Are you a sitter or a shipper?

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Are you a sitter or a shipper? Do you sit on your writing, revising it over and over again or maybe never even getting to the end? Or do you ship your work – can you get to the end, get it in the hands of others so you can get feedback, get it into the hands of potential producers?

It’s much easier to sit than to ship. So much easier. If you sit on your work, it’s totally within your control. It’s beyond the reach of bad feedback, theatres who ignore you, audiences who respond poorly.

But shipping is what makes us writers. We have to get our work out there. It can be hateful because rejection is hateful. I got so frustrated with rejection, I started my own company.

How do you force yourself to ship?

Exercise

If you’re not finding a home for your work try this exercise.

  • Write a page on the kind of theatre you write. Make it detailed, what is the best way to describe your writing? What do you like about how you write? What genres do you favour? Why do you favour them?
  • Now cull this page down to half a page. Hone in on the most important aspects.
  • Do it again so that you are left with one sentence. What is the tagline that describes your writing? Be efficient, be effective with your word choice.
  • Make a list of plays by other playwrights that also fit your tagline.
  • Make a list of where those plays are being produced.
  • Make a list of the directors who directed those plays.
  • Make a list of the principal actors in those plays.

It’s a lot of work and a lot of research but if you want to be produced, you have to find the right fit. You have to show people you’re the right fit. Whenever and wherever you can, get your work in the hands of people rather than sending it off blindly. Obviously you don’t want to come across as a creepy stalker but in large, plays are produced because they’re either popular or there’s a relationship. Start reaching out.

How do you define success?

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If you’re reflecting back at the year that just happened and thinking about the year ahead, it’s inevitable you’re going to consider success and failure. Maybe it’s been a year where there have been more of one than the other. This may be uplifting or send you in a down ward spiral.

If you’re in reflection mode and planning mode it’s vital that you determine this one thing:

What is success?

You not only need to define this for yourself, you need to write it down. Put it somewhere safe (and that you can remember) so you can return to this definition on an annual basis.

It’s important to define success for yourself because there is no one definition. Not in the arts.

An actor can work on TV or on the stage or in movies. Which is the definition of success? Is it TV or movies? Is getting awards the definition of success? Is it money? Is it getting an agent? Is it acting on stage on a regular basis?

A writer can write novels, plays, or screen plays. Which is the definition of success? Is it writing every day? Is it getting a book deal? Is it being produced on Broadway?

Further to that, you can’t define your success on the success of others. This is a trap. As a young playwright I made this mistake time and time again. I lived a bitter life because I looked at the success of other writers and I defined myself on those successes. If I didn’t get what they had, I was a failure. But when I defined success for myself I realized I didn’t really want what they had.

What is success?

When you define success you have a goal. If you have a goal, you can create action steps toward that goal. Steps are important. You don’t want to leave your goals in dream land. “I wish I could do this…. I would love to be that….”

Don’t dream about success. Write down your definition. Take action.

Observation Thursday

Observation is my number one method of finding play ideas. If you’re ever at a loss for coming up with something to write about, start logging observations. I write down observations on a daily basis and on Thursdays, I’m going to share one with you what I’ve seen and then you could do with it.

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WHAT WERE THEY SELLING?

When: Tuesday July 15, lunch time.

Observation: Three boys, in the street, yelling out side the post office. They’re selling something – I don’t know what. Whatever it is, is $4. And they’re trying to figure out if the guy they just got money from, gave them $4.  (The Loonie is a dollar coin in Canada and the Twonie is a two dollar coin)

“He gave me two loonies”

“Then he didn’t – !”

“No – Two Loonies and a Twonie.  Two and two! We’re good, we’re good!”

Whatever it was they were selling, one of the ladies from the post office then came out and told them to clear out. The boys were apologetic and polite.

What you can do with it: Doesn’t this one write itself? What were they selling? Why were they so bad at math? And why would the post office lady shoo them off? Write the conversation between the three boys before they get to the post office to set up their wares, the conversation with whoever it was who gave them $4 and the conversation between the ladies in the post office as they watch the boys and decide to shoo them off. Have the boys been there before?

Of course that’s the realistic approach. Think about the fantastical approach. What fantastical thing could these boys have? What if the ladies in the post office were not just clearing the street but maybe were jealous of the boys? How does that change things?

