BY SHAUNTEL SIMPER
Writing has always been, for me, a stage.
A good actor must be fearless, willing to bear the very depths of their soul to the audience, able to hold no inhibitions in regards to their art. Even an ounce of reserve can become apparent, and the audience will walk away not feeling inspired, but instead feeling lied to.
I don’t mean to suggest that you, as the actor, must be visited by the ghost of your father to properly portray Hamlet, or that you must actually have faced life-long discrimination to be a great Phantom. I simply mean that you must be open to it, allow yourself to become vulnerable, able to empathize, and be open to the complex and often intense emotions that make up the character you will be portraying. Then, when the time comes, it won’t matter that your own experiences do not mirror theirs; the raw emotions will still remain the same.
Writing is very similar. While personal experience can certainly play a significant role in influencing a story, oft times we’re forced to research, interview those with real experience, or simply delve into the far reaches of our imaginations and see what we can find.
What writers give their audience must be more than a collection of words on a page; it must be a vast compilation of feelings, of story-telling. It must be presented freely and fearlessly, with no allegiances other than to the work itself, else the reader will know that they are being lied to.
My name is Shauntel Simper, and I’m a recently hired intern at Xchyler Publishing. I’ve been writing for far longer than I’ve been performing on stage, but it wasn’t until I started performing that I actually understood writing.
Shauntel recently graduated with an associates degree from Eastern Arizona College. She broadens her life experience on the X Team by proofing Shadow of the Last Man by J. M. Salyards, slated for release on September 13, 2013.