The Awesomeness of having a Theatre Background
I am back from Oklahoma! Back to the big city of Los Angeles; the noise, the people, the cement. There's no denying that I miss the city I grew up in, but there is something here in L.A. A distinct energy that is hard to identify. Who knows, maybe after nearly ten ears of living here I'm finally beginning to get used to it.
Besides getting to see my family and catching my first big mouth bass, I found a gem while staying in my old bedroom: A cache of theater books from my college days. I could have cried, I was so happy! Things have been going a little slow with my WIP because it is a period piece and, like every other writer, I am constantly second-guessing my choices for dialogue and clothing. But now, I won't have to question clothing choices because I found an old costuming book. There were play books that would have helped me with accurate dialogue but I only had so much space in my luggage. Besides, I could get those from the library. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is a gold mine of historically accurate clothing for all periods and walks of life. Jealous yet?
THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER THROW BOOKS OUT!!!
Biology books, psychology, basically any science and math books I had, I sold back to the bookstore for money because, well, who isn't broke in college. But, English and theatre books, I kept. When I enjoy something or think it can be used as a resource somewhere down the road, I refuse to part with it. I have books from college courses in children's literature that I haven't even read that are still sitting on my shelves. Another book I found on an earlier trip home was a children's book anthology. I brought it home and the kid's love going through it and reading stories like Ferdinand the Bull or The Stinky Cheese Man.
Let's see, how else can I utilize my theatre background? Well, for one, it makes creating dialogue lot's more interesting. I can't tell you how many times I've been at the library working and accidentally ended up talking out loud when writing two or more characters arguing. Or there's that one time when I was using one of those apps that turns speech to text while driving, and I got so into it I was crying and the man in the car next to me gave me a pitying look, like he just knew I had caught my husband cheating or something. Needless to say, I quickly drove away. Not only do I have the over-active imagination of a writer, but I have the emotions of an actress and the two can be a bit much together, even for me. I don't mind that people might think I'm off my rocker, though. It's useful when I don't feel like conversing with complete strangers.
Another bonus would be knowing archetypes. People who have studied literature and have those fancy degrees - you know, those really smart people who use those small, but difficult words? - obviously know what those are. I like to think that knowing more archetypes than just Oedipus or Hercules makes me smart too. (Just to let you know, I misspelled smart twice while typing...)
I'm sure if I sat here long enough, I could think of plenty of reasons why having a theatre degree is advantageous for my writing career, but my husband just came in with a grilled cheese sandwich and chicken soup and I'm hungry. Off to dinner I go.
It's good to be home. I'll talk to you soon!
Besides getting to see my family and catching my first big mouth bass, I found a gem while staying in my old bedroom: A cache of theater books from my college days. I could have cried, I was so happy! Things have been going a little slow with my WIP because it is a period piece and, like every other writer, I am constantly second-guessing my choices for dialogue and clothing. But now, I won't have to question clothing choices because I found an old costuming book. There were play books that would have helped me with accurate dialogue but I only had so much space in my luggage. Besides, I could get those from the library. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is a gold mine of historically accurate clothing for all periods and walks of life. Jealous yet?
THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER THROW BOOKS OUT!!!
Biology books, psychology, basically any science and math books I had, I sold back to the bookstore for money because, well, who isn't broke in college. But, English and theatre books, I kept. When I enjoy something or think it can be used as a resource somewhere down the road, I refuse to part with it. I have books from college courses in children's literature that I haven't even read that are still sitting on my shelves. Another book I found on an earlier trip home was a children's book anthology. I brought it home and the kid's love going through it and reading stories like Ferdinand the Bull or The Stinky Cheese Man.
Let's see, how else can I utilize my theatre background? Well, for one, it makes creating dialogue lot's more interesting. I can't tell you how many times I've been at the library working and accidentally ended up talking out loud when writing two or more characters arguing. Or there's that one time when I was using one of those apps that turns speech to text while driving, and I got so into it I was crying and the man in the car next to me gave me a pitying look, like he just knew I had caught my husband cheating or something. Needless to say, I quickly drove away. Not only do I have the over-active imagination of a writer, but I have the emotions of an actress and the two can be a bit much together, even for me. I don't mind that people might think I'm off my rocker, though. It's useful when I don't feel like conversing with complete strangers.
Another bonus would be knowing archetypes. People who have studied literature and have those fancy degrees - you know, those really smart people who use those small, but difficult words? - obviously know what those are. I like to think that knowing more archetypes than just Oedipus or Hercules makes me smart too. (Just to let you know, I misspelled smart twice while typing...)
I'm sure if I sat here long enough, I could think of plenty of reasons why having a theatre degree is advantageous for my writing career, but my husband just came in with a grilled cheese sandwich and chicken soup and I'm hungry. Off to dinner I go.
It's good to be home. I'll talk to you soon!
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