EPISODE DESCRIPTION:
The 4th and final episode of this four-part miniseries on the 12 Don’ts that actors should not do, and how these apply to the craft of writing. This episode discusses the final three don’ts.
10. DON'T LET YOUR CHARACTER THROW A PITY PARTY. One sure way of alienating your audience as an actor or a writer is if you give into the temptation to allow your character to feel sorry for him or herself. Either the character cries or your audience does. Makes sure you know when and how to use tears. Generally speaking, if you associate the tears with giving up, you will lose the audience’s empathy and interest.
11. SHOW, DON’T TELL. An actor’s job is to show what the character is thinking or feeling through their bodies (reactions, behaviors, and actions). Writers often cheat on this because it’s hard work to think in these terms. A good rule of thumb is to avoid ever telling your audience what a character is thinking or feeling. SHOW, DON’T TELL, means finding visual ways of revealing anything that is happening inside of the character’s mind, body, or spirit. Become a master of human psychology and learn what sorts of behaviors might be exhibited given a character’s internal emotional state.
12. DON'T DESPISE YOUR CHARACTERS. Instead, you must love them. All too often, there are characters that actors and writers don’t like. When you don’t love your characters, you are unlikely to play them well. Even the most hateful character can be loved if you try to understand the world from their point of view. Love ALL of your characters – even your villains – and your story will be that much deeper and richer.
UP NEXT
Next week, we will discuss one of the greatest enemies to creative production – PROCRASTINATION. Why do we, as artists, procrastinate? What’s more, how to we defeat this great, seemingly unbeatable enemy?
Join Zena again next week for an insightful and powerful look at the artist’s tendency to procrastinate, and discover once and for all how to turn this foe into a friend.
QUESTIONS OR TOPIC REQUESTS?
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SPECIAL THANKS
The Mission with Zena Dell Lowe would like to thank composer Carla Patullo for the original music she graciously permits us to use in the intro and outro of this podcast. To find out more about this amazing talent, go to www.carlapatullo.com
Tags: Acting, Actors, Acting tips, Writing tips, Story, Storytelling, Storytellers, Writers, Zena Dell Lowe, Mission Ranch Films, The Storytellers Mission
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Ep 26 - The 12 Don't of Acting - Part 4
8:18:20, 4.45 AM
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
character, hair, sergius, story, actor, audience, writer, self pitying, pity party, woman, gal, comb, save, olivier, cried, valuable possession, trauma, thinking, point, child
SPEAKERS
Zena Dell Lowe
Zena Dell Lowe 00:00
INTRO: Hello, and welcome to The Mission with Zena Dell Lowe, a podcast for artists and storytellers about changing the world for the better through story.
Zena Dell Lowe 00:10
PRESENTATION: Today marks our final session on the 12 don'ts that actors shouldn't do that writers can learn from and apply to their own craft. Today, I want to continue with the last three don'ts in this series.
Zena Dell Lowe 00:26
So number 10: don't let the character ever have a pity party.
Zena Dell Lowe 00:31
Now this is going to sound funny, because one of the temptations is to let the character have that moment where they're just, "boohoohoo. Poor me, everybody's against me," they're victimized, blah, blah, blah. And what immediately happens when we allow them to indulge that is we, the audience, hate them. So you don't want to let the character have a pity party. So I want to give a couple of examples of how this might happen both as an actor and as a writer.
Zena Dell Lowe 01:00
So first of all, there's a great story about Jessica Tandy, and I don't remember the details. A lot of these stories are almost legendary. So I don't even know if it's true. But for our purposes, let's say it's true. There's a great story about Jessica Tandy onstage. Apparently the scenario is, she's a widow, her husband, the love of her life has passed away, she goes to the grave, and she bawls and bawls and bawls, and Jessica Tandy was able to tap into all of this emotion, because she thought that's what she should do as an actor. But before the opening of the show, she ended up changing her performance so that when she's at the grave, she doesn't cry. She holds it in. And when she was asked, "Why did you make that choice?" She replied, "I realized that either I cried, or my audience did." You see, before she was embracing self pity. "Poor me, poor me, I've lost the love of my life." But when she didn't give in to that self pitying emotion, the audience cried, they poured out empathy. Whereas before when she cried, everybody's eyes were dry. So she's right. Either you cry, or your audience does in some of these situations.
