Getting into character--not for the faint of heart!

If you've read my blog much, you know that I do this acting thing for my church. I play a middle school, straight-A, type-A, super-social cheerleader named Cammie. (Hee-hee...and if you know me, you know how funny that is.)

Thing is, actors and writers both have to put on the psyche of characters who are somehow different. In this case, introverted and reserved Cheryl has to figure out how to be Miss Chipper-Popular. Think Legally Blond with poms. In the words of our director extraordinaire, I need more physicality in my role.

So last night I was up late doing a bit of character research...on YouTube. Did you know that you can learn to do cheerleading moves on YouTube? Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cQg4XOkC5Y (Sorry--embedding is disabled for this one.)

I've found YouTube useful for other areas of writing. Need to observe a bear raiding a trashcan?



Or need to see a rattlesnake in action?



Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, YouTube is an amazing resource for seeing things you can't manage to see in your real life.

:) Cheryl