Happy writing!

 

Observation Thursday

Observation is my number one method of finding play ideas. If you’re ever at a loss for coming up with something to write about, start logging observations. I write down observations on a daily basis and on Thursdays, I’m going to share one with you what I’ve seen and then you could do with it.

Observation Thursday

THE AFTERMATH

Observation: Take a look at the picture below. This was taken on July 5th, it’s the aftermath of fireworks on the beach where I live.  Now I’m not a regular partaker in home fireworks but to me that seems like a lot of aftermath. How big were these fireworks? Who put them in the sand? Did they know what they were doing? What was the situation that led to these fireworks? The questions continue.

What you can do with it: Decide for yourself if this is an overkill of fireworks or a lacking of fireworks. Go with one or the other, there’s not much dramatic in “it was just the right amount.” And then write a scene between the person who is putting the fireworks in the sand and someone reacting – either that it’s too much or too little. What is the reason for the response? What’s the relationship? Why is it necessary to do their own fireworks instead of go to an actual showing?

 

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Orange is the New Character Development

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Did you watch Orange is the New Black  – Season One or Season Two?  Are you sad that you have to wait a whole year for season three? Do you have no idea what I’m talking about – orange is the what?

Every writer should watch this show. Even if you’re not fond of the material or you think they got prison wrong, every writer should watch this show just to study the characters. Orange is the New Black is a character study brought to life.

The show takes place in a women’s prison. Over the course of the two seasons, you not only see what these women are like in prison, for a lot of them, you see who they were in their regular lives and how they landed in jail. It’s not always what you think (pay specific attention to Morello and Sister Jane) and it’s a prime example of how situation and location can change a person. This is vital for writers to know, be aware of, and use.

If you have access to Netflix and you have the chance, sit down and watch Orange with a pen and paper. Pick a character and study her as if you were taking a course on character development.

  • Who is the character? Why did you pick her?
  • What first impression do they make?
  • What assumptions do you make about that character based on how they act?
  • Who do they interact with in the prison?
  • Are they a dominant character or a subservient character?
  • If this character is dominant, how does power affect them?
  • With each episode, what details do you learn about the character?
  • Do you learn why they’re in jail? If so, does the reason surprise you or confirm your assumptions?
  • How does this character act in a desperate situation?
  • Do you empathize with this character? Why or why not?
  • Will this character survive outside of jail?  Why or why not?

Observation Thursday

Observation is my number one method of finding play ideas. If you’re ever at a loss for coming up with something to write about, start logging observations. I write down observations on a daily basis and on Thursdays, I’m going to share one with you what I’ve seen and then you could do with it.

Observation Thursday

TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION

Observation: A guy gets out of a van in a rest stop parking lot. We have just pulled in and we’re also getting out of our car at the same time. The guy looks at us and says “Are you good at finding baby mice?” We say no and move on. This is one of the stranger questions I think I’ve ever been asked by a stranger. I don’t know why this guy needed baby mice, or if there were baby mice on the lose in his van, or if that was his way of breaking the ice with another human being. But it made my day as writer because I got to write down the awesome line – Are you good at finding baby mice?

How can you use it? Use it as the first line in a scene. A guy goes up to a girl and asks “Are you good at finding baby mice?” What happens next? How can you make the girl not want to run away screaming (if she does, it’s a short scene.) Now change the character who says the first line – make it a girl who asks the question of a guy. How does the scenario change? You can change it up again by making the question come from a child. Change it up again by giving the first line to a grandmother. Same first line with a vast number of possibilities…. have fun with it, it’s a great way to start  a scene.

Have you Ever Tried to Write Wrong?

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We’re all so concerned with being right. Our writing has to be perfect. It has to have the right beginning and the right ending. The characters have to be exactly right. If our work isn’t right, then we’re wrong, we’re a failure, we’re bad.

But is that really true? Is it so bad to write wrong? To try to write in the wrong direction?

Have you ever tried to take your writing in the wrong direction on purpose?

I heard a story attributed to Quincy Jones (I know it’s ridiculous to say it like that but I wanted to be clear I’m adding on to something I heard elsewhere) where he told a group of acting students just that. “Have you ever tried to take your work as far wrong as possible? Have you ever tried to see the beauty of being wrong once you’re there? Have you ever tried to go wrong, enjoy the experience and then figure out the steps to make it right?”

