FAIRYTALES WITH BITE
I think I’ve just written what will be one of my favourite posts for this site as it combines a review of a Doctor Who episode and talks about characterisation, two of my favourite things. Convincing Characters reviews the recent episode of Doctor Who where the always brilliant David Suchet plays “the Landlord”, a character that is doing evil things but not for evil reasons (he’s actually trying to save someone he loves). I then go on to discuss the importance of our characters being totally convincing with regard to their motivations.
David Suchet is totally convincing with regard to his performance (as he always is – from Lady Bracknell to Poirot!) but the writing of the Landlord character is simply brilliant and brings out the best in him, I feel. The Landlord character, for me, is the definition of a character knowingly doing the wrong things but doing them out of desperation and, as a result, the character IS evil but sad with it. I think most would see where the character was coming from and that is precisely what we all need to do with our characters. Brilliant work all around. Highly recommend seeing this.
THIS WORLD AND OTHERS
Doing One’s Bit discusses character loyalties with one another and I use one of my favourite examples (Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee) to illustrate my point. The Lord of the Rings is so realistic (despite being an epic fantasy!) for showing how the relationship between these two comes to breaking point thanks to the evil influence of that wretched ring. I also ask what makes your characters stay loyal. Have they known betrayal and are determined not to do that themselves perhaps?
FACEBOOK – GENERAL
Many thanks to all who shared the recent piece about From Light to Dark and Back Again in Writing Magazine – and a quick hello to all at Southampton Writers’ Circle too. I discuss my recent review of A Comedy Trio (The Chameleon Theatre Group have put this on their website with permission – they liked it then!) and I am looking forward to hopefully getting to see more National Theatre Live, especially Shakespeare, as the year goes on.
FACEBOOK PAGE – FROM LIGHT TO DARK AND BACK AGAIN
I share an extract from some notes I wrote for the flash fiction workshop I gave to the Southampton Writers’ Circle earlier this year. I discuss starting lines. Hope you find it helpful.
Hercule Poirot (based on the style of portrayal of David Suchet. Image via Pixabay)
Allison Symes: Collected Works 