Everyday Canvas

Good Actors Can See the Flaws in the Writing

Prompt: “The best actors show you the flaws in the writing.” —Sam Shepard
What do you think about this? Should we ask a few good actors to read our work?

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Actors go through an interpretive process of the material in a much more insightful mode than writers or average readers. An actor sees himself as the character within the entire scene and the story or novel. He may even have ideas how to fix the surrounding issues so that the character assigned to him shines.

At times, the way some actors handle a play comes very close to some form of psychosis. They even forget about the material that what they are reading is a book or play or that it’s for an audience, even if the idea of an audience is lurking in there somewhere like a ghost. Yet, the better actors feel they are now the character and also the book or the play, while still being aware of the presence of the audience from the periphery of their vision.

The best actors can show you the flaws in the writing, but good luck, if you can find one to agree to read your work. They probably won't bother with work that is not a script for film or stage. I believe their critiques are efficient because they question the writing from inside out, asking probably, “OK, now what?” or “Where is the relevance of this scene for this character, story premise, or theme?” or “Where is the attitude, the voice?” or “Does this mean what we’re trying to make it mean?” or “Can it be constructed some other way?” Their kind of questioning is more valuable than anything because of their persistence in finding the essence of a story. A good actor won’t let a writer get away with shoddy planning, although another writer/reviewer without the stage experience may.

If we look at our own first drafts with the stance that an actor would take for interpreting them on stage, we would be better writers. For the same token, I think it would help young, budding writers to consider taking drama and acting lessons, rather as an aid to their writing than to any ambition they may have for stage or film.