{"id":3882,"date":"2012-11-16T06:00:04","date_gmt":"2012-11-16T06:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.adviceinteractivegroup.com\/?p=3882"},"modified":"2012-11-16T06:00:04","modified_gmt":"2012-11-16T06:00:04","slug":"daniel-day-lewis-method-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/al.rocksdmdev.com\/?p=3882","title":{"rendered":"What Daniel Day-Lewis\u2019s Method Acting Can Teach Writers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Day-Lewis is known for his method acting. He goes to extremes \u2014 which can sometimes bridge on dangerous \u2014 in order to fully experience the role he\u2019s cast to play, including his role as President of the United States in <em>Lincoln<\/em>, opening today.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few of his other famous method acting techniques:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In <em><span style=\"color: #e65c00;\">Gangs of New York<\/span><\/em> (2002, dir. Martin Scorsese), Day-Lewis took butchering lessons from a local butcher so that he would know how to correctly sharpen the knives he worked with on screen.<\/li>\n<li>For his role in <em><span style=\"color: #e65c00;\">My Left Foot<\/span><\/em> (1989, dir. Jim Sheridan), he would refuse to get out of the set\u2019s wheelchair even after filming ended so that he could fully experience life from a debilitating injury. His slumped posture resulted in two broken ribs by the end of filming.<\/li>\n<li>To prepare for <em><span style=\"color: #e65c00;\">The Last of the Mohicans<\/span><\/em> (1992, dir. Michael Mann), Day-Lewis actually lived in the wild for 6 months, surviving on nothing but the barest necessities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While you might conclude he\u2019s slightly crazy for going to such pains to play a character, you have to admit that his method works. Day-Lewis is considered one of the best actors of his time because he can convince anyone that it\u2019s not him under the clothes and makeup \u2014 he makes his characters come alive.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/images\/actingprogress.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3885 \" title=\"Daniel Day-Lewis's Acting Roles\" src=\"\/images\/actingprogress.png\" alt=\"Daniel Day-Lewis's Acting Roles\" width=\"568\" height=\"218\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6>Can you believe this is the same guy? With intense research and physical experience,<br \/>\nDaniel Day-Lewis can convince us of ANYTHING.<\/h6>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Becoming a Method Writer<\/h2>\n<p>For the most part, Internet users aren&#8217;t dumb. Even though authenticity on the Internet is hard to come by, thanks to endless publishing capabilities, website visitors can still tell when something is obviously incorrect or too vague to give any real information. That&#8217;s why content writers need to know what they\u2019re writing about. As in the case of acting (where actors do not <em>become<\/em> their roles, but play them so that they <em>seem<\/em> like they are), writers should at least <em>seem<\/em> like they know what they\u2019re writing about.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Taking Daniel Day-Lewis\u2019s method acting as an example, here are 5 ways content creators can become \u201cmethod writers\u201d:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Research<\/h3>\n<p>Actors don\u2019t just wake up knowing everything about their part \u2014 they do extensive research (sometimes for years). If you\u2019re not already an expert on the subject you\u2019re writing about, you\u2019ll need to become one; otherwise, you\u2019re just spouting nonsense.<\/p>\n<h3>Credibility<\/h3>\n<p>While sources like Wikipedia and eHow.com may be easy to find and read, they don\u2019t always provide the most reliable information. Make sure you\u2019re learning from a credible and respectable source. Sites that end in .edu, .gov, and .org are generally the best when it comes to credible information.<\/p>\n<h3>Authenticity<\/h3>\n<p>Day-Lewis grew his own beard for <em>Lincoln,<\/em> because he considers makeup too inauthentic. Take this to heart when you write\u2014make your content naturally sound like it came from an expert in the industry. (If you\u2019re not sure how to accomplish this, revisit step 1.)<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Experience<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>There\u2019s nothing wrong with going out there and experiencing the subject you\u2019re writing about. For example, if your page is about unclogging a drain, go try your hand at unclogging a drain. If nothing else, you\u2019ll at least have a new life skill.<\/p>\n<h3>Originality<\/h3>\n<p>Daniel Day-Lewis would never copy someone else\u2019s method, and neither should you. Create your own unique content. (If the DDL reference doesn\u2019t do provide the inspiration you need, look to a performer or character who does. Chuck Norris, Captain Kirk, or Batman can be used as stand-ins, depending on your taste.)<\/p>\n<h2>The Takeaway<\/h2>\n<p>We go see Daniel Day-Lewis\u2019s movies because he\u2019s a good actor who makes us believe he\u2019s really the character he portrays on screen. People should want to visit your sites (or the sites you\u2019re writing for your client) because you\u2019re a good writer who convinces them you\u2019re writing as an authority on your subject.<\/p>\n<p>Becoming a method writer doesn&#8217;t happen overnight \u2014 it takes hard work, dedication, and a love for the craft. But it also makes content development more fun and engaging, both for you and your website visitors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Day-Lewis is known for his method acting. He goes to extremes \u2014 which can sometimes bridge on dangerous \u2014 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-content-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/al.rocksdmdev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/al.rocksdmdev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/al.rocksdmdev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al.rocksdmdev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al.rocksdmdev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/al.rocksdmdev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/al.rocksdmdev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al.rocksdmdev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al.rocksdmdev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}