I was semi retired and trying my hand as a writer of historical fiction. When not writing, by way of relaxation, I would watch standup comics. Like any skill, writing needs to be worked at to improve and I noticed the best comics had five well honed attributes; which I felt could also be applied to creative writing. For years I had performed at Covent Garden, the northern clubs, summer festivals, shopping centers and TV shows. I had done dance, mime magic and physical comedy, but I had never done standup. So in the interests of improving my writing, and thinking it would be easy, I decided to give it a go. No, it was not easy, but what a journey! Six years later, here are those five attributes.
Dominick Reyntiens
1. Connection:
After dying on my arse a few times, I listened to the criticism of experienced comics; 'A barrage of enthusiasm and ideas launched from the stage with all the presentation of a child upending its box of favourite toys. The audience won't watch you playing on your own, you needed to connect.'
I started to go onstage, just stand there and softly say, 'hi'; till someone said 'hi' back. Now we had a connection, small but definite; no I did not kill but I stopped dying. Taking this to my writing, I looked at my opening paragraphs of anything, whether page, chapter, article, or query letter. They too, just launched ideas with energy and lacked that essential connection with the reader. I now work on this harder than any other aspect of my writing.
2. Identity.
This is a toughie. As a writer or comic, in one line, who are you? If you don't know, why the hell is anyone else going to? Which comic is a warm, off the wall cross dresser? Yes, Eddie Izzard. You knew that because his identity is defined with a level of imagination clarity and depth that is both complex and simple. No, he did not go into a bathroom for a year and think up this persona! Anyone who does this is still in their bathroom and on medication. Identity is a journey, it grows gradually as you discover what is in you, and crucially, what you notice your audience/readers discover in you. Performing standup is a great journey for this, however the most important action/word here is, 'notice'!
3. Rhythm
This is about content as you move, shape and manipulate ideas around audience's minds. I am essentially a story-teller and I have found that standup is an invaluable practice arena for content rhythm. Simmering ideas into reduced sauces of observation to be drizzled seductively over your main course premise is a skill that you can never stop learning. In a few lines you sow seeds for the future, you reap fruit of the past, but yet, you must still launch fireworks into the air. Ross Noble is a master of this, his skill of weights measures and juggling cannot be overestimated. A writer who I hate to admit is also master of this, is Jeffry Archer.
4. Pace
As I do in my writing, at times I like to talk fast and hit an audience with intense word power. You cannot, as I intimated in my first attribute, hit an audience with a nonstop diatribe, where the only gear is 'go!' for an entire set. Likewise the opposite. You need changes of pace and they are not just ebb and flow. Your gear changes prepare the audience for what is coming, they can be fasten your seat belt, changes or simply (and the best one) the mega pause. I've pulled off a mega pause once; they are really exhilarating.
5. Suspense
Keeping your audience listening or reading, assuming you have their attention, is dependent on suspense or peaking their interest. Like performing, writing is a flirtation where you get your readers to chase you round the room as you flash little bits of flesh at them. Remember the golden rule of flirtation? Don't let them catch you. You need to fling out little threads of new ideas that are picked up but still attached so if they want the prize at the end they have to hang on. In writing, a master of this is Patricia Cornwall, she presents major suspense every thirty pages. In fact I noticed the thirty page scenario was about a forty minute read; a lunch break, a train journey; mmm wondered if she actually intends that?
My Stratford Friend by Dominick Reyntiens (published by Publicious 4th August 2015 RRP £13.99 paperback, RRP £4.99 ebook) will be available to purchase from online retailers including amazon.co.uk and to order from all good bookstores.