that's the most interesting to you.
8. Talk about a time in which you were so engrossed in the part you were acting that you were able to just let yourself run on autopilot. How did it go and what did you like or dislike about the experience?
9. Describe your experiences with your best and worst directors of all time. What could the bad one have learned from the good one and what lessons did you learn from working with either?
10. You have been cast in a pilot for CBS! Who do you tell first? How do you get the word out to the rest of your friends? What are your experiences like shooting the first episode and getting officially picked up for a full-season run?
Acting isn't all about the glitz and glitter or the academy awards or the reaction of the tens or thousands of audience members. For me, acting is about using a secret code (the words of the piece) to talk about what's really going on inside of you (or at least, what has gone on inside of you in the past). When I started using this philosophy, I felt a lot stronger as an actor and as an expressive person. I hope you enjoyed these free creative writing prompts about acting and that it made you feel like getting back on stage or in front of the camera if it had been a while. Happy acting and writing!
Related Articles to Free Creative Writing Prompts about Acting
Free Creative Writing Prompts from the Heart, Part 1
Free Creative Writing Prompts #2: Love
Creative Writing Exercises #2: Relaxation
Use the above prompts or article as inspiration to write a story or other short piece.
