Cyrus Bezyan isn't like most writers. Instead of sitting down at his desk to write, he began his career on the stand-up comedy stage. And it was the art of comedic performance that taught him how to become a good writer.
"I kind of learn the better way to structure...a story from performing it to an audience. Which is kind of why stand up's really good for learning how to write. You're getting kind of instant feedback," he says on the latest episode of The New Writer's Room.
Stand up's really good for learning how to write.
But he has never felt truly comfortable writing about his family. His ability to draw on comedy has helped him to move past that discomfort. "It helps me tell stories about my family because the people in my family are very funny...They're all very humorous people...the humour part has always been an easy access point."
It's a fine line to tread, Bezyan admits. Finding a balance between being funny and not embarrassing his family can be difficult. But as he developed his skills, he has realised that his family is "very fertile ground" to draw laughs from.
Bezyan has a particular talent for being able to find the perfect soundbite or dialogue from his family life in order to build a story. He says that those one-liners are a useful device to be able to write about a broader situation or experience.
"The soundbite is kind of like an access point for what's happening around it. It's important to be aware of why it is that you're remembering that certain soundbite," he says.
One-liners are a useful device to be able to write about a broader situation or experience.
While lots of those soundbites come from his family, Bezyan doesn't necessarily run his material past them before it goes out into the world. Although he does admit that he warns them if there's a "hot button issue" that they might need to know about.
"The hard part for me is wanting to tell stories to an audience that don't embarrass my family members," he explains.
But while Bezyan draws a lot of his dialogue from his interactions with family, he warns that not every one-liner is going to be gold. Instead of relying on funny anecdotes, he suggest that writers focus on making their stories accessible to an audience.
"I've just found that the more I write and the older I get, the more I realise that things can always be shorter and better. Like, efficiency of language and efficiency of storytelling is always better than being verbose."
Ultimately, Bezyan says that good writing aims to share and connect with other people in a meaningful way.
"People relate to the truth and also to a human being, being open."
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Listen to Tara June Winch on SBS Voices' new podcast, The New Writer’s Room, in the , , , , or wherever you listen to podcasts.
