(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

Mostly Method

[leadensky.livejournal.com]

I find it really interesting the number of people who have said, "Well, I get an image or a picture and then I go from there." Mostly because I'm egotistic enough that I never expect other people to do what I do.

So put me down for that, and then going forward and back in time trying to figure out what made the characters do that in the first place, and what they're likely to do after.

Mostly, I try to have what they say and do make sense. But sometimes they say or do things that I don't understand, and then I have to stop and figure out why they did that, and if it really makes sense.

So it's mostly Method. With a strong disinclination to have the characters do nothing *but* think and emote. 'Cause that's generally (not always, generally) boring, yo.

And on a more meta level, this:

god knows writers would rather talk about the process than actually, y'know, *write.*

...completely cracked me up. Too true.

- hossgal