Method Writing...

Have you ever spent time acting out your story for the sake of writing it? Well, as I sat at my husband's office, away from the kids and the noise and all the other distractions, writing the closing chapters of my latest wip, I found myself dropping to the floor and role-playing to get a better feel for where the action would go next. So there I am, on my knees, staring up at imaginary ghosts and reaching for imaginary people beside me. Thank goodness the campus is still on break and no one is watching my strange little ritual, or I could find a ride home in a nice padded white truck! I've done this before, and I must admit, I have to be careful where I decide to indulge in this "method" writing exercise. I've allowed myself to enjoy a little play-acting in the presence of my 5-year-old daughter, but within limits. Afterall, ghost can be a little scary especially when they inhabit the body as well as the imagination of your mother! But even when I'm out shopping or doing some other errand, I am often imagining what my mc would feel here or say about that, and hope that I don't actually speak it out loud (but on occasion the curtain slips!).

Sometimes I stop writing so I can experiment with the more physical aspect of story-telling: reaching a certain way or staring at my face in the mirror while I approximate the emotional response I'm trying to describe. Or even laying out a room with newspapers as furniture or other obstacles so I can describe movement more precisely or approximate measurements. I definitely need a keener body awareness both from without and within. By that I mean a better sense of how things feel from my perspective, and how I look from someone else's. Writing can be a three dimensional art as much as acting or sculpting, and I think allowing ourselves to be multi-dimensional in our process can certainly help our characters and our stories be multi-dimensional on the page.

So, now I plunge back into the climax of my story... See you on the shelf!