 Welcome everyone. We'll get started in just a minute once SLP walks on. Hey everybody. There you go. Hello. Hello. Hello. Thanks Lolly for organizing us yet again. This is Watch Me Work where the main title is you and if you don't know that, I just told you. And what do we do here? What have we been doing here? We've been doing Watch Me Work for like 12 years. We've been in the lobby of the public theater. And we've since migrated to Zoom, which is our happy place because it's so great because we get to be at home. Which is so fantastic. And we meet together and see each other's faces. And what we do basically every week around this time, we work together for 20 minutes. And then I take questions from you about your creative process. And the creative process. Yeah. So if you have questions for me about your creative process, which you'll be invited to ask me after the 20 minute work session, Lolly is going to tell you how to get in touch. Go girl. So if you're here in the Zoom room with us, you can use the raise your hand function, which is in the reactions tab, which is likely at the bottom of your screen. If you have any trouble finding it, you can just send me a message in the chat and I'll help you out. If you're watching the live stream on HowlRound, feel free to send us your questions via the public theaters, Twitter or Instagram accounts, or via the Watch Me Work Twitter account, which is at Watch Me Work SLP with the hashtag HowlRound. That's hashtag H-O-W-L-R-O-U-N-D. So that's how you ask a question. All right. Thank you very much. And again, yes. So thank you to the public theater and thank you to HowlRound, which also makes this wonderful community possible. So we are going to look around like, what am I going to work on today? Here's our 20 minutes. Here we go. And we'll see you in 20 minutes. Hello, hello. And here's the moment when we take questions. The moment, the 40 minutes. Looks like moment of question. How you doing, sister? Hello, Susan. I'm doing well. Today is my birthday. So I'm doing... Is it your birthday? Happy birthday. We are to celebrate your birthday with you. Happy birthday. Yes, I am very happy to say, today Watch Me Work, I want to do it in my birthday. All right. Fantastic. Susan, let's see. I would like to know, my question is about sharing the work. You know that I show up to my work and I like to do some workshops and I participate, but generally when I am in these workshops, then the notes come and I have these mixed feelings about when the teachers give me the note. Some things are good. I can understand others. I feel a little sensitive about. So there is something about my work that I feel, I have some issues with the boundaries between myself and the work. Right. I put so much of my soul in what I do and I try to show up. Sometimes it's a lot of work for me because you know, family life and so when someone maybe comes and says something about what they receive, it's tough for me to separate the note from the, they are talking about me. Oh, yeah. Logically, I know I am not the work. The work is one thing and I am a person, but at the time of when I am doing this, there is a lot of mixed feelings. So I like to ask you if you have some strategies to separate, to have boundaries between the work, the effort that the work, you know, that I put in the work and at the same time being able to read the note in a good way, the note under the note. Right. Yeah. Because I am working and I am trying, but there is something about the work that is very personal to me. There is kind of a refuge, you know, and at the same time, I want to share what I do. Right. To navigate that, those waters. How can I do? Yeah, that's a great question. I think it can help us, help everybody in this room right now. I would say it's helpful to me to, when somebody is giving me notes, I am writing them down. Do you do that? Yes, I try. Yes, sometimes they come written, so I read them. Oh, sometimes they just come written. I see. Okay. Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough. Fair enough. Fair enough. Fair enough. Fair enough. Or whatever. Okay. Fair enough. I would say maybe sometimes read the notes out loud. Uh huh. That helps. Okay. I'm just saying get some like, some distance. No. And the first thing I want to say really is that giving notes. Is a highly developed skill. That not everybody who gives notes possesses. