Channelling your Inner Child
As children we have vivid imaginations, which tend to become less colourful as we journey into adulthood. However, as writers, it’s important to hold onto that part of our childhood. I spend most of my week with three and four year olds, who ask me if I’ll join them for tea in their make-believe restaurant or, more recently, become a patient in their make-believe doctor’s surgery where I’m prescribed ‘turbo-cream’ (no idea!) and four bottles of Calpol - for my arm. Their imagination has no bounds and it reminded me how important it is to let your inner child free every now and then and take time to play. If you don't, well, all sorts of things could happen. Long slimy worms with red skin might start popping out of your armpits or you might explode into millions of tiny mouldy toenails. Serious. It happened to me last night...
Try and remember what it was like to gaze in wonder at a colourful rainbow, dance in the rain, lose your inhibitions. It will take you on a brighter journey and lead you to new places, new challenges.
I recently spent the day with my sister. We reminisced about our childhood and the games we used to play. We didn’t have the luxury of iPad’s or computers in the eighties. We created our own games, role-play, put on dance shows for our parents, recorded radio shows, spoke in made-up accents; I could go on! And even now, as adults, we can take ourselves back to that special place where we had no worries, where the simplest of things was exciting, where everything was fun. “The creative adult is the child who survived.”
Both writing and acting use a great deal of imagination. As a writer and actor, our job is to convince the audience that what we are portraying is real. We should be able to use our imaginations to answer questions about our characters and the world they live in. We should know their traits, their gestures, the colour of their eyes, how they talk. From my conversations with the children, they can answer these questions straight away! It might not always be the same answer, but still. I think that’s pretty amazing! Not long ago, I played the role of The March Hare in Alice in Wonderland and a Mermaid in Once Upon a Time in Copenhagen. Both of these roles were completely different. I’d never played an animal or a statue that comes to life! I realised that if I wanted the audience to believe in me, I had to believe in my character. I did this by developing my character's life in my mind. I apply the same rules to the characters in my story. They started off as one-dimensional beings. It was my editors who encouraged me to follow their life outside of the story. Where do they hang out? Who with? What’s their favourite food? I now have four colourful lead characters!
"Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up." Pablo Picasso.
Don’t lose the spark or imagination you had as a child! Learn to channel it whenever you need it. Be curious. Be fearless. Be kind. Be happy. Be fun-loving. Be resilient.
