Does Anyone Act Out the Parts?

[Write4U2]

If you are a woman writing a man and you want him to be a certain way, or have certain mannerisms, do you act out the part to feel like a man would feel?

I did this today, but then it got out of control. My husband wound up ROTFL. So I drew on a handlebar mustache, put on his hat and shirt and he took pictures. Now that I have it under control again (and we've stopped taking about the enormous size of my male member, and I've stopped belching Cola, I'm getting back into the part. I think.

Anyhoo, I wondered if anyone does that?

Here are the silly pictures. They are cartooned (Like my moustache?):

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/scooter2_photos/LaurenasLarrytheButtPicker-cartoonR.jpg?t=1215391212

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/scooter2_photos/LaurenasLarrytheTruckDriver-cartoon.jpg?t=1215391242

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/scooter2_photos/LaurenasLarrytheBumWorkoutGuyCartoo.jpg

[JeanneTGC]

LOL! I do it all the time, but I don't act it out for anyone but me, and many times it's more acting it out in my head than physically, though I'll do it physically, too, when needed. Love the pics!

[BlueLucario]

LOL! I do it all the time, but I don't act it out for anyone but me, and many times it's more acting it out in my head than physically, though I'll do it physically, too, when needed. Love the pics!
Same here! For myself! Now my family thinks I'm a frikin nut-case, but I'm used to it.

:ROFL: Thanks for giving me a good laugh.

(Use sprite for best burps.)

[Ol' Fashioned Girl]

Only the love scenes... then I have to have Ol' Boy to play the leading man. :D

[Write4U2]

Only the love scenes... then I have to have Ol' Boy to play the leading man. :D

LOL! I do that too. I have to feel the movement and feel where we'd hold each other. I don't write actual "sex" scenes. I write the "feeling" and emotion of the act. You?

[t0neg0d]

LOL! I do that too. I have to feel the movement and feel where we'd hold each other. I don't write actual "sex" scenes. I write the "feeling" and emotion of the act. You?

So, you're saying it's all an "act" for you, eh? ;)

[Makai_Lightning]

I tend to make facial expressions of my characters, while writing, while reading, and while thinking about scenes. Occasionally while zoning out in transit I might do it too, which has variable reactions from the people around me. I usually don't do it on purpose.

The only time I physically act out a scene is if I'm trying to make sure something is actually physically possible, or if I can't get a clear idea of what something would look like. Sometimes I might have a hard time describing a particular hand gesture, so I'll do it. Never whole scenes though. Usually, my imagination is clear enough for me to figure out how to write something.

[Clair Dickson]

I talk to myself for my dialogue. A lot. It's not so bad when I'm in the car, but sometimes I do it at the grocery store. And inevitably someone comes around the corner and catches me.

Hubby's used to it and has *wisely* learned to keep his yap shut when he catches me before I notice he's there. What can he expect being married to a writer, anyway?

[Danger Jane]

I definitely do this, although not as...flamboyantly, shall we say? For intense scenes especially, I need to be right there in the skin of my MC. I need to feel the physical ramifications of the emotions she's experiencing, the tensing muscles, the adrenaline rushes, whatever. Whenever I really nail it, too, the scene ends up one of my best and needs little editing, because from the start I knew exactly, or nearly enough, what belonged in it.

Method writing ftw, I say.

[Use Her Name]

I pace back and forth muttering. Cars are a great place to do this, in which case, I drive back and forth muttering. I don't think I'm a very good actor, though I am a character.

[L.C. Blackwell]

Talk to the mirror.... :roll:


Moment of self-consciousness #978: Creating the soundtrack for a digital video for a university English class requirement, and emoting with great dramatic pathos into a microphone while standing in front of the bathroom mirror. And really, really hoping that the guy in the next apartment isn't hearing too much. :e2paperba

[Prawn]

Great pics. Thanks for sharing. I always act out my fight scenes. I want them to be believeable, visceral, and acting them out helps.
P

[Robert Toy]

I tried a murder scene on my wife...not a good idea.

[Liosse de Velishaf]

I possibly remember acting out a scene or two once, but mainly, I'm talking to myself as a character or describing actions out loud. No miming if I can help it.

[Takvah]

I act them out in my head... I have teenagers, if they saw me in front of a mirror acting out a part they would have "material" for the next five years. If there is something that I am always striving for it's "the natural"... I don't want what I'm writing to sound like it's been written, especially dialogue. That's usually the thing that I'm constantly working over in my mind's eye. Is the work "natural" even if the events contained in the writing are supernatural or even fantastical? It doesn't matter if it's a sex scene or selecting a melon at the supermarket... it's got to be all about "the natural".

[chevbrock]

I'm lucky - my hubby is deaf - and the kids are too young to know that adults do anything different.

[tehuti88]

I can't say I act out parts (people would think I'm insane, plus, it's hard to act out parts of certain fantasy characters!), but I do it mentally! Like playing pretend in my head. Oh, yes. All the time. When I write from someone's POV I "become" that character, mentally, so that's a form of acting a part. I have always done this and always will. Just yesterday I found myself crying because I was mentally acting out a scene where a character was crying, and I had to make myself stop!

