Writing is Planning

As I finished the draft of a short play, a colleague sent me a message asking how many new manuscripts or adaptations I have written in the last twelve months or so. It seems best to list them:

• Billie's Girlfriend, written in early 2014 and submitted to Acting Out! Pittsburgh Pride for consideration. It might not be selected, of course, but it is a new play.
• Twists of Choice, written in early 2014 for The LAB Project, premiering in 2015.
• Women Say F*ck, Too! written in late 2013 and premiering during the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival in May, 2014.
• The Fertility Dance, written in 2013 and submitted to a regional contest. The company passed on the script, but it found a home for 2015.
• The Cat Lady, written in 2014, about to be submitted to a regional contest.
• Under Development, written in 2013, received a staged reading by Organic Theater Pittsburgh.

That would be six new works, with another two or three outlined. My goal is to complete seven new works in the 20-minute or longer range during 2014. Most of my plays run 70 to 80 minutes, not counting intermissions.

Friends say it seems like I've done more. That's because older works that had been collecting dust are now finding homes as I dedicate myself to completing them, too. Older plays that have been revised or rewritten in the past year:

• A New Death, my oldest unproduced script was rewritten and submitted to Throughline Theatre and will be premiering in July 2014.
• The Gospel Singer, premiering in August, 2014, received as staged reading in 2013 as part of the "In the Raw" festival of Bricolage Production Company.
• Clown and Mime, revised in 2013.
• The Garden, which was produced in 2012, has been revised for a future production. (I can dream.)

I have at least ten scripts I hope to revive by 2015.

These counts do not include scripts I edited, revised, or completely wrote for other individuals as a consultant.

I don't sit around waiting for ideas and I've stopped trying to perfect my old ideas. Now, I aim to get as many good scripts to producers and directors as possible. A good scripts becomes better, or even great, during the development process. Trying to perfect plays by editing alone for ten years was an ineffective approach to writing scripts.

Writers write. It's that simple. Some of what I write will never be produced, some of it will be. You can't write one or two manuscripts and then spend years and years trying to craft perfection. Write, and write some more. You never know when a script will find a home.

Disguise the Gym

Perfect people dominate the gym. They have flat stomachs, firm buttocks, and defined everything. Yes, they go to the gym to maintain these bodies, but these are not the people who need the gym.

While on the treadmill, I stumbled upon an idea: disguise the gym. The sign outside should not include the word "Fitness." Instead, label the building "Buffet." Consider your favorite gym with this change: "LifeStyle Buffet" or "24 Buffet." The "Gold's Buffet" sounds like a nice Chinese buffet.

As I've written before, the last people who need buffets tend to patronize them [http://inklingsof.blogspot.com/2012/11/buffets-so-much-promise-so-much.html]. These people need a gym, but I sense that few would wander, by choice or by accident, into the local fitness clubs. I write this because, sadly, I see too few people in need of a trainer at the gym.

Gaining weight is easy. Staying overweight is easier. I know, because I did that for years. Losing weight and staying in shape requires effort and self-discipline. You have to count calories, shop for food wisely, reduce dining out, and exercise. You don't need to go to a gym or a track, or anywhere special, but it helps.

You could buy exercise machines, weights, and other equipment — but those usually collect dust after a month or two. There's a reason secondhand equipment is plentiful enough to spawn dedicated stores. Admittedly, we own some of that over-priced and underused equipment, sitting in our basement laundry room.

Going to a gym with someone, on a schedule, helps. A weight loss buddy encourages you to keep up the effort.

Where we live, obesity is endemic. Fried foods, starches, bacon, and beef are a way of life. The mall food courts include such places as "Potato World" and "Bacon Fries." Yes, there is a place that specializes in french fries with chili and bacon bits on top. Cheesesteaks and stacked sandwiches with fries and coleslaw between the slices of bread, not on the side, are standards. Eating beef on inch-thick Texas toast with French fries and mayonnaise-soaked coleslaw? Yeah, that must be a health food.

Walking around the mall is a good reminder of why we walk around the mall. Curiously, the gym is located in a former restaurant… in the mall, not far from a pretzel stand.

Pencils and Pens... My Favorite Writing Tools

fountain pen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mechanical pencils and fountain pens are my two favorite writing technologies. At one time, they were cutting-edge technologies, too, as I recently discussed with several writing instructors. Consider how amazing it is that pens don't leak everywhere. Okay, some cheap pens do leak, but not a good fountain pen. They are marvelous. Looking through the glass display case at Nordstom's or another upscale store at the pens and watches, awestruck by tools that are works of art, I want them, like a child wants candy. (Not that I also don't want candy, but that's off-topic.)

Why do I write with pencils and pens? What is special about these quaint, simple tools with no "undo" or "spellcheck" features? Why do I believe they produce better writing in some situations than any word processor? And why don't I have the same desire to use a typewriter?