Zena Dell Lowe 02:30
Now, how would that work for a writer? Well, it just so happens that I worked with a writer who had this very same problem. Now this writer was trying to show a man who has been traumatized by his past. And he decides he can help address his trauma by helping save a young girl who has been swept up into prostitution. He actually arranges for the girl to meet him. But the girl doesn't show. Instead, it's some other gal. So he leaves dejected. He was unable to save the girl. And he goes to a bar and he gets drunk. And I told my client, "This doesn't work." And he said, "Why?" And I said, "Because first of all, that's a very little obstacle to overcome, but he's already given up. And second of all, he's having a pity party. Now, okay, you want him to go and drink? Fine, go and drink. But it's not because he's given up. He's drinking and he's thinking of what his next step will be to continue pursuing his goal." And my client said, "Yeah, but I want to show he doesn't feel like he's worth anything. And because of his own trauma, he wasn't able to effectively pull that off." I said, "Okay, I get that that's what you're trying to show. But again, your character can't give up on their goal after such a minor obstacle. If you want to show that they feel unworthy, that their trauma keeps them from seeing their own value and worth, there's another way to do that. Have them go to the bar and drink, sure. But they're doing that to plan their next step to pursue their goal, but then have a gal be there who's hitting on him. A beautiful woman who likes him. And then you have him get out of that situation for her benefit. To actually try to save her. "Oh, you don't want me. No, no, trust me, lady, you can do way better than me." And he hightails it out of there to save her from himself because that's what he thinks of himself. So then on two levels, not only is he passing up the opportunity to love and be loved, because he doesn't feel worthy, but you're also showing that he has a good heart and is trying to save that other gal from himself. So he doesn't do it for a self pitying reason. It becomes a noble reason as to why he says no. That's how you show a character who truly does not know their value or self worth. But you don't want to let them have a pity party.
Zena Dell Lowe 05:03
Okay. Number 11. Show, don't tell.
Zena Dell Lowe 05:09
Now if you're an actor, your job is to show what your character is thinking or feeling through your body, through your behavior. Writers often cheat on this, because it's hard work to think in terms of character behavior. So what happens is in novels, a lot of times, you will go ahead and tell me what a character is thinking, what a character is feeling. But a good rule of thumb is to never tell me these things. Instead, to reframe the way that you approach story so that you are only ever thinking about it in terms of human behavior. What might your character do to show me what they are thinking, what they're feeling? That is how you allow the audience to interpret the behavior, which brings the audience great joy. Show, don't tell is the primary concept that allows us to get there.
Zena Dell Lowe 06:12
Now we've talked about negotiations over space. For example, one character saying, "Do you love me?" And the other character stepping forward and saying," Yes," versus, "Do you love me?" And the character stepping backwards and saying, "Yes." It conveys a totally different message. And we've also talked about objects. You give the characters objects that they end up trying to assert their dominance over, that represent the power struggle in their relationship itself. For example, Felix and Oscar, and the plate of spaghetti. Now I want to take it to another level by talking about "show, don't tell" in terms of not just human behavior, but visual images that represent that human behavior. And what do I mean by that? Well, let me explain.
Zena Dell Lowe 07:04
So one of the novelists that I had the pleasure of working with a number of years ago, she wanted to know how she could actually use that in the novel she was currently working on. Now, her novel was the story of a woman who was responsible for the death of her child, it was an accident. And yet, because of this character's own wounds, she inadvertently caused the death of her child, which would be about the worst thing that could ever happen to a parent. Now, this character also had some mental illness, but she ends up fleeing and for years, she's been on the run, people are searching for her because she's a child killer. Now, what this writer already had in her story, were some gems that we could work with. She had visuals, she had props already infused into the story, but she hadn't yet fully realized their potential. So one of these is the fact that the woman had long greasy white hair at this point. So she's dirty. But part of the reason that she stays in that state is because she just has so much guilt and shame that she has not been able to address. On top of that, she had one other really important thing, and that is, this character brought with her one valuable possession, which was her grandmother's pearl hair comb, one of those Olden day combs that you stick in your hair. And that was the woman's only valuable possession. Now, obviously, she never wore it. She didn't wear it, because A.) Her hair was disgusting. But B.) She didn't feel worthy of it. But she brought it with her wherever she went. And it was her most valuable possession.
