Fictive Dialogues from Playwright Point of View (IV)

 

by Laura Lai/Uncategorized

 

On the 20^th of February 2010, ‘The Guardian’ published an article containing valuable advice from consecrated writers of different genres. To construct my creative writing exercise for this ‘Writing Break Blog’ I used some of the advice to build this personalized fictive dialogue from a playwright point of view.

 

Richard Ford:

1 Marry somebody you love and who thinks you being a writer's a good idea.

In high school I discovered a quote from Shakespeare saying that women ‘sell’ their freedom for a ring. I haven’t made a purpose in life to become … a married woman. If it happens, fine! If it doesn’t happen, fine! I wouldn’t consider somebody I don’t like and I don’t love, because otherwise I can’t smile to the camera. J As for the ‘writership’ to be a good idea … if you don’t earn lots of money, they will all find it a bad idea. I bet!... on a Swiss chocolate bar. J

 

2 Don't have children.

Is this a piece of advice for men or for women? I wished you were a little bit more specific. I guess it depends. There are writers who can handle several children, others who struggle to handle them… . As for myself, I don’t know. I will know when I have. It also depends on task sharing with the partner.

 

3 Don't read your reviews.

I’ll try, but some may be constructive and it will be my loss if I don’t read them.

 

4 Don't write reviews. (Your judgment's always tainted.)

Come on! I loved writing book reviews, I love writing film reviews for this blog. I love giving them or 'tainting' them a personal note being for my ‘Writing Blog’. I can’t wait to watch a movie and make it a review!

 

5 Don't drink and write at the same time.

I personally don’t write anything, including drama, while drinking because I usually don’t drink, but if you know somebody who does, would you please tell me more about the writing. Is the writing drunk because the writer drank while writing? J

 

6 Don't write letters to the editor. (No one cares.)

I’m writing letters to sponsors, not to editors. Today, I wrote a short one. Not for a play, but for the book in German I wrote while I was learning German and working in Vienna. I know that no one cares about another book to be published. It’s the author’s struggle. It doesn’t cost anything to try - it’s an honest and decent approach. I’m not going to do the same with my plays, though. I’ll make use of technology and modernity. First, because so are the times – technological; second, because it’s very hard to find a publishing house that does plays; third, if I find one, it may not do the plays I write because is a particular kind of drama genre; forth, it’s also very expensive to me to publish with a publishing house; etc.  I’m interested in the circulation of ideas, clarification, entertainment, improvement on all sides, general progress. I’m glad that some entrepreneurs understood authors’ hardships and they had the brilliant idea to create an alternative – online bookstore platforms. And ideas and stories circulate.

 

7 Don't wish ill on your colleagues.

What colleagues?! The only colleague most writers have is their laptops. Writing is a hobby that requires time, a quiet corner to write and it proves to be an expensive hobby, too – when needing to pay for the publication of your writing.

 

8 Try to think of others' good luck as encouragement to yourself.

Obviously this comes from your own experience. I know exactly what you mean. Your advice is good, but not for me. I’ve always did that, but I’ve met people in my endeavors that either don’t congratulate great news – for whatever reason they might have – or others that were suspicious when wishing them well. They think you may want something from them. It is said that it takes all kinds to make the world – I guess it includes some ‘Scrooge’-characters, too. J

 

Jonathan Franzen:

1 Never use the word "then" as a conjunction – we have "and" for this purpose. Substituting "then" is the lazy or tone-deaf writer's non-solution to the problem of too many "ands" on the page.

Thank you for this piece of advice to be careful to the ‘then’ and ‘ands’ in the text!

 

2 Write in the third person unless a really distinctive first-person voice offers itself irresistibly.

Play writing is different, but in my other writing experiences I like to write in the first person, too. Dickens wrote beautifully at the first person! Truly sensational!

 

3 When information becomes free and universally accessible, voluminous research for a novel is devalued along with it.

I understand, but I still have to make my research. It gives a complete background I can built on the story, the argument, the characters, everything.

 

4 It's doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction.

I’d like to keep work and hobby separately. At work, the writer may get interrupted, not by the internet, though. I understand that some people may have such boring jobs – when nothing happens for hours – so some people read a book, others write, etc. I think I would use the internet connection to read, to research, but I would still write at home.

 

5 Interesting verbs are seldom very interesting.

6 You have to love before you can be relentless.

What do you mean? Do I have to love writing my text before I cut relentlessly?

 

Esther Freud:

1 Cut out the metaphors and similes. In my first book I promised myself I wouldn't use any and I slipped up ­during a sunset in chapter 11. I still blush when I come across it.

After my course at Harvard and after the terrific explanations of prof. James Engell – a great professor – I have a full picture of everything at hand to make the writing of my plays more artistic. The discussion being political, from everything at hand, similes may be very helpful for the entertainment part – counting that I find a humorous simile or comparison.

 

2 A story needs rhythm. Read it aloud to yourself. If it doesn't spin a bit of magic, it's missing something.

Absolutely! There is a general agreement on that. I subscribe. I read out loud. I’m considering also recording myself to hear the way it sounds.

 

3 Find your best time of the day for writing and write. Don't let anything else interfere. Afterwards it won't matter to you that the kitchen is a mess.

I’ve heard that the brain functions like a muscle, although is not a muscle. You have to keep it trained regularly. I don’t leave my kitchen until is clean. The moment I enter the kitchen, I like to see it as clean as I left it, I want to turn my music on, make myself a coffee or eat a fruit, relax, but not start cleaning somebody else’s mess. I would consider it disrespectful.

 

4 Don't wait for inspiration. Discipline is the key.

I fully agree! Discipline, constant writing no matter how small the text…

 

5 Trust your reader. Not everything needs to be explained. If you really know something, and breathe life into it, they'll know it too.

In my plays, I pick up the most essential topics and I debate them. What is mostly known and usually approached.

 

6 Never forget, even your own rules are there to be broken.

I don’t have rules, but I must follow the genre rules. Some I break for the sake of art. On others, I insist: I insist to care about my characters, for example, to make arches simultaneously with the following of the drama rules, although the drama rules for the drama genre I write don’t impose that. I impose that on my writing. I did it so far. I can do it again! (To Be Continued)