Hatrack River Writers Workshop   
my profile login | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Hatrack River Writers Workshop » Forums » Open Discussions About Writing » Writing and Acting

   
Author Topic: Writing and Acting
tnwilz
Member
Member # 4080

 - posted      Profile for tnwilz   Email tnwilz         Edit/Delete Post 
Deleted

[This message has been edited by tnwilz (edited September 19, 2008).]


Posts: 556 | Registered: Oct 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
arriki
Member
Member # 3079

 - posted      Profile for arriki   Email arriki         Edit/Delete Post 
for me-- just my opinion -- not only was I a poet in my younger days, I spent some time studying acting and working in a few locel plays. Nothing major, but I learned a lot that I do use in my writing.

All that plus I'm a visual person. I don't absorb oral info or instructions well. Write it down, draw it and I'll remember.

When I am writing a story, I'm watching a movie in my mind and attempting to describe it in words. That's why I get tangled up in trying to find ways to convey through punctuation some details of how stuff is said.

In a recent story I had two guys doing some heavy lifting while they discussed/argued about plot stuff. Easy, simple to do in acting but not so easy to show with mere words. I wound up with this:
oh dear, I can't recall how to show italics/underlining. Well, the "come here, Harry, and help me get this kink out" is supposed to show as italics.

"I" -- huff -- "think I see" – “come here, Harry, and help me get this kink out" -- " our way clear of this."

A lot easier to convey on stage or on screen.


Posts: 1580 | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
innesjen
Member
Member # 6126

 - posted      Profile for innesjen   Email innesjen         Edit/Delete Post 
I personally don't see a connection. I'm never going to be an actor but I am a writer, and I don't use any acting skills to write. I think it depends on the writer. I can see how a playwrite utilizes acting to write, but for my novels, the profession of acting does nothing to help nor hinder.
Posts: 72 | Registered: Aug 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Kathleen Dalton Woodbury
Administrator
Member # 59

 - posted      Profile for Kathleen Dalton Woodbury   Email Kathleen Dalton Woodbury         Edit/Delete Post 
Why are you particularly interested in what I would say?

Just curious.

Well, one of the writing books I like to recommend is actually intended for stage more than for regular prose:

THE ART OF DRAMATIC WRITING by Lajos Egri

Also, I would point out that OSC has a strong acting/directing/theater background, and I suspect that's why so much of his storytelling involves dialog, but it may also be why he is as good a storyteller as he is at all.

And, I would say that understanding the principles of acting may help you with characterization, especially when you are trying to "show" by how they behave what is going on inside a character's head (describing characters' body language can help authors overcome the inclination to attempt omniscient point of view).

That's all I can think of at the moment, except that I believe that learning as much as you can about anything in the world can help with writing. As Connie Willis has said, if you are a writer, EVERYTHING is your business.


Posts: 8826 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
wetwilly
Member
Member # 1818

 - posted      Profile for wetwilly   Email wetwilly         Edit/Delete Post 
Well, a peripheral skill that is necessary for both is observation...coming to an understanding of how people behave and how they react to different situations.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
NoTimeToThink
Member
Member # 5174

 - posted      Profile for NoTimeToThink   Email NoTimeToThink         Edit/Delete Post 
I acted for a few years before I got a real job.

I think it helps that I can throw (and lose) myself into characters with different thinking and motivations. Also, I think this aids in having an "ear" for dialogue, and in the dramatic impact of words; OSC and others advocate reading your work out loud to refine it.


Posts: 406 | Registered: Mar 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Rhaythe
Member
Member # 7857

 - posted      Profile for Rhaythe   Email Rhaythe         Edit/Delete Post 
What wetwilly says.
Posts: 487 | Registered: Mar 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
shimiqua
Member
Member # 7760

 - posted      Profile for shimiqua   Email shimiqua         Edit/Delete Post 
"Sometimes I feel like bad acting is one of the greatest pitfalls of the novice writer."

I totally think there are correlations between acting and writing. Such as...

Well first, acting is just storytelling when you break it down, and Storytelling is what writers try to do, right?

Getting into a characters head and understanding motivation and an individuals moral code is an actors bread and butter.

Rejection rejection rejection. I had a theatre professor tell me once that When you audition you need to focus on selling your talent as if it was an encyclopedia. Some people want it, but some won't. That is not a personal reflection on your ability or your capability. When I've written something and it gets shot down, I like to think of that analogy and then cry into my pillow.

Overall, however, I think writing is more like directing than acting. Lot's more balls to juggle.

Improve you dialogue, by actually reading aloud what a character would actually say.

So get thee hence to your local theatre, Your writing might just improve.

~Sheena


Posts: 1201 | Registered: Jan 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
SchamMan89
Member
Member # 5562

 - posted      Profile for SchamMan89   Email SchamMan89         Edit/Delete Post 
Maybe I'll elaborate soon, but I'm gonna keep this post short.

Yes, there is definitely a correlation between acting and writing.

When I was young, I wrote a lot. I was always developing weird worlds and characters. I started acting in junior high and found that I was very good for my age. I pretty much dropped writing for most of high school and focused completely on performing, whether it be singing, dancing or acting. Soon after I graduated high school, I started taking up writing again. Something strange happened.

I understood writing much better.

