Tippin' My Hat to Stanislavski

Tell me if you know this one.

A girl flies to another continent (country, time zone, zip code) to get engaged to a guy only instead of getting engaged, he tells her he's met someone else and it wasn't like they were even serious because they lived on different continents (countries, time zones, zip codes) so she flies home, sobbing, to her friend who says "Poor Baby" and "Just remember how this feels so you can write about it."

Or maybe you know this one.

It is time for reviews at work and your boss calls you in. You are thinking, wow. Maybe I'll get a raise. And your boss says, "We're eliminating your job. Here's a month's pay and three months' health insurance." And your friend says, "Poor Baby" and "Just remember how this feels so you can write about it."

That's right. Remember how this feels so you can write about it.

Yes. It's the Method Acting School of Writing. Like Stanislavski himself were leading us through sense memory exercises.  Writers are told to dig deep into their memories, their experiences, their emotions and put it on the page.

Or more like, aren't we lucky we've gone through painful (or joyful) things because we can write about it better.  After all, a writer is supposed to write what she (or he) knows.

But seriously, what do we know?  Not a lot. Then again, should not knowing something stop writers from becoming god? Do we dive into that imagination that has been honing itself since Ms Martindale in fourth grade told us to open our math books to page 43 and do the first twelve problems or do we spend time revisiting our ups and downs of our past to give authenticity to our characters?

Constantin Stanislavsky would instruct his clients in the Actors Studio to revisit over and over, What would motivate me, the actor, to behave in the way the character does? Do I simply replace actor with writer? No, wait, that doesn't make sense. Let's tweak it a bit. What would motivate my character to behave in this way? And because we want to illustrate an arc within our story, What would motivate him or her to change?

Do we draw that arc from ourselves? Our own experiences? Or imagine ourselves in the character's shoes? Remember what rejection feels like by re-reading comments from a contest judge or what joy feels like by recalling a scorching hot kiss with Daniel Craig. (Well, writers ARE god. We are creating these universes. Why not Daniel Craig?)

Ahh. See. Right there. I did it. I stepped away from what I knew (Daniel Craig) and mentioned what I didn't know (rejection from contest judges). Are we as writers limited to what we know? Do we draw on our own experiences as we create our characters? If so, than Suzanne Collins, I am so sorry. (and Thomas Harris, I do not want to meet you in a brightly lit mall let alone dark alleyway.)

Yet there is much as writers that we can learn from Stanislavsky. Even as he sought "theatrical truth" so too can I seek literary truth. Whether I am writing a romance, set in Spain and England, or a suspense set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, I must portray my characters with integrity. How would Lucian show he is angry? Or Phoebe her fear of losing her child?

Generally, I find myself using the Improv approach to my plotting, rather than going as deeply and richly into a universe as is demanded by Method. And I tend to grow irritated when told to "save it and write it" when it comes to sharing my own experiences with friends. But  as frightened as I am of so intricately plotting a group of characters and carefully constructing their arcs, of including only those scenes that actually matter to the outcome of the book rather than those that I just loved writing, I must bow to Stanislavski and his Method, and embrace at the very least his call for Truth.


Even if I have to take a break from Daniel Craig to do it.

Research: Pharmacists and Pharmaceuticals in Your Writing

The Rockville 8 welcomes licensed pharmacist Dave Hopkins to answer questions related to pharmacists and pharmaceuticals. Dave graduated in 1990 from The George Washington University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology. In 1993, he completed his Bachelor of Science Degree in Pharmacy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He has worked in retail pharmacy since 1988 and has been a licensed pharmacist since 1993. Currently, he owns and manages his own retail pharmacy in Maryland which he has done since 2004. Dave answers questions for the Rockville 8.

We welcome your questions as well so if you have any research questions or any other questions, ask away!

1. What things relating to pharmacists or pharmaceuticals are unrealistic when you see them on TV, in a movie, a book or some similar venue?

Actually, I rarely see pharmacists portrayed on TV or in literature. The TV series 2 and ½ Men had a periodic pharmacist role and he was usually seen taking furtive sips from a codeine cough syrup bottle. Amusing but not really flattering or realistic. And of course who could forget the impoverished pharmacist who sold Romeo the poison with which he ultimately committed suicide? More flattering characters can be found most anywhere. I Googled the topic and there are several web pages that discuss the lack of pharmacists in fictional literature and I have included one of them here.

http://pharmacist.hubpages.com/hub/PHARMACISTS-IN-FICTIONAL-LITERATURE

2. What is a common misconception the general public has regarding pharmacists?

I think, historically, we are often perceived as boring, curmudgeonly old men who hide in our pharmacy lab, avoiding the general populace. In a more contemporary setting we are seen as harried, overstressed gatekeeper’s who keep someone from getting their medication and blaming it on ‘insurance restrictions’ or the like.

3. What is your favorite part and what is your least favorite part of your job?

My favorite part is interacting with my patients and improving their health outcomes through my knowledge of pharmaceuticals. I always enjoy answering health related questions and get a real satisfaction when I can positively affect someone either through question/answer or by the medication I provide. My least favorite part is dealing with insurance companies. Despite what many people seem to think we don’t get a thrill from telling you your refill is too early or some medication isn’t on your insurance plans formulary. While I can empathize with someone over their frustration, I also must say my least favorite part of the job is being barked at over insurance issues, mainly since I have no control over them.

4. Beside you, what resources are there available to writers if they have a question?

All states have local pharmacist associations. In addition there is the American Pharmacist’s Association as well as several other national pharmacy trade groups. Most pharmacies receive free trade publications (such as Drug Topics) which describe current trends in the pharmacy profession. Finally every state also has a board of pharmacy which regulates all pharmacists as well as pharmacies operating in the state. In Maryland the board of pharmacy falls under the purview of The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the website is www.mdbop.org.

5. What would you like to tell writers that we haven’t covered here?

Pharmacists often work in different settings and have different skill sets accordingly. I have spent the bulk of my career working in retail pharmacy settings and my skills are very different than a pharmacist who has spent many years working in a hospital, a long term care facility, or perhaps a mental health facility. The one thing that remains constant among any competent pharmacists is the knowledge of medications and the uncanny ability to read extremely poor handwriting. This includes dosing, side effects, and their prescribed uses (yes when you get an antibiotic filled the pharmacist knows where and what your infection is based on the antibiotic prescribed). If you wish to have a hospital pharmacist in your writing then you should sit and talk to a hospital pharmacist about their job. The same goes for a pharmacist in any other setting. Most pharmacists are more than ready to talk about what they do and the amount of training they received in order to do it.
I hope this was helpful, after all I would love to see a story someday that had a pharmacist as the protagonist, or at least a secondary character more flattering than Shakespeare’s pharmacist.