Typewriters are great, especially the classic portables. I owned a Smith Corona manual and a Brother electric typewriter. I liked them, and I wouldn't mind having a typewriter in my office as a work of art… but pencils and pens still win out when I want to write.

I write most of my poetry and many of my script drafts in pencil. I use a classic Pentel mechanical pencil. My wife bought extras because I'm so attached to the design of the Pentel Quicker Clicker model (http://www.pentel.com/store/quicker-clicker-mechanical-pencil-1640) and you know a good design will be discontinued. Thankfully, they remain a popular model. It's just a great pencil (0.5mm HB lead).

My journals, collections of short poems and prose, are in pencil. The initial drafts are jotted down on orange-yellow unlined paper that is several decades old now. I write the poems on these sheets, letting them gather until I am ready to sit down and recopy the poems into the lined pages of ruled notebooks. When I do copy the poems, it is a slow process. I write in cursive, slowly and carefully, erasing my mistakes and rewriting as necessary. I want to lettering to be as perfect as possible.

The journals are not meant to be revised and edited. The only editing occurs during the copying process, from the unlined sheet to the lined college-ruled notebook. I fix minor errors and sometimes try to improve the poetry a little. The journals cover my life, from elementary school (fourth grade or so) through the present. The college years were the most active, those years of "angst" and self-absorption. I toss the drafts once I rewrite the poems. Those drafts have never meant as much to me as the final journals.

The journals capture moments in time. They capture my experiences. They are not meant to be revised forever, updated and tweaked by my improved "skills" as a writer. Perfection of form or craft is not the point of a journal. The journals are exercises, yes, but they are memories captured for later reflection.

I need to return to the journals to make up for years of neglect — something I vow to do from time to time over the last six years, and yet I still neglect the notebooks. I hereby vow that 2014 will be different. I will get back to all forms of creative writing, now that we are settled into our new home.

My scripts drafts are in pencil, too. I write on legal pads, numbering the pages. I transcribe the pages from the legal pads into the computer, usually every few scenes. I still have stacks of pads I have yet to migrate to digital form, sadly. Again, I need to focus on my creative writing with my "spare" time. When I type the pages, I keep the legal pad pages. The draft pages of a script are mine, while the final production of a play or film is never going to be the same as the first draft. There's something special about the legal pad pages and the pencil scribblings.

When I have time to think and ponder, I write slowly with a pen. Ideally, a good (not great) fountain pen. The scratching of the pen as it crosses the page, leaving ink on the page, is a great sensation. It is as if I can feel the words being created, taking form on the page. It's not like the sensation of a pencil. But, a pen is less than ideal for drafts and I lack the confidence to use a pen for my journals — I hate sloppy mistakes and would panic if I made an error in ink.

A fountain pen is best for letters and other artifacts we wish to share with others. You do not write a letter in pencil! No, a good, personal letter is in pen. A letter, a note, written in pen has more personality than an email or a post shared online. To me, the fountain pen also represents one of the greatest teachers I knew, a man who favored a Parker Sonnet Ciselé (http://www.parkerpen.com/en-US/pens-inks/sonnet). He critiqued my stories and poems with that pen, and graded countless thousands of student assignments.

Computers are wonderful for writing. They have made editing and revising easy, changing how we write. I can rewrite and rewrite endlessly. Sadly, I do just that. With my journals or with a letter, once I am satisfied with the page, that's it. You can't erase forever with a pencil — and you can't cut-copy-paste — and you can revise even less with a pen. Writing slowly, carefully, and thoughtfully is the result of the technology I select as a writer.

And yet, these are digital words… about which I should write a journal entry!

Hair I Am

"You're looking really good. Did you lose more weight? Something's different."

This time, it was a colleague at the university, following a compliment after two weeks of similar polite greetings from a number of people including neighbors, students, and coworkers.

I stopped combing my hair forward, where it wants to rest flat against my head, and started forcing the hair backwards. This seemingly minor change, from letting my hair rest as it wants to demanding it be combed back, has resulted in more praise about my appearance than I have ever received.

There was a minor haircut, trimming around my neck and ears, but the stylist left "the top mop" as it was. The rest was up to me.

Had I known that "poofy hair" would impress people, I would have gone back to the style two or three years ago!

Mnemonic was 'Too Good' for Me…

Sunday, I went to see Quantum Theatre's production of "Mnemonic." I give a lot of credit to Quantum Theatre for taking a chance. Performing another company's work was risky, and it didn't quite work for me. This was a play devised by an entire production company, written by the actors and representing that original production company.

As a writer and audience member, my wife can attest that I like some "odd" things. I respect adventurous writing and innovative staging. I've seen plays in which the actors never take the stage, and some that were immersive media experiences. I've enjoyed plays that are in multiple languages, reminding me that good actors and staging transcend language barriers (but I still tried to translate what I could). I've written plays in which mime was essential, and some that are surely abstract.

But you must never forget that people need to feel engaged by a play. Writing shouldn't push the audience or readers away. I don't fall into the camp that "art must offend" nor do I believe that "challenging" the audience has no limits. You can overshoot the challenge, and then you're left with empty seats.

