The Real Writer

Baltimore Sun Article

Tonight Ryan (from Mobtown Players - www.mobtown.net) and I are being interviewed by a features reporter from the Baltimore Sun about the 10 Minute Play Showcase next week. Very excited about that! We're now opening the event to the public because we have over 100 rsvps and still more people want to come. It's getting a little out of control, but I think all will work out fine. I think this means we can now have the bar open and a tech person. Cross your fingers.

Monday night was the first rehearsal of my piece, "Anesthesia," and it was fun, and excruciating, to hear my own words. It's going to go well, though, I can feel it, and I finally got the monologue for the main character to a place where I won't be humiliated hearing it at the performance. The response from everyone who's read it has been very good. I think it's more a one-act (about 1/2 hour) play, but I need to see and hear it onstage first to see where I might expand it. If it works as 10 mins, I won't touch it. I'd like to work more in the form though, one-acts as well. I have one of the latter somewhere that I need to dig up and see if I can rework it. After working on my writing in bits and pieces over the last 6 months, it felt really wonderful to write something full out and finish it. The intensity was a great rush. It's primed me for more work so 3rd novel here I come! Glad I already have 50 or so pages so I'm not starting from scratch.

But back to showcase night and the Sun article - what's really great is that all this exposure could mean more people sign up for the workshops. Gregg (from CityLit Project - www.citylitproject.org) and I are talking about how we might handle having a large response - whether we'd have two classes, etc. And I'm thinking of other ways to get the word out - such as creating an anthology (each year) of participant work to be published by a local college press and distributed at local bookstores.

This would also mean more people would know about my mentoring services and I could begin working with teen writers, as I'd like to, though I'm happy to work with adults as well. I've already had 3 people approach me in the last two weeks about my editing services so that's going well too.

UPDATE ON BIG DRAMA: no apology and haven't run into him in the hallway, thank goodness (there are 8 resident artists and we all live in the building of the non-profit community arts org that awarded us the residency - you can stay for up to 3 years). He should be moved out by the first week of July and somehow, I know there'll be a huge energy shift towards the positive when it's over.

Breaking the Rules

Know the rules before you break them. How many times have you heard this? How many times have I said it to myself and my students? Millions. And it's absolutely, 100% true.

But there's a season for everything, and you should make regular time for playing. For opening up and seeing what comes out. If it's trash, throw it out and just enjoy the process. If it's treasure, yea for you, write it up and watch it shine. Usually you have to get through some trash to find the treasure. It's all about showing your writing soul how committed you are to digging dip and honoring what you find there. If you're only going to give the attempt a cursory 5-15 minutes and give up, then you'll just get trash. If you're in it for the long haul, your writing soul will trust you and bring forth the treasure. You'll have proved you're worthy.

One note of caution: wait a few days before determining whether or not what surfaced was trash. How many times have you literally dug through your garbage can (or cans) looking for that post-it on which you wrote a few lines of verse or a story idea that you thought was the worst drivel, and woke up the next day in a panic because it was the brilliant vision you'd been waiting for and didn't recognize? Often we let what we think we want to write (usually for others, not ourselves), or what we think we should write, cast shadows in our mind that block the beauty and value of what is actually given.

SO LET'S PLAY:

As stated in a previous posting, I moved my desk up into my loft (in case I didn't post this: I moved my desk up into my loft - there, now you're caught up), along with some chairs, some festive lights, inspiring pictures, etc., and a screen to block all the storage boxes I still have up there (I'm working on that!). The other night, I took a few blankets up there and spread them out on the floor. I turned on the lights (I have flowers with lights, stars, colored xmas ones, you name it; I'm not a fan of lamps!), lit some candles, brought up some tea and some chocolate, and a stack of drawing paper, markers, and crayons.

I needed to brainstorm about a class I'm doing with teenage girls at a juvenile detention center this summer; that was my goal. But what I ended up doing was writing up a list of what I thought were my own personal "rules" for my creative life, goals, and my writing specifically. I wrote them in different colored crayons, which definitely eliminated any negative power they might have had over me! Next I reread the list and crossed off which ones I didn't believe in, keeping the ones I thought were the most useful to me, such as being more disciplined and sitting down to write at least 2-3 times a week (I've been avoiding it a bit lately), using outlines, reading more poetry to jumpstart my own, and doing more sessions with crayons! I rewrote the list in colored markers and tacked it to the wall. I'll re-evaluate it every once in a while and make changes as necessary.

Then I thought about which of my projects is bugging me the most (my 3rd novel because I've sort of put it in a drawer), and thought about what I wanted to accomplish by finishing it. Why was I writing it and what would I gain by finishing it? I drew a picture of myself in the center of a piece of paper, then what I wanted to see in my life as a result of finishing the novel. I ended up with a picture of me at a book signing with stacks of my books around me. I liked the solidity of the 'walls' created by my work, as if I was building a structure with them that reflected me and and my creative mind. A house of words, my words. Something I could see and touch.

What happened after this playing? I spent two hours writing up six exercises for the girls at the center that I want to do myself; they are so fun and empowering. The ideas were like stepping stones, each leading to the next and I simply followed them. I knew they were right because they were exciting to work out and to think about putting into practice.

So what are you waiting for? Get out the paper and crayons. Or fabric, or magazines and scissors. Make a collage or drawing of what you think/feel is in your way, then make sure you do one of what you want in your creative life right now. Or make a list of your rules, like I did. It will surprise you!