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

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.
 

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.
 

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.
 

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

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.
 

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

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.
 

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...
 

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...