Reviews such as this are a problem for theatre: 

Based on a small random sample of audience response, I might say "Mnemonic" is too good for its audience, except that the Quantum audience is as good as it gets in Pittsburgh (adventurous, intelligent, willing).
— Stage review: Quantum traces memory, mysteries

When you consider a work "too good" for an educated, informed audience including professors from excellent universities, it might be the work that is the problem. The acting was solid enough and the staging was excellent, but the play didn't speak to me — and judging by others, it didn't speak to them, either. The play feels like it was meant for a specific place, time, and production company. It didn't make the move, and maybe that's an interesting question in itself.

I can't say it was a bad experience, watching "Mnemonic." I can't say it was wonderful, either. It was "okay" — which isn't going to expand the audience for theatre. I'm not suggesting theatre has to be pop to be a success, but it can't be "okay" and thrive.

When someone like me, a fan of the surrealists, modern art, and experimental music, is left wondering "What was the point?" that's not theatre that's "too good" for the audience. (And yes, absurdist theatre makes the point that there is no point… but "Mnemonic" wasn't an absurdist work.) 

Related articles

• 'Mnemonic' sure to give audiences food for thought
• Quantum's 'Mnemonic' is a thoughtful mystery

On Being 'The' (or 'A') Pittsburgh / Visalia Playwright

It was a brief discussion after a play with a director about to read one of my scripts.

Director: What is your goal, as a playwright?

Me: To be The Visalia playwright or even A San Joaquin Valley playwright. Maybe a dozen people will know my name! Or at least the name of one of my plays. Maybe.

Director: And then what?

Me: To be one of The Pittsburgh playwrights. That might be a bit harder….

Director: And then what?

Me: There's a "then what" after that? I hadn't thought about the next step. I'm still at the first step!

Director: This is Pittsburgh. Off-Broadway and Broadway aren't creatively far away. You need to think about that.

Me: I need to get something produced and fully staged in Pittsburgh before I worry about—

Director: Always think ahead. You never know who will be in an audience.

It was a good point. In Pittsburgh, you might have a Broadway actor, director, or playwright in an audience. I've met several, now, and worked with a couple of Broadway veterans. When I think about that, it gets a little overwhelming. It's also a reminder that every script has to be the best it can be.

I was only slightly joking about being one of The Pittsburgh playwrights. There are some towering historical figures and current dramatists in the Greater Pittsburgh region. By comparison, I cannot think of a major playwright — a major writer — from my native Visalia, California. That means I stand a better chance of being the best-known writer from Visalia. (I do know some amazing artists from Visalia, especially photographers and illustrators.)

Here's the list of Pittsburghers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_the_Pittsburgh_metropolitan_area

Recently, I wrote that writers have to be unrealistic. You need big dreams. Maybe I shouldn't joke about being among the Pittsburgh greats. Maybe that should be a goal. Seems unrealistic enough…

Finding Me

Through 1991, I had filled six journals with poetry and short prose. Then, it took me seven years to fill the seventh. The eighth journal has been less than half-filled since 1999 or so. This summer, 2013, I have vowed a return to the poetry journals just as I have returned to playwriting after too many years.

There is a box marked "Scott's Writing" in the basement. For years, it was a paper box, a Staples red box to be precise. Our first house in Pennsylvania flooded and I moved the writing to a clear plastic bin. While I know the bins can crack and leak, let me pretend that my writing is now a little safer.

Why not backup the writing to the cloud? Because much of the writing has never been digitized. The writing wasn't created on a computer. I still have poems and plays I wrote in fifth grade, Mr. B's class at Ivanhoe Elementary. I was a playwright and poet then... and I still am. I just got a bit lost along the way. "Books" bound with colored electrical tape and featuring crayon illustrations are meant to be what they are — physical artifacts of my youth.

It's hard to explain the gaps in my writing. There was a shift from poetry to scripts in 1999. Then, I stopped writing for several years. In 2004, I returned to graduate school and my creative writing was once again pushed aside. But why is that? Several of my classmates and a few professors managed to write creative and scholarly simultaneously.

Looking back, I wrote a lot of poetry and short stories while an undergraduate. I wrote hundreds of pages for myself, while writing academic papers, working on the school paper, and working 20 to 30 hours a week. What's my excuse for the lack of productivity in the last decade or so?

Writing well isn't about writing a lot — but the two aren't entirely separate. I'd like to be even a fraction as productive as I was years ago. You can always edit and revise once the ideas are on paper or stored away as bits of data.

As I have posted recently, I believe I was afraid of being "just a writer" instead of having a more secure career. An aspiring writer is like an aspiring actor: one works at Starbucks and the other waits tables, but they both have big dreams. Recently, I was asked if I'd consider acting in one of my stage plays. That would make me eligible for paying jobs as a barista and a waiter!

I wonder what coffee house poets are qualified to do?