When I was little, I would pretend to be my characters, and my friend and I would play them interacting with each other, it was so fun! Other kids would be Thundercats and people from other TV shows but we would be our own characters in our own worlds. I miss those days. We (and sometimes myself, alone) would even record ourselves on audiocassette chattering as our characters; it would get really funny at times. I rather wish I could do that again without feeling utterly stupid.

When I was alone, I would still do this (play pretend), but not so outwardly; just mental states. It would often make difficult situations more bearable. For example, when I had to go wait in the cold for the bus, for up to twenty minutes or more in the dark and snow, I'd pretend, mentally, to be one of my soldier characters enduring hardships. If I was upset about something and crying, I'd shift into the mind of one of my characters who was better equipped to deal with things, and my crying would fade away. My characters were much better at dealing with life than I was, so I used that to my advantage. I "became" them and things were not so bad.

Unfortunately, as time went by I told myself to stop doing this as it was silly and I should stay in my own head, so I lost that ability, and now I'm on my own, in my own mind, without my characters' coping skills. :( I could really use them, too, but I've "trained" myself to feel stupid doing so. It's lonely; it's like I've cut myself off from my characters, and they no longer know I exist.

But I still act this all out in my head. Thank goodness I've still got that. And it really helps write characters much different from myself, I've found. (Someone actually once thought I was male because of a story I wrote with male characters! :D )

[BfloGal]

I find myself acting out gestures, movements, and facial expressions as I try to find the words to describe them. My daughter ribs me by pretending I'm playing charades, and she tries to guess. More than once I've used the things she's said -- but don't tell her. She's a teen, and if she finds out she's been helping, she's sure to stop.

[~grace~]

I um. tend to act things out while I'm walking down the street. like when I'm trying to work out plot kinks, at the very least I make faces, then sometimes my arms start flailing. gets problematic if there's a fight scene involved.


I'm going to be committed one day, I can tell.....

[Bayley]

I say aloud most of the dialogue, to check it makes sense and seems realistic. Certain actions I'll act out, to check it's possible and that what I've said makes sense. Also, if I thinking of a witty comeback then I'll say all my suggestions outloud, to see which seem the most amusing.

[jwbajorek]

Oh yes i do act out a lot of the scenes mainly in my head or outloud to myself [or maybe one friend]. There is nothing worse to me than reading a novel that the scene seems quite implausible.

Plus some aspects of my writing is actually true. they are reflections and slight amendments to actual arguements/love scenes/etcetera . . .

[Shadow_Ferret]

No, I never externalize like that. Everything takes place in the safety of my head.

[blacbird]

I often act out scenes in which physical movement is narrated, to make sure what I've written makes realistic sense. It's much like blocking out a scene for a play, knowing where to go, how to step, the sequence of doing stuff. And more than once it's caused me to alter narrative description of such things, when I discovered that what I'd originally written was impossible to do, or nearly so.

caw

[Seif]

I talk to myself for my dialogue.

I do this a lot and ahve been caught out on several embarrassing situations.

Wasn't it Dickens who would act out in front of the mirror?

[Write4U2]

I think it's really important to get into your characters heads, and action really helps to develop the characters movement and dialog. Of course, I acted out Larry the Bum Equipment Guy for my husband's amusement. (Poor guy never knows what to expect next!) But I do sometimes ask him to act out a scene before I write it, or after depending on what I'm going for.

I would have loved to be an actor. I love acting, but I have agoraphobia and I can't stand to be the center of attention.

Maybe some of you are like me and prefer to watch. I think I've learned a lot about people just by watching all my life. Do you think that's at the heart of being a good writer?

[Eldritch]

Yes, but only if the door's closed.

So far I've done facial expressions and hand movements. I actually caught a couple of continuity errors by doing this. I haven't gotten my butt out of the chair yet to do anything more active, but I will if I need to.

[Jersey Chick]

I haven't dressed up as a guy yet - but my husband's my first reader when it comes to male POV and he's total alpha-dude, which is what most of my heroes tend to be (go figure).

I do talk out my dialogue - in the accent of the character (I've written English and Spanish characters) and everyone in my house is used to hearing these odd voices coming out of my office when I'm supposedly in there alone.

I also tend to think out loud - so it isn't at all unusual to hear a running monologue of me rambling on to no one. Kids just tune it out. Husband's finally stopped asking who I'm on the phone with so late at night - my whole family's kind of used to it by now. Including my in-laws.

They think I'm weird, but they think all writers do this kind of thing :D

[Melenka]

I always act out my fight scenes.

Me too. My husband is the stand in for the thugs in my story, as well as the MC. We walk through hand to hand scenes. I spent years doing theatre, including stage combat, so I am familiar with how people move during fights, but he's had a lot more training in the ways folks can hurt each other. We usually stop the walk throughs when the dog gets too upset. The kids think it's very cool.

When it comes to dialogue, it's all in my head, partially because I "hear" the characters voices and they are nothing like mine so speaking the lines aloud would actually throw me out of the story.