Much of the same this week. Physical warmup that screwed up my bad knee then the emotional spiral which is still not very emotional for me. I find myself separating, participating in the class but then my writer self is observing it all and wants to off in a corner and write about it. There is talk of another class and keeping the group together for it but I am not sure. I don’t know if I am getting what I most need out it or not. It’s always good to do new things but what I find most here is that it is about the emotional journey and I am all about the emotions in telling a story. But I feel more at ease there. I think I need to find an improv class so I can learn how to be silly. That’s something I don’t know how to….really scares me. But I digress.

Here’s the important stuff from the night: we did the “I want the chair” and “you can’t have the chair” exercise. This time the lines were the same but we concentrate on a pause to reflect before delivering the lines. A pause is important, in acting or in writing. Some people got frustrated and tried to add some lines to allow them to “get the chair” but she called them on it every time saying, “it’s not about the words.” I must admit that gave me pause. But here’s the thing, the really BIG thing, when it was my turn I had to work for it but I GOT THE CHAIR. Using only that one line and my power of expression, I managed to convince the guy to give me the chair. A big accomplishment.

Second thing, we did the camera work. Which means I have a video tape of me on camera. Which means I delayed watching it until today (making sure to watch it before I ate dinner in case it caused stomach discomfort.) And well, it didn’t totally stink. It wasn’t about the delivery, this was all about just learning to say the different lines in a variety of ways, but seeing oneself on camera is a little disheartening even when you think you are prepared for it. I have perpetual head tilt. I chew my bottom lip. I should probably cut off about 16 inches of my hair (yes, over a foot). It was only 10 minutes on camera and I didn’t cry watching it (though it was close) and it has given me a lot to think about. A lot to think about.

Is acting class helping my writing? I’m still not sure. But experiencing life means more experiences to write about down the road.