A Word in Hand is Worth Two in The Bouche

As writers we have all heard the folks who like to talk about that book or script they want to write (myself included).  Yeah, we're all guilty.  Or how about those upbeat personalities who claim they've already got a "book" or "script" when in reality what they've got are copious notes, tons of research, and a few pages of actual writing?  It all boils down to a form of delusional self-talk that saying you're writing actually IS writing.  It isn't.

An idea is not a play, nor is it a book, nor a screenplay.  You have to write it.  I don't care if you have hundreds of pages of random scenes, put into a word document that takes up 50 MG of digital space.  Just because you've spent hours doing research does not mean you have anything...yet.  Those notes are not your "book," or "script," so please don't use these more definitive nouns to describe your unfinished work.  Let's be real and call that your book PROJECT.  Or your script IDEA.  No matter how brilliant it is, it is still just an idea, until YOU make it otherwise.

I am all for positive, in-the-moment, "I am so happy and grateful now that…" affirmations, but let us not LIE to ourselves about what an unfinished thing really is when communicating with each other, or ourselves, just to make ourselves feel good, or look good.  Because if you believe that lie, then you will begin to believe you don't have any WORK to do, and that is the biggest lie of all.

"But I've got a book in me!" No you don't - unless it's been surgically sewn into your abdomen.

Believe me, I speak from real experience.  This kind of self-talk is dangerous.  I have spent countless hours doing research, jotting ideas on stickies, watching reference films, making lists, making outlines, reading "how-to" books, and yadda, yadda, all the while claiming that I'm "writing."  Heck, I've even gone so far as to say that I'm writing when I am doing the dishes or taking a shower!  Sure, I get great IDEAS in the shower, but since working in there on my computer would likely get me electrocuted, I cannot possibly WRITE in the shower.

"Oh, stop being so literal!  We all have to start somewhere!" you say to me.  I totally agree!  And usually that includes some copious note taking, reading, dish washing, and shower taking.  But if you have spent more than a couple of weeks doing this, and still haven't "put pen to paper," as it were, than what you're doing is simply PROCRASTINATING.

So let's stop talking about writing, or saying we have a "script" when we don't, and just WRITE.  That's when the best ideas come.  That's when the Universe tells us secrets we didn't even have to look up.  Because writing is an ACTIVE thing, and the Universe LOVES feeding action.  Action as a writer means producing hundreds of PAGES made up of many, many lines, sentences, and words that tell your story.  It means paring those pages down by at least 25%, then writing MORE pages, and paring AGAIN.  That is the WORK of writing.  It can be magical, but it is WORK.

And when you have a complete draft with a beginning, a middle and an end, feel free to call it a book. :)

The Phases of Balancing the Moon

Originally published in shorter form in LA Stage Times First Person.

Balancing the Moon is my first full-length play. Set in 1934, the story revolves around Jared Thornhill, a Freudian psychoanalyst who expects his wife Charlotte to put her poetry aside to type his academic articles. When an Irish love fairy possesses Charlotte and tries to teach Jared the ways of women, Jared learns he must tap into something much deeper than Freud to get Charlotte back.

Run with Your Creative Power

We tend to shrink from our creative power. I can be in the middle of a great writing binge, where I'm really in flow, and start thinking, "I need a cup of tea." It's all I can do to resist it, unless I am aware of what's happening. So I do these little negotiations with myself, kind of like what happens when I run and my body wants to stop. "Okay, if I can make it to that next turn, I'll rest." Then I get to the turn and do it again. "Okay, if I can make it to that tree..." etc., until I've forgotten about stopping and get to the end of the run.

It seems so easy on a run.

A Writer Gets Over Her Block

A writer friend emailed me the other day to say how she was doing, telling me about a trip to Montauk she took earlier in the year, and that she was ready for her next vacation. She had planned go to her annual writer's conference in Taos but canceled due to the wildfires going on there. Determined to use her vacation time to stay home and write, she said she was concerned she couldn't relax with her work routine on hold, and that she had been totally blocked and couldn't write.

She was doing yoga and meditation, watching movies and reading books to get inspired. She asked me for some tips on "getting the creative juices flowing."

Are You A Misfit Magnet? Put Them in Your Plays!

Great characters spawn great stories, the most inspiring based on real people. In his book "On Writing," Stephen King describes how he got the idea for his novel "Carrie" while working as a janitor cleaning a girls' shower at a high school. He couldn't quite connect to an outcast adolescent girl until he remembered, "...two of the most reviled girls in my class...how they acted, how they were treated." This gave King the pity and understanding to create Carrie. And Carrie, like many great characters, is a remarkable social misfit.

Getting the Most out of Feedback - 9 Things to Remember

Getting feedback for a new script or play can make you feel as if you're in one of those dreams where you are inexplicably butt naked in a crowd of people. You feel vulnerable, nervous, and slightly under dressed. But how you handle yourself in the hot seat can determine how much your script will benefit.

Instinct vs. Index Cards

I recently attended an ALAP Musical Theatre Workshop with writer-composer Mark Saltzman to develop a rock musical murder mystery called Pyroglyphic featuring the music of my good friend Sean Galuszka. Saltzman slavishly advocated the use of index cards to storyboard the narrative of a musical, before ANY writing even begins.