I decided to try out acting

I took a break from writing for a bit and try out acting. I found a new hobby to do on the side and quite enjoy it. I did it for other reasons to help me on dialogue and character development. Here is my take on it regarding acting and writing.

They always say an actor knows the character better than the writer. Now I understand why. I got my first role as Lord Godalming in the classic Dracula play. It's hard work but its a good stress and challenge to take upon.

It's given me more insight how to write dialogue when speaking to other characters. Especially when expressing emotions. Not only that, forcing your own self out of your comfort zone into the character you play. Then when speaking out on the lines. Some dialogue in the script of words need to be changed or taken out because it doesn't sound right. Now I act out the characters in my own story.

This has helped me writing my own characters tremendously. How to give each character, even side ones it's own unique identity as if they're the MC. Actors feel the same way when they don't have a main role or knowing their character is just a side character to be disregarded later. George R. R. Martin who wrote GoT was a screen writer for tv shows.

In life we all want to be the main character, the world we walk into every day is the main stage. I am sure you put yourself in a different role in public vs privately. I would suggest to try out acting, it could help giving you an insight what I'm talking about. May change how you write as well. Just my 2 cents

 

I believe I can write (at least sometimes), but I could never star in a play. I don't even think I could take an acting class. My thesis defense terrified me. My doctor gave me anxiety pills to help me get through it. No lie. But my thesis was the outcome of years spent writing and my thesis defense was a reading to showcase part of it. It scared the shit out of me. And while there were many open seats in the audience, the attention, the focus on me, was still too much. I could hardly think about what was going on more than I could just think about when it was going to end. I guess we handle attention and even it's degrees differently.

I like the company of the view out my window and think that can be just as inspiring for me as a writer as what you describe. Though I think living is important, reflection has something to do with all this (writing) too.

I don't want to be the main character, but I'll slip into the role in front of my keyboard. I don't think I'm different privately vs. publicly nor do I ever think I have been. Well, there was this one time, but if I told you about that, I'd have to kill you. And it had very little to do with writing and more to do with lying than acting. But I've never been an attention seeker or wanted any kind of stardom other than my efforts to try and become famous in the world of literary journals. I want that bad. I want that steady stream of two publications a year. Man, I sure am and have been after that. But the idea that I would ever have to give a reading freaks me out.

Acting class sounds like you're being asked to give a thesis to a bunch of strangers a bunch of times. I would be freaking out just wondering when I might get called on. I think things like The Moth are great, but I don't know how people do it. For those of you who don't know what The Moth is, it's the radio series on NPR that you can listen to live. Basically, you go to a show and put your name in a hat . You don't know the topic before hand, but then they announce a topic of the night and if they pick your name you have to go up on that stage and tell a story that fits the topic live, on the spot, in front of an audience and live on the radio. I know someone who did it. I would die. Those are true stories on The Moth, but I could see how acting classes could help with things like that and could help with writing in general. But, for me, even practicing my thesis at home by myself, scared the shit out of me. An acting class might be some sort of hell for people like me.

 

Not an actor — ssh! — but this is why I love role-playing the action and dialogue between the characters in my writing whenever possible

 

This is a cool post. If you were to ask me what helped me the most in writing dialogue, it would be my humble call center job. I've talked to so many people and different types of people who talk all different sorts of ways that it helps figure out how to make my characters talk. My snobbish characters sound snobbish because they're based after snobbish people I've talked to.

 

When I did my first monologue in front of an audience. A nice guy randomly asking a girl in a coffee shop to marry and have kids with him. I got nervous on my lines but the nervous played right into my character. I got the audience to laugh when I had the girl say "I'm taken" in the end.

It's stage fright, but acting in theater is vastly different doing film. You have to perform in front of a whole audience. I just pretend they don't exist and rehearse the lines I've practiced with. The more you do it, the more you're comfortable doing it. Which is all about getting out of your comfort zone.

I played Role-Playing with my friends in a GoT RPG. I was some uncle who was prisoner as a gladiator. I came back to take my rightful place and fired everyone who was with my brother's son. Well, every character hated me and I gave 100% of my support to Stannis. After Stannis lost. I was captured and sent to the wall. Well as for our "kingdom" literally gone to sh!t. My loyal men stole all the wealth and took off to queen of dragons. I was a Lord for 2 weeks and imprisoned at the wall. Basically I'm back to square one. I basically ruined what they built for 2 years in matter of 2 weeks, lmao.