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. It's really, it's, I mean, I mean, some people, you know, think that because they're, you know, running the class, you know, which they deserve to run and all that. And they, and they have opinions. That giving note that they're good at giving notes. Not everybody's going to give me notes. That's, that's one thing that's just true. Like not every medical doctor is a great medical doctor. And I dare say that most medical doctors have gone through more years of training than most. Writers who are giving other writers notes. Right. Okay. Not every lawyer is good. Not every politician is good. Like across the board, right? Not everybody in our field is as good as we might. As good as we might need. Okay. So that's one thing to know. So not every note is going to, going to be a buoy your spirits and make you want to go forward and write. Right. Which is what I would hope. What, and so I do this little trick when I hear a note. So I play this little game. I go. Well, every note giver is not, you know, as good as I might want. I play this game. All notes are great. That's right. Every note is a great note. Now what does that do? Just make me go. It's all good. It's all going to help me. It's all going to help me get to where I want to go. Right. Okay. Even if somebody says, and I've had people say, you know, some of the part of my language is stupid as shit. You can possibly say about anybody's work to me. Oh, my goodness. Did they just say that to me? Oh, yes. Oh, they just did. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness gracious. You know what I mean? Okay. They people said, even as, as early as, you know, two or three weeks ago. Wow. So I just go, every note's a good note. Which kind of takes their claws away from them. Because sometimes people are trying to do harm. You know, like, you know, you have to go every notes a great note because you're helping me get to where I want to go. Okay. Okay. So it's helpful to read the note. If you get the notes written, it's helpful to read them out loud. You might want to copy them down in your notebook in your own hand. Hmm. You know what I mean? Yeah. I just them. You know, write them down, copy them, copy them down. That might sort of help you sort of get your head around them. You know, and. I mean, in a way that, you know, we know, yeah, we know the notes aren't us. But they feel personal, you know, you also might think, well, this person hopefully, hopefully, even if the person gives a note that's not helpful, it doesn't feel helpful. You can tell yourself, this person is trying to help me. I like this sometimes too. Yeah, this person. My yoga teachers over the years, great. Yoga teachers. I've had some really fantastic yoga teachers. They say, um, they say good teacher, bad adjustment. So sometimes when they try to, you know, move your body in a certain way and you go, you know, they're like, oh, you know, they're trying to help you, but they twist you in a way that makes you go, that hurts. You know, so good teacher, bad adjustment sometimes. Um, yeah. Believe that they're trying to help you. Okay. Um, yeah. Write them in your own hand. Tell yourself every note is good. Okay. I will. I will. Oh, thank you. What a great day to have a birthday. I know when I turn, when I turn 10, you know, it was eight, eight, 88. All right. I remember being a little girl being so mad because I wanted to be eight on that date, but I was 10. Oh, you know, eight, eight. Yeah. Well, wow. That's so great. Congratulations. Thank you very much. And thank you for your help. This is very helpful to me. Yeah. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, another question. Here we go. Hey, Christa. How you doing? It's a little crazy. If you hear some crying, that's one of my nephews. I need something to move. Well, we have, we have, um, we have six months and then we have to see what happens after that. So that's kind of crazy making bills. Yeah. Yeah. It totally is. It totally is. But I'm like, you know what? Like we're going to end up where we belong. We kind of have to. For the sake of our family and our children where we're going to, we're going to have a home. We just don't know where that home will be. You know, so yeah, it's still very nuts. Um, but we're, we're like, it was a lot more shocking when I first told you. Oh, good. Oh, good. Okay. We're, we're slowly, you know, breathing through it. Wow. Wow. You're handling it with grace. Good for you. Oh Lord. Thank you. Um, so my question, um, it was kind of like Melania's in the sense that when we last spoke or when I last, um, asked the question, it was about, um, revision, um, because of what the person was saying and how I should consider, um, looking at the script as to what can I do to make it tighter or to bring things closer, you know, um, or sooner, uh, and earlier in the, in the film. And I, you know, I was going through the revision process. I remember you, um, you know, like I was doing it like one page at a time, writing, you know, different things. And I kind of felt like, am I, I kind of felt like I was writing like new things instead of like, I don't know what I was looking for. If I was supposed to have an intention in the revision process. Cause I felt like, oh, I was like, oh, I could add this element. Oh, I could add this too. I could kind of add this. Why not? You know, and I kind of felt like I was like, am I just, what am I doing? I didn't trust myself as, as, as someone to give my own notes as to how to write and, um, not how to write, but how to make the story tighter. It was more like, oh, how do I expand? Which was one of the things I was thinking about for when I write it as a feature. Right. But as the, as the short itself, I kind of was like, what am I just adding things just to add or like I just, I really like question what, what that process was supposed to