Hello there

[Jon Keevy]

Hello All, I'm new here. I thought I should wave before poking about into all these very interesting looking threads. I'm a freelance writer who mostly does theatre but has recently wandered into computer games as well. I took some time last year to finally write the novel I've been kicking to the backburner for the last five years, now I'm trying to figure out how to polish it and sell it. I'm looking forward to combing through the great advice the colony has.

 

[Webbwalker]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Barbara]

Welcome to the Colony. Theatre? Fab. I love plays. I used to be (still am occ) a thesp. What kind of stuff do you write for the stage?

 

[Carol Rose]

Welcome!

 

[Leonora]

Hi Jon. Hope you enjoy it!

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Welcome to the Colony!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Hello

 

[Emily]

Welcome to the Colony, Jon!

 

[ghuffman]

Hi Jon, welcome.

 

[AgentPete]

Very nice to have you here, Jon. You'll find what you're looking for. p.

 

[HayleyGF]

Hi! I'm new, too, and really enjoying the community.

 

[Lex Black]

Welcome to the Colony!

 

[Eva Ulian]

Hello Jon, I did drama as a teaching subject at college so... But I'm interested in your book. What is it about?

 

[HayleyG]

Hello Jon!

 

[Marc Joan]

Welcome!

 

[Nikky Lee]

Hello and welcome!

 

[DavidL]

Hello Jon and welcome. I'm new here too, may it be fruitful!

 

[Jon Keevy]

Welcome to the Colony. Theatre? Fab. I love plays. I used to be (still am occ) a thesp. What kind of stuff do you write for the stage?

A bit of everything, from sketch comedy to drama. But my most successful stuff has been in theatre for young audiences - we've got a really robust and active scene around it and it's given me a lot of opportunities. Besides that my day job is manager of a very small theatre in Cape Town. How do you feel thesping influenced your writing?

 

[Jon Keevy]

Hello Jon, I did drama as a teaching subject at college so... But I'm interested in your book. What is it about?

It's a fantasy genre story about a guerrilla resistance vs an Empire, but with more sentient plants than usual.

 

[Barbara]

Wow, your theatre work is very varied. Impressive.

How do you feel thesping influenced your writing?

It does, especially when writing dialogue. I also add very deliberate 'stage directions' to my characters when they chat. I ask myself: what would I do if I played that part? I've occasionally acted it out, much to the bewilderment of my cat.

I'm a method actor, and I try to integrate it into the writing. Subtext, characterisation. I sometimes break a chapter down into units and objectives. Helps a ton for staying focussed on the character's goals and motivations. I do however find it a lot harder to write character progression as opposed to acting it. Sometimes when I write, I feel a bit blind, if that makes sense. I'm not sure if what I want to show actually comes across through words. Much easier with body language.

I took part in a Meisner workshop once. Now that was interesting, and rather useful for writing.