Jordan Faber isfrom Des Moines, Iowa and lives in London, England. She is a screenwriter, fiction writer, playwright and filmmaker. She received her BA in Creative Writing from Knox College and her MFA in Writing For the Screen &Stage from Northwestern University, where she earned a Princess Grace Award nomination for filmmaking. She has made films for the Goodman Theatre and Bronzeville Historical Society. “Carnival of the Souls” received a reading at Greenhouse Theater. Jordan enjoys working with public domain footage and was a video designer for Dog and Pony Theatre Co's production of The Whole World Is Watching at Victory Gardens Theatre.Jordan on...
The ProcessWhen I think about the writing process, a part from Hemingway's A Moveable Feast comes to mind: “I always worked until I had something done and I always stopped when I knew what was going to happen next. That way I could be sure of going on the next day.”
Right now, I'm based in London, England and able to have good part of the day to dedicate towards writing and appreciate that everyday. I'm working more to be constantly open to new material, and sometimes the most enjoyable part of a project for me is what happens when I'm away from the page, thinking about characters while walking down the street or listening to music on a bus. I like making use of my daydreaming and try to keep plotting the next page, the next scene or chapter as much as I can. Times where this becomes a little odd are when someone asks, "What are you thinking about?" And you have to explain that you're wondering if a psychic with a metal plate in her head could locate someone by picking up on radio frequencies— when the woman she's looking for, who has turned a grain silo into a swimming pool and is floating on a raft inside it— is listening to a vintage handheld radio?
This happened to me the other day, and it can be funny. But this actually was a question that I was seriously thinking about. So I, like a lot of writers, I'd bet, don't tend to ask these questions to others and just figure it out on the page, with some help from research. I look forward to the places where the research process can unexpectedly take me. Such as when I was researching this radio frequency question, I learned that Lucille Ball claimed radio transmissions picked up on by the fillings in her teeth led to the capture of Japanese spies. Stories like that are golden to me and I love collecting them for later use or just to share. My family calls them 'Jordi-isms,' but I'm always like, "No, it's true. I read all about it!" I suppose this intermittent daydreaming process goes on all day, everyday, and makes me also think of a quote from Burton Rascoe, "A writer is working when he's staring out of the window." So staring out of windows is the kind of work I prefer to do most, and typical to any project I'm working on, but unfortunately does not pay in itself.
SatisfactionThe most satisfying experience I've had is being able to connect to people. Being able to see audiences relate to characters and stories I'd written. To look out at an audience and see laughter and tears has been a moving experience for me which I hadn't been expecting at the time. I'd love to be able to have that experience over and over again.
KnowingWhen I was in the 2nd grade we began short story writing. I wrote a story titled "Kamaia's Rain." I can still remember the first image that came into my mind when we began to write. It was a field with a hazy pink sky, short, scraggly trees with no leaves and drizzling rain. I didn't know why, but I felt like I had found home with writing. My teacher saw something in the story and arranged for me to go to the principals office and read it for the principal and the vice principal. I always said I was going to be a writer since then.
Inspiration
Some of my favorite writers are Denis Johnson, Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor, Raymond Carver and J. D. Salinger. I've always been inspired by the films of Hitchcock and lately by those of writer/producer/director/composer Hal Hartley. I'm a big fan of Don Knott's movies. I find a lot of classic television inspiring, like The Twilight Zone. I own all 7 seasons of the Mary Tyler Moore show, and every one that's come out so far for Rhoda. There's a serious hold up with Rhoda season 5-- feel free to complain to your local senator about that. But Mary Tyler Moore's always been an idol of mine. Her film Ordinary People inspires me. I enjoy stories where one thing seems to be true on the surface but is in reality, is quite different. Films like American Beauty. Recently, there is a British rapper, Plan B, whose film Ill Manners has been particularly inspiring for me in its use of narrative voice and pacing. I take notice of any work that really holds my attention. Writing for the ever shortening audience attention span is something I'm inspired to accomplish holding on to.
The First Time My first reading was at the Greenhouse Theatre. Cliff Chamberlain starred wonderfully as a dunk tank clown in a reading of part of my play, then titled "Carnival of the Souls." This is one of the moments I mentioned where I was moved to see laughter and tears, simultaneously, in the crowd. Within the play, I had written video projections. I went ahead and made the footage and had that on display for the reading. I enjoyed being able to bring this visual aspect to the piece. I've gone on to be a video designer for another theater production. For Dog and Pony's production of The Whole World Is Watching, I was able to work with archival footage from the public domain to create a visual world around the play.
AdviceThe advice I could have appreciated being given earlier would have been to start networking as soon as possible. The business side of being a writer is something I think could be taught more thoroughly along side creative writing workshops in colleges with great benefit. I think back to growing up with the ambition of becoming a writer and reading about writers like Emily Dickinson and thinking how natural it seemed to me that a writer could make a choice for a life of working in greater solitude. I liked that choice. I somehow figured you produced your best work, and the rest would fall into line. The idea of being my own salesperson and 'hustling' my work never entered into my dream. But now, it is a reality that I need to navigate. So at some point, I think for some of us, it's like you go from wanting to be like Emily to wanting to be more like Eminem in 8 Mile, for example. The ability to be your own greatest advocate to having your voice heard is priceless and something that I admire when I see it in my peers
The Whole World is Watching from Dog & Pony Theatre on Vimeo.
In seeing my video work along with a play, I've been motivated to find a home for my own play with its accompanying media. I now always make a poster for everything I write and I think it's helpful for conveying the tone of the world I've imagined. A visual image serves to enhance the world you wish to convey, and when this world comes from your mind, I tend to think you, as a writer, can offer a lot of valuable material outside your manuscript if you feel so compelled. As I've experienced presenting more work, I have a greater desire to dip my hands more deeply into all aspects of the creative work I'm involved in as it comes to life, while at the same time participating in productive collaborations with other artists.
