Before I started writing I was an avid TV watcher. As a teen I went to a lot of movies (mostly those of the “Sixteen Candles” variety, which exposes my age, but whatever). At the time I enjoyed TV and movies for their surface value–as entertainment. However, when I decided I wanted to be a novelist and started writing fiction, I saw the soap operas and sitcoms and dramas in a different light. Now I pay attention to the structure of the storylines. The motivation of the characters. The way conflict is threaded throughout the story. I also pay attention to the actors. I believe writers can learn a heck of a lot from watching actors–good actors. Ones who embody their characters so thoroughly you forget that just the other day they were splashed across the glossy pages of People magazine. Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Cate Blanchette, and of course, the divine Meryl Streep are just a few actors whose performances are worth careful scrutiny.

I came across an Actors Vocabulary page at The Playwrights Actors Lab Studio. This is a great reference for fiction writers because it defines elements we need integrate in our stories and our prose. For example, Dramatic Faith- this is defined as an actor’s ability to take a fictional character and situation and treat it as absolute reality. Writers should strive for this in their writing–to write so deeply and honestly that the reader believes the characters and their conflicts are real. It’s not and easy thing for a writer to do, and I imagine its a challenge for actors, too. But the payoff is worth it–both for the writer and her readers, and the actor and his audience.

 Happy writing,

kathy