Comments on: Finding Motivation: Kate Hewitt on her International Billionaires Book

By: Janet

Janet — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:52:08 +0000

Another book written for actors, but a fantastic help for writers is “Audition” by Michael Shurtleff.

By: KateHewitt

KateHewitt — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:51:58 +0000

Thanks Marilyn! I’m glad you enjoyed it

Lauren, what a good idea–I trained in drama in college and so read Stanislawski for acting, but I never thought to read it from a writer’s perspective.

By: MarilynS

MarilynS — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:35:24 +0000

Kate, I loved the book.

Christina you can’t imagine what a page turner this book is and even though at times painful to read because of Khaled’s struggle it’s a magnificent story!

By: Lauren Malmsteen

Lauren Malmsteen — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:47:14 +0000

Further to my above post, I’ve been finding a book by Stanislawski very useful. It’s called “An Actor Prepares”, and it’s basically about “method” acting. He sets some examples for constructing a character – say, what kind of clothes he/she would wear, etc. Sometimes I browse in second hand shops and look at old clothes, old watches, that type of thing. The next stage is to ask: how did it get like that? Why is this old watch worn in this way? Pretty soon the character emerges almost fully formed.

By: KateHewitt

KateHewitt — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:37:53 +0000

Mulberry did give a really good answer, nicolerko! I love dealing with issues of healing & forgiveness, so this premise was actually a really good fit for me and my writing style.

Lauren, I think you’re right–I ended up giving both Lucy and Khaled very detailed back stories, so in the end I felt I knew them as characters really well–perhaps even better than some characters I’ve created completely by myself!

By: Lauren Malmsteen

Lauren Malmsteen — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:12:37 +0000

Well, I had made a reply to this yesterday but for some reason it’s not been posted. I’ve thought on the matter a little further:

“I’m given the characters’ actions and then have to develop personal histories to explain and support their behavior.”

Interesting. Sometimes, that way of thinking draws on a character’s hidden strengths. It’s in dealing with “Why did X have to happen?” that some of the other issues come to the fore.

By: nicolerko

nicolerko — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:16:55 +0000

This was a very tough question to answer, I couldn’t put it any better than mulberry. She explained it so very well, there better be a very good reason why they would walk away for me to forgive them.

By: KateHewitt

KateHewitt — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:36:31 +0000

Exactly, Christina. The kind of drama I find in my life would not be suitable for a Presents–it usually revolves around too much laundry and running out of milk or diapers at very inconvenient moments.

I completely agree, Mulberry, that it has to be out the person having a very strong belief he/she is doing is right, and as you said a darn good reason for making such a decision! Although in this story Lucy doesn’t buy Khaled’s reason at first

By: mulberry

mulberry — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:27:15 +0000

Hmm, what a challenge! It sounds like a fab story!

The only way it could be forgivable would be for the person to have a very strong motivation, a strong belief thet what they were doing was the best thing for the other person. Though as you say, the act of deciding for the other person, thinking that they knew better, would in itself be an additional thing to forgive! There would need to be a darn good reason for that as well, probably that they were concerned the other person would make the wrong decision for themselves out of a sense of self sacrifice.

I’ll look out for this story!

By: Christina Hollis

Christina Hollis — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:56:35 +0000

Hi Kate
You’re right – I prefer to go to ‘Presents’ for my daily dose of drama, rather than experience it in real life. There’s no escape from a tricky situation in RL, which is why I’m going to enjoy finding out how you rationalise Khaled’s behaviour. It’s bound to be a real page turner!