What makes prose different from performed writing is that you have access to the internal thoughts and feelings of your characters. Now, you may say, hey, when I write a film, it’s chock full of voice over, and what is voiceover if not the internal thoughts and feelings of a character? Aside from generally boring, voiceover never reaches the intimacy of a novel or short story. Why? Because voiceovers are too cerebral. Real honest to god interiority includes experiences.
I’m sure you’ve tried this before, but just humor me. Close your eyes. Well, wait till I’m done with the instructions and then close your eyes.
Take a big breath and then imagine a lemon. Pull it close, run your hand along the skin and feel the oils as they pop onto your skin. Now cut the lemon. Smell it. Touch your tongue to that segmented center. Then open your eyes.
As you did that, you were probably able to get an actual physical reaction from imagining the taste of the lemon. Maybe your mouth watered, perhaps you could smell the real lemon, or were reminded of a certain soap you used to use to watch dishes. The point is, as simple as the writing was, it connected you to actual experiences and by reminding you of your experience, together, we created a reaction.
Your job as a writer is create an experience. As visceral as possible. And because of that shared experience, your reader is now intimate with your character. So try using your character’s experiences with all the senses to build a connection with your readers, get them out of their heads and into their bodies. That’s hot.
What will your readers experience today?
Angie Powers has an M.F.A. in English and Creative Writing from Mills College, where she won the Amanda Davis Thesis Award for her novel, The Blessed. She also has a Certificate in Screenwriting from the Professional Programs at UCLA. She is the co-director and co-writer of the short Little Mutinies (distributed by Frameline and an official selection of the Palm Springs International Short Fest) and was a quarter-finalist for the Nicholl Fellowship and at Blue Cat Screenplay Competition for the full-length screenplay of Little Mutinies. She’s twice made it into the second round of consideration for Sundance Labs and is a Cinestory semi-finalist this year. She also wrote and directed the short Hot Date, which premiered at Frameline. She is currently finishing a new novel and a short film.