Zena Dell Lowe 08:47
So over the course of the story, the woman addresses this trauma from her past. She's able to accept herself in her weakness. She's able to forgive herself because of her own mental illness. And she grows and she changes to the point that she's willing to turn herself in at the end of the story and face justice for her crimes. So what we did is we brainstormed together, well, how can you use the objects that you've already mentioned to really show, rather than tell me, this transformation? So we did two things.
Zena Dell Lowe 09:24
Now, at one point, there is kind of a salvation scene for this character. I don't remember the details of the conversation that she has, but it impacts her. She sees for the first time that she actually is loved already, that she has value, that she has dignity as a human person. And that that's precisely why God is God because He sees all that and loves us anyway. So to represent, then, her embracing the truth of this message, the character ends up going to bathe. She gets into the bathtub fully clothed, dips her hair into the water. And in effect, she's given herself a baptism. Very visual representation of her salvation. Then the next time we see her, her hair is clean. Now later on, we see that she not only still has clean hair, but now she is wearing her grandmother's comb, which again becomes a very visual representation of her growth in her ability to accept her value as a human person. She's now worthy of the comb. Then she gets to the point in the story where she's ready to turn herself in. And she has called the appropriate authorities. She will be at a certain place at a certain time. Of course, there are crowds there that are angry and furious because she's a child killer, and they're all gathered. And as she arrives and begins to walk up the steps, they're screaming at her. It's a very Joan of Arc type situation. And yet, she's able to keep her head high because she has a better understanding of who she is now. But the crowds become more and more violence, and they start throwing things at her. And finally, one woman steps through the barrier and yanks the gal's hair, which has now become a symbol of her transformation. But when she grabs her hair, pulls her hair, yanks her hair, it knocks this beautiful pearl comb out of the woman's hair, and it goes scrambling over the concrete. Immediately, the woman scrambles, also, to gather up this most precious possession. And she's on her hands and knees and she grabs it, and then she stands up holding it in her hands. And then there's that moment, where instead of putting it back in her hair, she turns to the woman who had just ripped it out of her hair and gives her the comb. And then she turns and walks into the station.
Zena Dell Lowe 12:02
Well, that is a very powerful representation of internal emotional growth. She doesn't need her most precious possession anymore, because SHE is her most precious possession. So much more powerful than trying to write that through words. It's these types of things that allow you to learn how to show, don't tell. We, the audience, want to interpret what these visual images mean, how it relates to where the character is at on their journey. That is the gold for us. So show, don't tell.
Zena Dell Lowe 12:47
And the last one, the final don't: don't despise your character.
Zena Dell Lowe 12:54
Now that seems common sense, but it actually isn't. And I want to tell you why. So there's a great story about Laurence Olivier, that I think will help illustrate this point. He's in a show and he's playing the role of Sergius. So after one of the shows, director Tony Guthries stops by the dressing room to say hello, and Olivier confesses that he's struggling with the part. And Guthries says, "Well, don't you love Sergius?" And Olivier said, "Well, who could? He's a conformist who only provides cues for other people's witticisms." And Guthries says, "Well, if you can't love Sergius, you'll never be any good in him, will you?" And Laurence Olivier credited Guthries' comment with helping him reach a breakthrough as an actor. And the same is true for us. If you can't love your characters, all of your characters, including your villains, then you're unlikely to write them well.
Zena Dell Lowe 13:52
Now actors have to give life to the characters. So you, writers, have to give them a way of playing your villains from the inside. You have to create alliances with their souls. Now the way for you to love your characters is to try to understand them, even your villains. You have to understand and make it real, so that they're not caricatures. But it's based on truth. It's based on reality. It's based on how human beings really are in the real world. That is how you love your characters. And when you understand who they are and why they want what they want, then they come alive, then their dynamics are worthwhile. Try to focus on behavior, try to focus on visuals, try to love your characters and understand them. It has to matter to you. What they care about has to matter to you. Show me, through action, what they want, and why it's important to them, and they will become more sympathetic to you. And that is how we love our characters.
Zena Dell Lowe 15:05
OUTRO: So this concludes our multi episode dive into the actor's craft. I really hope that this was helpful to you and that you were able to see some things here in your own writing and apply them in a way that will truly make things come alive. And if you're an actor, I hope that it has done the same for you. This will not be the last time that I address acting. But next week, we're going to dive into something slightly different. Until then, thank you so much for listening to The Mission with Zena Dell Lowe. May you go forth inspired to change the world for the better through story