Now, I know that a lot of that could be contributed to the difference in age. And its true, I had to write many essays throughout high school. However, I have no doubt in my mind that performing helped me ascend a level in writing. I focused a lot on writing for a year...then this summer, I started acting up again. I'm certainly a step or two above where I used to be.

I don't think the relationship is exclusive to just acting and writing though. I think all arts help each other. It's no coincidence that some of the best writers are also some of the most well-rounded people.

P.S. Wow...so much for keeping the post short.


Posts: 105 | Registered: Jun 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
tnwilz
Member
Member # 4080

 - posted      Profile for tnwilz   Email tnwilz         Edit/Delete Post 
Deleted

[This message has been edited by tnwilz (edited September 19, 2008).]


Posts: 556 | Registered: Oct 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Lullaby Lady
Member
Member # 1840

 - posted      Profile for Lullaby Lady   Email Lullaby Lady         Edit/Delete Post 
I was a theatre major in college, and have done lots of work on stage.

In addition to the other suggestions, another way acting is related to writing is because of characterization. When working on a character, an actor will do well to fill out a full character analysis on that character. Just a few of the possible questions are:

What are the spiritual beliefs of the character?

What was the character's childhood like?

What are the character's philosophies about education?

Etc. & etc....

A good actor needs to know exactly how their character would feel and react in any and every situation. Writers should know such things about ALL the characters they create.


Posts: 212 | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Elan
Member
Member # 2442

 - posted      Profile for Elan           Edit/Delete Post 
I've always felt writing is like improv acting. I feel at times like I'm in the audience, watching my characters in my mind's eye. They surprise me at times with dialog and action I never planned. Sometimes it's as if I'm merely a reporter, transcribing what I see happening on the stage of my mind.
Posts: 2026 | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
satate
Member
Member # 8082

 - posted      Profile for satate   Email satate         Edit/Delete Post 
I think there's a lot that correlates between writing and acting, but then I think there's a lot of correlation between all the arts. Any art you do helps you understand other art. Though I do think acting and writing might be a little more similar than the others.
Posts: 968 | Registered: Jul 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Reagansgame
Member
Member # 8149

 - posted      Profile for Reagansgame   Email Reagansgame         Edit/Delete Post 
I have to say the most obvious, here, is that most of your great theater starts life as a story on paper (just with different formatting and lots of blocking). All of those who answer before me, broaden what I had once thought of as a good grasp on this concept.

The thought most touched upon, the one I'll add my ellaboration to, is how many of the arts tie together and build upon each other. If that concept were to be broken down further, you can say that all of the arts are born out of a very basic, very primal passion or a talent. In theater, while you are part of a greater show, you are still, essentially, alone in that spotlight, heck, you are essentially alone in that theater. Because, when you act, like really, really act, you aren't doing it for the sake of an audience. Just like it is for the kid in the garage band, the ballet dancer, the sidewalk artist, the eccentric comedian, some of us have this overwhelming need to go after this passion. In fact, the talent or passion, its almost a disease. For some, it can be so intense at times that you are driven forward without understanding why you can't just walk away. Sometimes, talent owns you, and no matter how much you try to say, --well, I just dabble in a bit of acting (writing/photography/violin playing) -- the truth is, until you get up on that stage, the talent is going to burn you up from the inside.

Why else would people spend hours in front of a mirror, searching for that absolute perfect expression of facial feature and body language combined with intonation and timing? Why else would people spend hours a day writing, no matter what? It isn't for money. We'll give attention to the thing that brings in the bacon, but never so much as we give to our particular artistic vices. Not unless the job is the talent. Even if there may be a little money to be made from that vice in the long run, we don't do it for money.

Arts exist for the artist.

Writing and acting (and all of the other thousands of examples) are so similar, because they act as a sort of needle-point to release the building pressure of a blistering talent. Each provides a stage, where we stand, completely alone, to bellow out the things of our dreams. And every now and then, if someone pops their head in and says, "hey! good on yer, you are doing a great job." That's all the better.

But if they don't. It won't matter, because we'll still go on. We have to go on. We have to go deliver that line. Write that chapter. Paint that picture. Hit that note. Get that punchline. Have to keep going.

I think that may be the dark shadow swimming just under the surface of obvious connection between the arts. Just this undefinable fire in us all.

Of course... That may all just be my imagination...


Posts: 243 | Registered: Aug 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Palaytiasdreams
Member
Member # 8154

 - posted      Profile for Palaytiasdreams   Email Palaytiasdreams         Edit/Delete Post 
I must comment here that I when I first wrote a novel I had one character that I had "played" to appease a fellow writer.

The "acting"...for lack of a better word still makes me blush with shame today, it was so poorly written.

I wrote her half her time out of character because this writer had kept prompting me "more angst more angst" to the point I had my character saying and doing things that were not her nature.

I learned then not to "play" to anyone's suggestions if it was not in my character's best interest. Once I did that, the scenes go much better and the character had no more outbursts that were unbecoming a lady of her stature.

I still can't read those scenes with thinking I "sold out", but in doing so learned the lesson of be true to my character because I know them best.


Pal...pleased to know there are people like her out there...


Posts: 79 | Registered: Aug 2008  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

   Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Hatrack River Home Page

Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2