New Years Resolution Ideas for the Young Actor!

Let 2021 be the year you make enormous strides in your work as an artist! When it comes to New Year’s Resolutions, we recommend focusing on developing great habits that will hopefully last a lifetime! Don’t try to do everything at once- break down your goals into small, achievable habits that you can build on over time.

For example, perhaps you’ve never written in a journal before. Consider writing for five minutes a day- as time goes on, you can increase the time. But start small, and build up over time!

• Practice working on a scene or monologue for X amount of minutes a day. In order to do this, consider buying a couple books of scenes and monologues for teens. Perhaps prepare a new scene/monologue each week as though it were an actual audition.
• Start writing your own short film or play. Tons of actors are creating their own opportunities through writing their own material. Write X amount of minutes a day, and perhaps set a goal of trying to finish a first draft of a short play/film.
• Keep a daily journal- Keeping track of your daily observations, thoughts, experiences can be enormously beneficial as an artist. This will give you a ton of new material to create from.
• Read a script a week– Learn more about the rich history of film and theater by reading scripts. There are plenty of online resources to reading scripts. One strong recommendation we have is the New Play Exchange- this is a fantastic resource to learn about the latest writers in theater (who are also writing for television and film!).
• Mount a production– While many live theaters are still closed, it is not too early to start preparing for the eventual return of live theater. Start reading plays with friends, and discuss/plan how you can do a live production of the work.
• Check breakdowns on Actors Access, Backstage each day– Plenty of acting opportunities are posted on these websites daily. Make sure to keep checking and submitting for roles that might be right for you!
• Watch classic movies or plays- Explore the incredibly rich history of film and theater by perhaps watching a classic movie each week. A great website to expand your horizons is The Criterion Channel. And to watch theater productions is Digital Theatre.
• Read books on acting for X amount of minutes a day– Start reading the many great books on acting and writing.