How Acting Can Help You Write Those Troublesome Scenes
July 25th, 2010 by Guest
Please welcome guest poster Laura R. Espinosa to WU. Laura was one of our finalists for our WU unpublished contributor, and she made the cut because she has a fresh, funny voice and a unique perspective: she’s a co-author with one of her close friends. She’s also an artist and animator.
“My ultimate goal is to publish the urban fantasy series my co-author and I are writing, because some authors have a story that simply needs to be told, and the muse won’t let them go until it is. ”
She’s been writing stories since she was little, but it took a more serious light in 2005 after her first NanoWrimo experience.
We wish her all the luck in the world. Enjoy!
We’ve all experienced this at least once. A moment—or rather a long string of endless minutes—where you are in front of your wip doggedly plowing through a scene that you are just not feeling. And when you’re done and read your finished prose, your inner critic confirms what you knew all along: this scene sucks.
Your protagonist is flat, your setting descriptions vague, and just reading it leaves your ears burning in shame. You look at the tight, almost mystical prose of the scene prior and wonder if another person crafted those words, because it’s obvious that you don’t currently wield the magic pen, and if you did, you don’t remember which back pocket you placed it in.
Rewriting the scene again or, worse, starting over becomes a looming task hanging over the progress of your manuscript. Suddenly, drowning your woes with a bottle of tequila sounds more appealing.
Well, if you’re like me, tequila isn’t an option. I weigh 90 pounds and anything stronger than a margarita will leave me incapacitated. Not the best way to solve a bout of “Argh, I can’t nail this scene.” Because that’s what this is. It’s not that you can’t write. It’s not that you are a horrible writer and you should leave the craft all together. Like Anna Elliott’s post on how she can’t nail down voice until her characters start talking to her, this is a classic example of not knowing your scene.
If you find your protagonist is delivering flat, almost unmotivated actions, you may not have a good grasp on how he’s suppose to be reacting. And if your descriptions leave something to be desired, try expanding your imagination’s lens to a wider scope and simply soak in the details. Give yourself a little play room to explore your scene enough to be able to write about it well.
What I do sometimes, when I find myself completely unable to connect to a scene I’m writing, is pretend that I’m actually in it. I step into my character’s shoes, walk onto the stage that I’ve created on the page, and literally act out the scene, usually in front of a full length mirror with props so I can make a fool of myself.
I went to animation school. So part of my studies involved standing in front of mirrors, pretending I was inanimate 3D objects that had personalities (Pixar’s Luxo Jr). And as strange as that sounds, the purpose of those exercises was to get under your character’s skin and find out why he did certain things. If you wanted a character to do something as simple as blink, there had to be a reason; a want and a desire. Every action had to convey something. Every choice had to have meaning. Otherwise it was groundless, clunky movement that clogged up your performance.
Even though this exercise was given to me as an animator, I’ve found it useful when I’m struggling with a difficult scene. As writers, we too have characters and settings that, without us, would be stiff prose on paper. But sometimes, the act of breathing life into our pages is very hard. Sometimes we write prose that’s disconnected, because we don’t have a good grasp on the scene in front of us.
So try to. Get up, stand in front of that mirror, and step into your scene. See how it feels like to act it out. Do several takes. And I promise you’ll go back to your computer able to breathe new life into that dead prose.
My husband and I will play out fight scenes together to better see how they flow/feel. (not that we’re actually beating each other up. haha) What may look fine in your head sometimes doesn’t quite jive when put into action.
Excellent post!
Lydia Sharp´s last blog ..What Form Rejection Means To Me – An Uncontest Entry- Essay Thing
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by DeidreKnight, Todd Rutherford, Elise Estrella, Silver James, Lydia Sharp and others. Lydia Sharp said: [WU guest post by Lauren Espinoza] How Acting Can Help You Write Those Troublesome Scenes http://bit.ly/dxubiA #writing [...]