Ironically I work at a call center as well. I get all various of different people. Some rude, funny, ditsy, aggressive etc. I use home of good burger for my motto when they call in.

 

Yeah, I could never do it. I think I'm trying to find my comfort zone, not get out of it. But it's great that you feel like it's working for you.

 

I feel like that role-playing really helps us understand character reaction to settings and scenarios. Role-playing like D&D or in games like World of Warcraft really helps you to think as the character rather than imagining the character and creating a blanket personality for it. If anything, the stuff I'm writing is slightly aimed at the role-playing community on the internet although not in the D&D fashion.

Acting, I think, is just role-playing taken to the next level with a production and a stage. So, it's a more extreme version and it can be very useful to help writers/screenwriters understand what writing characters and their emotions entail.

Keep on acting, bud. :]

 

... I just meant lowercase-role-playing in the sense of acting out the scenes in my writing as the characters involved, not Uppercase-Role-Playing in the sense of specific games, but that it really cool

 

I was in a Christmas play as a kid attending a Catholic elementary school. My teacher ,Sister Antoinette, wanted me in the play because she said I was tall. I told her I get stage freight and this would not be a good idea. She insisted so I volunteered to be a hump in our camel. She said no I want you to be the African Magi. I said but I’m white, but since I lived in an Italian Ghetto there were no African Americans at my school, so she persisted. How are you going to make me look like an African I said? Sister Antoinette looked up at the ceiling seeking divine inspiration. She placed a black sack over my head and cut out holes for the eyes ,nose, and mouth. There you look just like an African Magi. I actually looked more like a terrorist I thought. Now don’t be frightened Joey you only have one line. Father John will be in the front row. All you need to do is walk forward and say” And to you Father John I offer these frankensence. “I practiced that line in front of the mirror for an entire week. I tried every intonation known to man. Finally the big day arrived and the auditorium was packed. I looked at my sister and her friends and they all started to laugh. The sequence of speakers was myrrh, gold , then ME. As the play progressed my stage freight kicked in. When it was my moment I walked toward the edge of the stage and gestured with both arms directed at Father John. And to you Father John I offer ..... I offer....... Pasquale the stage manager tried to cue me by saying “frankensence you little bastard. “In my state of fear all I could do was to say “ frankensence you little bastard. “ The play ended with Sister Antoinette whacking me on the head with the script and my yelling “I told you not to put in the play.”

 

I've only ever done little sketches and plays for my church. In the last two years or so I've done a couple of theatrical speeches for Christmas and Easter. I'm probably not gonna be a terrific actor, ever, because I'm always just myself when I'm on stage. However, I channel my emotions the same way I do for writing, so I come off as genuine and passionate and it moves the audience. But I think I'd be one of those actors who would only ever be able to play one type of character, who's forever just "herself" no matter the role lol. It is fun though. I love singing for the same reason - that I can express my emotions.

 

I did the same and discovered the same thing! In fact many things I do and go through makes me a better writer. I did Drama but I HATED being on stage with a passion but I did it anyway - not too improve my writing because at 15 it was just an occasionally hobby. I did it because I was timid and shy and wanted to gain more confidence. (it didn't work) but I realized that when I wrote monologues I enjoyed that more than I did performing them. I enjoyed writing a monologue then giving it to one of the other actors and letting them perform it because they NEVER performed it the way I had envisioned it in my mind. They brought something out in the character I hadn't thought of.

Back to the comment I had about life experience making me a better writer, and by that I mean better at writing characters. I've been thinking for the story I'm now settled into writing for years but never put pen to paper. But my main character loses her mother and I couldn't write the character when it came too it because I had never been through losing someone so close to me. I could read other people's experience which I did but it wasn't the same thing. I knew there was a problem with her, or with the way I was writing her, I just didn't know what it was. So I just gave up. Then, out of the blue my Dad passed away. It took a year for me to even remember my book because so much happened, and his death changed my life in every way. I was alone and navigating the world by myself for the first time, trusted friends became enemies, I learned to live on my own and moved house and made new friends. It was a miserable time but by the end I realized why I could write my character, it was because I had never lived. I hadn't experienced the lose of a loved one, lies, betrayals or hardships. Now I could write her accurately.

So it's always worth trying new things.

 

I agree, for me it was becoming a high school debater. It gave me confidence because I was performing in front of small audiences. Sometimes the only people in the room were the judges and the two debaters. This eventually led to doing radio shows and being the guy who did the rallies at school.So it all worked out for me taking that debate route and transforming myself into someone who had more options in life.Please no jokes about being a master debater.