These are all fabulous questions for all of us in the creative field. I tell students all day long – it’s ok to fail, we learn from our mistakes not from our successes, we have to fail – and yet it’s the hardest thing to do. We live in a world of right and wrong where right is good and wrong is bad. And it’s especially hard in that world where everything is recorded and broadcast to fail safely. How can a playwright try something out in front of an audience without the worry of being told they’re wrong?

And yet, I love the concept of “find the beauty in being wrong. Enjoy the experience of being wrong and then find your way back.”

Use this concept as an 2nd draft exercise.

If you’re working on a piece and it’s not going well stop trying to find the right answer.  Take a character in the absolute wrong direction. Have them do things you know this character would never do. Have this character steal something. Stalk someone. Take drugs. Have this character kill another character and deal with the after math. Stop trying to figure out the problems in the plot and throw more problems in. Make a mess and then step back.

You may find the answer you never knew you were looking for. You may find that being wrong is the exact right thing to do. And at the very least you’ll have a creative experience. We spend too much time trying to be right with our writing.

Spend some time being absolutely wrong.

 

 

Observation Thursday

Observation is my number one method of finding play ideas. If you’re ever at a loss for coming up with something to write about, start logging observations. I write down observations on a daily basis and on Thursdays, I’m going to share one with you what I’ve seen and then you could do with it.

Observation Thursday

 

Staring at the Wall

Observation: Two people in a conversation outside of of store. The man is talking very intently, very quietly. The woman is facing and staring at the wall, not saying anything.

Date: Wednesday June 18 2014

Comments: I walked by this couple and boy did I wish I could be invisible or turn into a fly and find out what on earth was going on here. When I say the woman was staring at the wall, she was nearly face planting the thing. I stopped a little way away to see if the situation would evolve or change. But in five minutes everything remained exactly the same. Man talking intently. Woman staring at the wall.

What can you do:  Create the scenario.What is the relationship here? Are they boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife, or exes, or brother/sister, or two best friends? What is the cause of this situation? What happened? Has the woman done this before or is this the first time she has decided that there is nothing else she can do other than face the wall? Write the scene starting with the event or comment or conversation that leads the woman to stop, turn, and stare at the wall.

The Top Ten Rewrite Questions

When you’re working on rewrites questions are your greatest ally. They are practical and tangible. You can answer a question, you can realize the answer is already in the text, you can choose not to answer a question. Being mysterious is okay so long as it’s a conscious choice and not a missing plot point. When you’re asking people to give you feedback don’t ask for their opinion, get them to ask questions.

You can question many different parts of your work – the characters, the story, the structure – just to name a few. If you want your writing to be specific, effective and efficient it’s important to question.

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The Top Ten Questions to Ask of Your Work

  1. Why is the first page a great introduction?
  2. Why is the last page a vivid ending?
  3. Why will an audience find the world of your play interesting?
  4. How does each scene move the play forward?
  5. Why do you leave each scene when you do?
  6. Does each character have a unique voice in their dialogue?
  7. Are your characters living the story or are they telling facts?
  8. Does each character have a want? How do they go after it?
  9. What is the main conflict of the play? What are the obstacles?
  10. Is there conflict in every scene?

Observation Thursday

Observation is my number one method of finding play ideas. If you’re ever at a loss for coming up with something to write about, start logging observations. I write down observations on a daily basis and on Thursdays, I’m going to share one with you what I’ve seen and then you could do with it. Observation Thursday

An inappropriate Selfie

Observation: Two people dressed in funeral blacks taking an odd selfie outside a funeral reception.

Date: Saturday June 14 2014

Comments: I was driving down a residential street. I stopped at a stop sign and saw a house with many many cars outside. I saw people get out of a car dressed in black, and a few more outside the house dressed in black. My keen powers of deduction decided that this was a house reception after a funeral. I saw two young people standing on the lawn. Both in black. He had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. She was pouting and toasting with a wine glass. They were taking a selfie of themselves. At a funeral reception.

What can you do:  Create the scenario.Who are these two people and what is their relationship to the dead person? Are they sad? If they’re not, why? Who has died? Why do they feel it’s okay to take a selfie in these circumstances. Write a scene between these two characters. Write another scene where a third person comes up to them and sees what they’re doing. What would their reaction be?