Have you ever wondered if the piece of writing, which sounds so good in your head when you read it may not sound as good when others read it? Is there any way to improve your writing keeping in mind that aspect of writing? Watching actors act and read out scripts can be very helpful for a writer in improving his or her work in many aspects.
Knowing what actors do, how they prepare for a role, and how they deliver their lines is an essential aspect in good writing. An actor gets into the soul of the words and the character even more than a writer does, primarily because the actor is trying to convert your written words into a living character.
Writing is Acting
Writing involves acting. If you are writing a story, but if you have no passion towards it, your story won’t come across as believable. People will not appreciate a story devoid of passion. The same applies for acting. Acting without passion makes the characters lifeless. So, watching actors and understanding their passion for the character will help you go a long way in terms of writing your story, your characters and your world, which in turn, will translate into a better story. You need to pour your heart and soul into your writing, just like the actors (well, at least the good ones) do with their acting.
Understanding What You Write
Most of the times, the dialogues that you write on paper are just a string of verbal communications between two or more people. In order to truly understand and feel those words, you need an actor to bring them to life. The feeling of the characters while saying them out loud makes you feel the emotions and the intensity of those words that you have just put on paper. Watching actors convert “verbal communications” into heartfelt conversations can be an eye opener for you. You will understand the power of words and emotions, and you will be able to translate that into your story or novel. As you might have heard, “The pen is mightier than the sword”! This, though, can only happen when you truly understand the emotion behind every word, which is conveyed by actors in their movies/plays.
The Value of Subtext
It’s important that you examine your story and the choices that your characters take very closely. Every piece of writing carries subtext, or hidden meanings and messages, which sometimes may not be intended by the author. The messages that your readers take from the story may not all be explicitly stated. There may be some hidden messages in the context of the book. Watching actors, and how they deliver their dialogues, may help you identify subtexts, if any exists, in the way that they perform the character. The tone of the performance will help you identify the exact message or the state of mind the character is in. Of course, that is the actor’s interpretation of the writing, but it will help you notice subtle hidden messages in your work, and work on them.
Act it Out!
So, getting to know your story and what exactly it should convey is most important. And what better way can you get to know that, than by acting! So, Get up, stand in front of a mirror, and step into your story. Hell, even take acting lessons! See how it feels like to act it out, and you will see the difference.
Image credit: vancouverfilmschool on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0
Pranay Kanagat is a freelance writer who has a love for writing on various subjects. In particular, he enjoys creative writing. He is also studying for an Engineering degree.