Superstitions: The Nutty Ties that Bind Writers and Actors
by Barbara Kyle
Shakespeare was an actor. So was Dickens.
In a way every writer is, because when
we create stories we play all the roles inside our heads. It’s part of the joy
of writing.
Before becoming an author I enjoyed a twenty-year
acting career (here I’m with Bruce Gray when we starred in the TV series High Hopes) and I’ve found many commonalities between the two arts.
One of the most interesting commonalities is superstitions.
Actors are obsessively superstitious
about many things, and one in particular: the name of a certain play by
Shakespeare, the one in which a certain Highland lady can’t get blood off her
hands.
Actors won’t say the name of this play
inside a theater. Instead, they call it “The Scottish Play.” Why? Because
it carries a curse.
– At
its first performance in 1606 the actor who was going to portray Lady Macbeth
(a boy in those days) died suddenly and Shakespeare was forced to replace him.
– In
1957 actor Harold Norman, playing the lead role, died after his stage battle with
swords became a little too realistic.
– During
a performance starring the famous Sir Laurence Olivier a stage weight crashed
down from above, missing him by inches.
And what if an unsuspecting soul makes
the error of uttering the name of this play inside a theater? Is there a spell
to remove the curse?
Yes, there is. You leave the theater,
spin around three times, spit over your left shoulder, and either recite a line
from Shakespeare or spout a profanity. Got it?
Writers have superstitions too and they’re
just as weird. Here are three that many writers hold:
– No
chapter can be 13 pages long because that number brings bad luck. Any chapter
that ends on page 13 must be revised to make it 12 or 14. (By the way, there’s
a name for the fear of the number 13: triskaidekaphobia. Try saying that three
times fast!)
– Many
writers can’t write unless they’re wearing a particular “lucky” piece of
clothing, like a certain sweater or a pair of slippers or a hat.
– Some
writers won’t give characters the same initials as friends — otherwise, the
person might suddenly have bad luck.
Some famous writers had their own pet
superstitions:
– Alexander
Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers, had to write all of his fiction
on blue paper, his poetry on yellow paper, and his articles on pink paper. No
exceptions.
– Charles
Dickens had to place the ornaments on his desk in a specific order before
beginning to write.
– Truman
Capote refused to begin or end a piece of writing on a Friday.
– J.K.
Rowling’s superstition is to hold off titling a piece until it is complete. She
said on Twitter: “I only type the title page of a novel once the book is
finished.”
If you’re thinking actors and writers are
a bit nuts, you’re not far wrong. After all, we spend our days with imaginary people.
As John Gardner said, “One must be a little crazy to write a good novel.”
But it’s a happy madness. One meets such
interesting (imaginary) people!
So now I’ll cross my fingers, touch
wood, toss grains of salt over my left shoulder, and get back to work on my
new book.
Wish me luck.
Barbara Kyle
Barbara Kyle is the author of the bestselling Thornleigh
Saga series of historical novels (“Riveting Tudor drama” – USA
Today) and of acclaimed thrillers. Over half a million copies of her books have
been sold. Her latest is The Man from Spirit Creek, a novel of suspense.
Barbara has taught hundreds of writers in her online classes and many have
become award-winning authors. Page-Turner, her popular how-to book for
writers, is available in print, e-book, and audiobook. Visit Barbara at www.BarbaraKyle.com
has nothing but her old car and a temporary job as paralegal with the
local attorney. But Liv’s down-market persona is a ruse. She is actually
in-house counsel of Falcon Oil, a small oil and gas company she co-owns
with her fiancé, CEO Mickey Havelock – and they are facing financial
ruin.
Farmer Tom Wainwright, convinced that lethal “sour” gas
killed his wife, is sabotaging Falcon’s rigs. But Wainwright is clever
at hiding his tracks and the police have no evidence to charge him. With
the sabotage forcing Falcon toward bankruptcy, Liv has come undercover
to befriend Wainwright – and entrap him.
But Liv never dreamed
she’d become torn between saving the company she and Mickey built and
her feelings for the very man whose sabotage is ruining them.
On a
rain-swept night, Spirit Creek is stunned when one of their own is
murdered. The evidence does more than point to Tom Wainwright . . . it
shatters Liv’s world.
The Man from Spirit Creek is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook.
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Hilarious! But true. I always kid that I hear voices when I write…. but who is to say what sanity is .. or superstition?
Indeed, Debra – if we didn't hear voices, why write? Glad the post gave you a chuckle 🙂
What a fun blogpost! LOL through and through. I also didn't know about the curse of the unmentionable Shakespearean play, which I've taught many times.
Oh, I love hearing that you taught The Scottish Play. One of the first straight-up thrillers.
As a former actress, I can second your comparison of writers to writers, Barbara. Fun post!
So cool that we have that acting background in common, Gay. Cheers!
Holy smokes! Now I must go through my novels and see if I ever ended a chapter 13 pages long or ended a chapter on page 13! 🙂 So interesting, Barbara! Thanks for sharing!
Well, if you ever did, it clearly didn't bring bad luck, as your success testifies. So nuts to that superstition 🙂
Oh my. I had no idea about page length!
What a delightful read and I learned a lot. As a writer I don't have any particular superstition. Except, I seem to write better when squirrels scamper around in the backyard – glad they even come out in the middle of winter.
What a fun post–thanks for the laugh, Barbara!