Sometimes I am in a scene and I am about to say something specific, but at the last minute I just can't think of what it is. If it is something really specific that I need to name, often times I just make it up...like the incubator 2009. But sometimes I am actually referring to something, and I can't think of what it is....for example I was making a reference to Gerrymandering in a scene, and I couldn't think of the word!!! I immediately just acted completely real and started asking the other characters in the scene what the word I was thinking of was. This turned into a funny game because we were all politicians, yet I was the one who didn't know any political words. However, I don't want this to be the case in ALL my scenes where I don't know a reference. Any ideas? Anyone else have this problem?
Anyone blank out?
- Thread starter JRellman
- Start date
If the words aren't there, react wordlessly.
When you get to my age, yeah, sometimes the words slip behind the car seat of the brain. You just deal with it. It's not going to break your scene, it's just going to change your scene.
And though it's good and important to stay connected to the culture (not just pop culture) and know lots of references, you don't have to know any particular reference. The scene isn't about the reference.
When you get to my age, yeah, sometimes the words slip behind the car seat of the brain. You just deal with it. It's not going to break your scene, it's just going to change your scene.
And though it's good and important to stay connected to the culture (not just pop culture) and know lots of references, you don't have to know any particular reference. The scene isn't about the reference.
I think you handled the moments you describe nicely. Goldfish Boy is right, as usual.
A simple "I just lost my train of thought" is honest (if it is what happened) might work. It will say something about your character. It's a bit like when you don't hear what your partner said (or didn't catch what they did, because I don't want this to just be about exchanging words). A scene in a class I was in stands out for me in that my scene partner and I came out doing something, and he said something and I didn't hear it so I asked him to repeat it. It was a pretty heavy and important thing, and something I'd've known to do, and it gave my a big chunk of my character's deal just right at the top of the scene (yea! just as it should be).
A simple "I just lost my train of thought" is honest (if it is what happened) might work. It will say something about your character. It's a bit like when you don't hear what your partner said (or didn't catch what they did, because I don't want this to just be about exchanging words). A scene in a class I was in stands out for me in that my scene partner and I came out doing something, and he said something and I didn't hear it so I asked him to repeat it. It was a pretty heavy and important thing, and something I'd've known to do, and it gave my a big chunk of my character's deal just right at the top of the scene (yea! just as it should be).
