Method Acting for Fiction Writers?
Discover, then learn to discover again.
I’ve acted professionally for around four years. During that time, there were two moments where I felt totally in possession of my audience. It only happened twice. Both occasions were in theatre plays.
In acting, the concept of ‘letting go’ is important, but as it turns out, it’s really hard to do. During those two fleeting moments, I remember letting go and experiencing the story as if I was in it—for real.
I didn’t just remember the text; it poured out of my mouth with perfect timing and intonation. The audience was captivated. It was like holding them in the palm of my hand. I remember the mad pleasure of being in control of the story and having everyone come along.
It was exhilarating, as if I could have done anything in the world, and it would have worked.
But then I tried to analyze those moments, to understand what had happened, what had triggered such brilliance, and unfortunately, I couldn’t reproduce it. You see, the thing with theatre is that you repeat the same scene hundreds of times. It’s not like film, where you rehearse right before a take and do maybe 4-5 takes in total.
It was during this same period that I directed my first short film, in a completely autodidactic fashion. It was with my friends, and we knew nothing, yet the work was strong and allowed me into the film school of my dreams. There again, that same sensation of the perfect ‘first time’. This reflection on the artist discovering but then having to learn to discover again.
Finding the Zone in Writing
Thankfully, this was easier to do in film for me, especially with the writing, but thinking of all this got me thinking about fiction writing. About how acting techniques could help me get in that ‘zone’ where my writing takes on the same meaning, the same vivacity and sharpness as in those acting moments I experienced.
What if, as authors, we wanted to get ‘in character’ just like actors? Living the story, experiencing it. Maybe I should go for a hard run before writing a chase scene or induce neuroticism (as if that was necessary) by locking myself up for days before writing about alienation.
Or maybe I just need the same old office and some quiet.
Ultimately, whatever happened to me during those moments touched by grace, it wasn’t triggered by outward manipulation; it was purely a result of letting go, stopping caring what people thought, and going in. It was indirectly helped by skill and technique, but the trigger was still 100% psychological.
Letting Go
It’s what we all need to do at the end of the day, whether it sounds obvious or not. It’s not so hard to realize it but so very hard to put into action. In acting, I definitely never managed to find that letting-go moment again, no matter how hard I tried. Probably because of how hard I tried. With film, I think I found it. Now that I’m writing a novel…
The very fact that I’m thinking about it makes me feel like I might never encounter it. It’s one of those things, I suppose.
But I know that this moment of grace when it’s the first time can never be truly re-experienced in the same way again and needs to be re-learned. What matters is to get in the zone again, ever so slightly.
So today, more than anything, I want to remind myself to stop caring so much about the great game, and just. let. go.
How about you? Did you ever experience such moments of grace? Do you have any tips on how to provoke them?
Letting go and not caring what happens is exactly how one gets into a flow state. You can create this state at will, with a little practice. I totally ‘channel’ my characters and have often thought of what I do as the equivalent of method-acting; I become them, or they me. I’ve been writing professionally for some time and teaching creative writing for 27 years; I distilled my knowledge in this article here, which many people are finding helpful. I hope you do too, Remy. https://open.substack.com/pub/rosbarbernews/p/the-creative-process-in-a-nutshell?r=aywda&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
When the writing flows, I feel like I'm there in the head of the character/s. I am breathing the air in their space, and feeling their stressors. I think it is what makes a good reading experience too. I don't lock myself in a room to provoke it, but I do write daily. If something clicks, I lean in and keep going. If not, I write for my alloted time block and stop. Yesterday it worked--I was off in Grambois, and wrote for six hours without looking up. BTW, Dame Judi Dench speaks about that exact same acting experience in her recent book, "Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent." If you want a light read with important Shakespearean wisdom throughout, I highly recommend it.