(no subject)

[katallison]

So I posted something earlier today about getting back into writing, and in a comment, cesperanza pointed out that I'm really a "Method" writer, one who (like a Method actor) spends a lot of time upfront thinking through characters' emotions and motivations, and then has to struggle to figure out what the characters should do to express those; whereas she writes in what she calls the "British" method, analogous to the great British actors who stand *here* and say the line and then walk over *there* and do that piece of business, and work back from there to discern and build in the emotional underpinnings.

And now I'm fascinated by this, because I just assumed that everyone goes about writing in the same way I do, more or less, and I'm having fun trying to get my head around what it would be like to simply have some scenes in mind, and write them out, without having already done a lot of sort of preparatory emotional outlining to guide the process. And because I have a ton of other stuff I should be doing, I thought that instead I'd -- that's right, do a poll!

[Poll #511623]

Comments

[daughtershade.livejournal.com]

You and Ces are explaining your process of writing from an actors' perspective. I'm not like that at all. I'm more of a director perspective. I start out by hearing a piece of dialogue in my mind, like hearing my actors reherse in another room. And then in my head I'm all "No, you go here, and you go there, and give me more confusion!" I'm molding the emotional content as I go along, I'm not sure what it's going to be. I just know where the characters are coming from and what they have to accomplish. It's almost like a group effort only all in my head... which, as I type this, makes me sound like kind of a nutter, but there you go. Sometimes the characters take me in places I hadn't intended, just as a good director will realize when to back off and let the actor do their own thing. Sometimes the dialogue gets away from me and I have to mentally pull things back on track, just like a director guides actors back on track if there's too much improv. Hmmm... It's an interesting way to think about it. I've always had a bit of a director's eye especially when it comes to media. Cool.