An advice from Stanislavski, stop pretending and be believable, writing arises from the inner need

An advice from Stanislavski: stop pretending and be believable, writing arises from the inner need

Quote

It is only when one’s inner and outer life is flowing naturally in the work of art that the deeper source of one’s subconscious opens, and we are able to create the life of a human spirit in a beautiful, artistic form.
– Stanislavski

• This guy all over again. I keep returning to him and his ideas repeatedly, starting with Galperin, mentioning the speech stereotype, and now in script writing. All of this applies splendidly to note-taking, because note-taking is acting and writing simultaneously. Notes arise from the emotional part of ourselves.
  • We tend to think that notes are practical — and indeed they are — but above all, notes are emotional, though we’ll come to that a little bit later.
• Stanislavski argued that good acting is possible only when the actor, before mimicking, believes in himself and recognizes his inner impulse to act. Likewise, many note-takers attempt to imitate the ideal form of a well-written note and persist in copying systems created by others, following patterns designed by somebody else. This leads to intoxication by a preconceived notion of what “good” note-taking is.
  • I believe that the purpose of a note is to become part of one’s belief system; therefore every note must be believable. And according to Jack Grapes, there are several ways to craft such a note. A note-taker must satisfy several internal needs to become proficient with the material he is currently working on.
• The very first thing is that a note-taker must acknowledge the need to write. Why does he want to take notes? In my experience, the urge to take notes arises from dissatisfaction: not being able to answer a question he knows he knows the answer to, failing to recall facts or events from a recently read book, or having to confront a problem he already solved — the only issue being that he no longer remembers how. So notes here may be the instruments that help him cope with these kinds of difficulties.
  • From dissatisfaction, we go deeper. To be believable, a note-taker must use natural speech in his notes. Ultimately, in the notes he is speaking to himself, and if his language is too polished, he won’t recognize himself in the written words. The note must resonate with the reader (the note-taker himself). Overwrought writing is like bad acting or misplaced chords on a guitar — immediately noticeable. Writing with the natural rhythm and cadence of speech can be cultivated.
    • One simply needs to stop forcing and searching for the optimal form, especially when there is no such thing as “the best.” He must abandon the pursuit of literary effects (adjectives and adverbs for one, ornate phrases for another, metaphors for the third). Sometimes the distinction between natural speech and literary style can be subtle, but with practice one develops an ear — or an eye — for detecting literary artifice instead of natural voice.
    • After a sentence or even a paragraph is written, ask yourself: Would I genuinely express myself in this manner if I were speaking? If not, rewrite or paraphrase what you’ve written and then transcribe the spoken words. Preferably, avoid using your first draft altogether. Learn to appreciate the authenticity of your voice, not the glamorous and polished effects of literary prose.
  • The last concept is that of negative knowledge, or the self-imposed limitation one must apply when writing a note. It is better to remain inactive in terms of literary ornamentation and instead demonstrate restraint and control, much like Chekhov wrote to Gorky about his style:
    • q Your descriptions of nature are artistic; you are a true landscape painter. However, your frequent comparisons to humans (anthropomorphism) — the sea breathes, the sky looks on, the steppe basks in the sun, nature whispers, speaks, weeps, and so on — these personifications make your descriptions somewhat monotonous, slightly saccharine, vague; in depictions of nature, vibrancy and expressiveness are best achieved through simple techniques, for example: using straightforward phrases such as “the sun set,” “it grew dark,” “it started to rain,” and so on. – Chekhov

---

BIO

🧠 theBrain mapping

ID: 202511070521 Source:: Friend:: Child:: Next:: The pretense comes from our need to look and note be, transition exercise from journalling to massaging

Keywords:

Reference: