La La Land and Literary Agents
It's funny, the things you notice while watching a movie, especially when you've seen it before but never made the discovery until now. I was watching "La La Land" a week ago for the fourth or fifth time. During one of Emma Stone's numerous auditions, I suddenly realized that the audition process for aspiring actors is eerily similar to the grueling experience we writers go through every time we submit a sample chapter -- or even a query letter -- to a literary agent.
Actors only get one or two lines to show the director what they have to bring to the role. If the director doesn't like their line delivery, he dryly says, "Thank you very much." That's the end of that. It's nothing personal. Maybe he thought the actor lacked the attitude of the character he's auditioning to play. Maybe he thought he came across too forcefully or not forcefully enough. Perhaps it simply came down to the actor's poor posture. Bottom line, the director has a boatload of other actors to audition. He doesn't have time for the actor to warm up. He doesn't have time to listen to a second or third line delivery when he believes the first one was lukewarm at best.
Similarly, when literary agents read our first chapter, if they aren't hooked by the first one or two lines, they will tune out and reject the entire chapter without reading any more. They've got hundreds of other submissions to read and don't have the time to delve any deeper into a story that doesn't grab them from the get-go. Bottom line, a key element is missing for them. The line is flat. It lacks fluidity. It lacks action, tension, conflict, or any number of essential ingredients that kick-start a great novel. Maybe the main character is driving to work and thinking about what to cook for dinner. Maybe she's doing her laundry. Let's face it, a line like that is more likely to be a cure for insomnia rather than the beginning of an exciting book.
So take heart, fellow writers. We're in good company. Actors suffer for their passion just like we do. They are all too familiar with the term "slush pile." They wait in a room with other no-name actors who live for the chance to be discovered. You might say they are a HUMAN slush pile of sorts, as inhumane as that sounds. We put our blood, sweat, and tears onto the page (or computer). They convey all of their emotions with their own body language, with their gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice.
And like writers, it's just a matter of finding the right director and the right movie role for everything to snap into place.
Actors only get one or two lines to show the director what they have to bring to the role. If the director doesn't like their line delivery, he dryly says, "Thank you very much." That's the end of that. It's nothing personal. Maybe he thought the actor lacked the attitude of the character he's auditioning to play. Maybe he thought he came across too forcefully or not forcefully enough. Perhaps it simply came down to the actor's poor posture. Bottom line, the director has a boatload of other actors to audition. He doesn't have time for the actor to warm up. He doesn't have time to listen to a second or third line delivery when he believes the first one was lukewarm at best.
Similarly, when literary agents read our first chapter, if they aren't hooked by the first one or two lines, they will tune out and reject the entire chapter without reading any more. They've got hundreds of other submissions to read and don't have the time to delve any deeper into a story that doesn't grab them from the get-go. Bottom line, a key element is missing for them. The line is flat. It lacks fluidity. It lacks action, tension, conflict, or any number of essential ingredients that kick-start a great novel. Maybe the main character is driving to work and thinking about what to cook for dinner. Maybe she's doing her laundry. Let's face it, a line like that is more likely to be a cure for insomnia rather than the beginning of an exciting book.
So take heart, fellow writers. We're in good company. Actors suffer for their passion just like we do. They are all too familiar with the term "slush pile." They wait in a room with other no-name actors who live for the chance to be discovered. You might say they are a HUMAN slush pile of sorts, as inhumane as that sounds. We put our blood, sweat, and tears onto the page (or computer). They convey all of their emotions with their own body language, with their gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice.
And like writers, it's just a matter of finding the right director and the right movie role for everything to snap into place.
Comments