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Tag Archives: individuality
For my friend Emma
…and all my other female actor friends and colleagues, a simple request to storytellers and writers:
When creating a female character for your story (or any character, for that matter), please describe her in terms that reflect who she is and not in terms of how she relates to another.
Phrases like ex-girlfriend or soccer mom provide only a limited degree of context and tell us nothing at all about your vision for that character.
Is she a psychotic Glen Close type of character or is she a nurturing Barbara Billingsley type of character?
To what does she aspire?
If presented with a spider, she would [fill in the blank].
Around a board room table, her position would be [location], she would be dressed [adjective], her posture would be [adjective] and her eyes would express [noun].
If the character is important enough to move your story along, the character is important enough to be a human being (or whatever species you are dealing with).
If not, then you probably don’t need the character in your story.
Declaration of independence
I lost an acquaintance the other day, someone who wafted into my life for a brief period, didn’t like what he saw and wafted back out. But not before admonishing me for “being stuck in one gear…first-person singular” and challenging me to “set aside the superficial…and start ranking the real priorities in your life.”
The following was my response to him, and to all others who would see me curb my enthusiasms for what they see as a more appropriate direction for my life:
[Name], I’m sorry to hear that you struggle with my humours, but appreciate that it is not to all tastes.
I have been very fortunate in recent years (the latest of my 50) to have surrounded myself with wonderful friends who appreciate the unique package I present in life–the ability to write deeply insightful poetry, starkly analytical science, ribald comedy, biting sociopolitical ripostes, and prosaic tutelage–and while I appreciate their love and support, and hope that I return it in spades, I am ultimately happy with the person that I am and require no outside validation nor light.
As I have only come to realize in the past couple of years, I have wasted too many years of my life, trying to live the life that others would wish me to follow, and was slowly driven to self-destructive distraction in my failures to live up to everyone’s expectations, well intentioned or otherwise. I now live for me above and beyond all others.
I wish you the best in your journey and hope you find the truth you seek, as each of us must find our own.
All around, the vistas were laden with new peaks to explore, heights to achieve. (Mt. Baker, Washington)
The Devil’s in the detales
Attention to detail is craftsmanship.
Fixation on detail is neurosis.
It’s important to be diligent when working on a project, but not so diligent that the project is dead before it starts.
Relax. Let your natural skills and energies flow through you as you explore your art.
It is those little quirks that make the piece yours and not the same as every other piece ever produced.
The ceiling of the trophy room of the Hockey Hall of Fame, which used to be a bank. (Toronto)
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