- Pick a topic – Art is fueled by life and forged in silence
- Take a moment to listen and reflect on what God’s been speaking to you about lately. What’s been on your heart?
- It doesn’t have to be a ‘huge God moment’ – sometimes the everyday mundane things can inspire us
- It can be something really specific or something broader
- If you can’t think of anything, you may need to do more living and get inspired!
- Take an angle
- What perspective will you speak from?
- Are you telling a story (real or fictional), delivering a monologue or both?
- Be honest and be bold
- Get writing!
- Have a strong opener that catches the attention of the listener by shocking them/making them laugh/asking a question etc.
- Choose your poetic devices – repetition, similes, metaphors, wordplay, rhyming etc.
- Use the senses
- Make the listener feel, don’t tell them to
- Let the piece find itself – don’t try to force a direction too much
- Edit
- Say it out loud, see how it sounds and change accordingly!
- Depending on how you write, this may be where you actually first carve out your piece
- I heard a good tip – type in white font. That way you just keep writing and only edit everything afterwards.
- Perform
- Find your style. There’s no one way to do it
- Memorise vs Read
- Live the emotions of your words through gestures, facial expressions and the tone and speed of your voice
- Project and enunciate
- Eye contact
- Find somewhere to perform – church, youth events, open mic nights etc.
- Bonus: KEEP GOING!
- You may not be great at first, but keep going
- Practice makes perfect!