Friday, June 17, 2011

A theatrical writing tip from Lena Roy

"I am a writer with the sensibility of an actress. I love translating acting exercises into writing prompts. One of my favorite ones is for character development. I used to sit on the subway and look at everyone’s shoes across from me, and I would pick a pair to focus on. What kind of person are they? Where are they going? How do they hold their body? Where do they hold their tension? How are they different from me? Then I would get off the subway, and get into character, walking around in a different body. You can do the same with writing!"
--Lena Roy, author of EDGES (FSG, 2010)


Why does Lena write like an actress?  Read her audition story HERE!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Cool writing tip. I love tips that combine theater and writing.

Laura S. said...

I like this idea a lot! Much can be inferred from someone's shoes. Thanks for sharing the tip!