What a great idea, Lauren! I do that in my head often when I’m not feeling a scene, like step into my character’s mind and make myself describe in my character’s words exactly what he/she is physically feeling: like, “My feet hurt from running that last mile, and I’ve got a blister burning on my heel, etc. etc.” Almost nothing of that actually makes it onto the page, but it helps me make the scene come alive when I do start writing again.
And so happy you liked my post on voice! I was just sitting here wanting to avoid writing for a minute (don’t we all do that? I hope?) and checked Writer Unboxed and now feel much more energized, so thanks for that! :)
I’ve certainly found that my 20 years of studying acting helps with my writing – when you’re acting, you get into the characters heads and writing is the same; in acting, you need to be “in the moment” the entire scene with nothing else entering your mind but your character’s objectives and subtext. I love this part of it. Great post and more to think about. Thanks!
Last August – wrote this http://www.ladywholunches.net/blog/2009/08/22/writing-in-the-moment/
Meagan Lopez´s last blog ..Time Travel
lovely post! this is so true. thank you for writing about it. :)
As I write I try to see the action playing out in front of me on the “movie-screen of my mind”. Then, I try to [simply] write it down.
This is the same idea as acting out the scene in your head.
It helps me shift from the automatic dead prose of :
“It made the boy sad…”
to
“The boy’s shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes.”
~Newton
100 Beginnings for Fiction Writers analysis of 100 novels and how we (as writers) learn from them.
Newton Saber´s last blog ..Mentoring Yourself – Is It Possible
Oh, definitely! Great advice. I am constantly saying lines of dialogue out loud, thinking about tone and volume, and then “transcribing” that onto the page. Or movements — gestures — I make them in order to verify that I’m describing them correctly, or that they feel right. Sure, this probably garners me some strange looks (at the coffeeshop, or even just from my boyfriend on the other end of the couch) but you are absolutely right, it’s a great way to get your mind into the story and the characters.
Btw, you might already read her blog, but Natalie Whipple is a great writer and an artist as well. She uses character sketches — literal ones — to help her get into the story as well. http://betweenfactandfiction.blogspot.com/
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I use gestures when I’m writing the scene for the first time. I will close my eyes and the stab or flick a latch. When I’m working with my NaNo group, they laugh at me. Whatever it takes to get it right.
Thank you for all the wonderful comments! So I’m not the only one looking silly in front of a mirror or at a coffee shop! :) It’s very liberating once you stop feeling self conscious about it. And you pick up behavioral nuances when you act that you might not have known about your character. The clearer the picture you get in your mind, the easier it is to transcribe.
@Anna You have no idea how much I absolutely adored that post. It really spoke to me and I’m glad I was able to recharge your writing battery like you did mine!
@Kristan I actually haven’t read her blog but now I’m going to check it out! I draw a lot of my characters too. Usually to get a look and feel of attitude and clothing styles (and to also do something different). So it’d be great to read about another writer doing the same.
@Meagan 20 years?? Wow, you are awesome. Also, I think being in the moment helps us combat telling vs showing in our writing.
And for the record, I love acting out fight scenes (without the beating up) :)
I am working on a troublesome scene right now, and this might just work. Trying!
Thanks so much for a great post, Laura.
I think this is going to help immensely with a scene I’m working on that is very emotional, but also requires some action from the characters — I want to make sure their gestures and movements are appropriate. Now I just have to get over feeling kooky in the mirror! LOL
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You have to tell us the fruits of your labor when you’re done with that scehe, Therese. :) Remember to stay loose!
And Donna, you get over the kookiness very quickly when you hit a stride with your play acting and let go. Because then you’re an entirely different person: your character! Good luck to you and thank all of you again for leaving comments on my first post! :D
Laura, this is too funny. Not only do I have to write this way, I *critique* this way too. I know I’m in trouble with scenes when I can’t inhabit my character’s body.
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One of the greatest writers did this exercise. I’m sure everyone has heard of him, Charles Dickens. He often acted out his characters and, of course, in front of the mirror in order to catch the movement and expressions of his characters.
Now that’s ENTERTAINMENT! LOL…great advice…I am learning a lot. I can act it out a bit. I tried it, I like it! THANKS