Muse is an interesting word. It makes me think of inspiration, such as an artist’s muse.
Musing also means giving serious thought. In other words, having a source of inspiration. A
muse, is the keystone of the creative process
Here’s a process that I’ve used and which you can also follow to create paths to ideas
inspired by your muse. Whatever the source of your inspiration may be. I’ve broken this idea
generation process down to three fundamental segments that I call FPS. If you’re a gamer,
you know FPS as a first-person shooter. If you’re into film, FPS stands for frames-per-second.
However, in the context of ideas, FPS stands for Formation, Presentation, and Support.
Like any other skill, being able to do this well on a (semi)consistent basis requires hours of
practice.
As an improviser I use words as my muse to inspire spontaneous comedic ideas. My muse
could be any word an audience member may shout out when asked to supply a suggestion.
Throughout I’ll be sharing examples of how I get from inspiration to comedy sketch. I’ll use the
word “Spoon” as my muse.