be. You know, um, and looking at it, I was like, I think, I think it was fine. But then I'm like, maybe, I don't know. I hear what you're saying. If I remember correct me, correct me if I'm wrong. They were suggesting that you add some sex or some violence. Yes. Okay. I remember. Right. Yeah. So that kind of, that was kind of like, yeah. Yeah. That makes it tricky. That makes it tricky because it's, it does throw you off your instincts. Right. Yes. With a sort of one size fits all solution. Which I, I don't know if that's, it did begin, because it didn't feel right. I was feeling like it wasn't the right thing for you to do. Right. But it felt right. You were on, yeah, great. They should have a sex scene here. Right. And it would have been fine, but because it doesn't feel right. Right. So, yeah. So now you're at the point where I want to add some, you want to tighten it up. I'm not saying add things necessarily, but, but raise the stakes like, like, um, let's see if someone's, um, coming over to visit someone, let's just say if it's a scene, let's just make something up or someone's coming to visit somebody. Right. And they come over and it's like, Ding Dong, hi, how are you? Oh, great. Come on in. Sit down. Say that's the scene. Right. Now let's say, let's raise the stakes. Ding Dong. Hi. It's really not a good time right now. Because my nephew is cross. You see what I mean? But I have to come in because we made this appointment. And this is a real time when I'm supposed to check out your, your home because I'm from, um, I don't know. I'm from the daycare center. And I have to evaluate you as a parent. You see what I mean? Yeah. We added stuff, but we didn't just, we didn't just add stuff. Like just adding stuff would be Ding Dong. Oh hi. I'm making chicken soup. Why don't you come sit down? That's just adding stuff. We add it. We intensify the act, the, the circumstances. And then we add the chicken soup. You see, you see what I'm saying? Yeah. We made it. And if you think of it in terms of like, uh, Pushing maybe like. To up the stakes means that you want one character to be pushing harder. So Ding Dong, the doorbell race, I have to come in. Right. I have to come in now. I have to come in. I have to come in. I have to come in. I have to come in. I have to come in because we wonder if you're suitable to let in our school. We're dialing it up. Right. You can't come in now because my nephew was having to melt down and that will make me look like a bad parent. Okay. So just, so one character's pushing in. One character's pushing back. That's. Upping the circumstances. It's not just adding stuff. Okay. But I know you understand. That's good. Because in, in this. You know, Romantic film or whatever. It's one of the characters keeps visiting. Keeps coming to the main character's house. Give her like a, a very. Practical. for a while, I didn't hear you. A practical gift, like a pan. Great. You know, things like that. But I can see now, like, oh, maybe it might be a little too easy for her. There you go. Right, right. It's too easy. Every time person A rings the doorbell, person B is available and ready to receive the gift. Mm-hmm. No, but make it a little harder. You know? OK. Or even make it harder for person A to have gotten to the door the second time. They're in Kentucky. There's a flood. Oh, my God. You know what, I had to get here. Yeah. Flood it out. Or there, you know, I had to get a boat. And then, you know, whatever. I mean, yes, add stuff, but add stuff to push, to make it harder to achieve the goal. OK. Right? Yeah. OK, I can work on that. Piece of cake. I just have to sweat blood. That's all. I don't know. Well, yeah, maybe you did. If you liked doing that. Thank you so much. You're welcome so much. Any other questions? Feel free to raise your oh, Timothy. Hey, Timothy. Hello. Hello, Timothy. How are you? We're doing well today. How are you doing, man? I don't know. All right, I guess. I guess something similar to this earlier sessions. But I spent most of this year rewriting a lot of stuff. And it's been fairly productive. But I really want to work on something new. But yeah, you'd think. But the cupboard is kind of bare. And I was wondering or, you know, do you have? Someone said, oh, well, you know, they suggest some kind of exercise or whatever and see if that would spark an idea or whatever. And they've kind of been like, some are better than others. But I was wondering, you know, when you look at the wall and the wall is bare, is there anything you kind of do to overcome that? Sure, sure. Sure. And maybe these might be just a repeat of what you've heard already. But let's see if we can think of things. I love making lists. So I make a list of like 10 stupid things that I'd like to write about. You know, they have to be stupid. That'd be stupid, though. They can't be like, oh, all right. You know, stupid, stupid, stupid. That'd be stupid. Because if they're stupid, then you're going to let your guard down. And look over the list and you go, oh, actually, I kind of like that one. You know what I mean? So they have to be stupid. Or you can also do like five things that you really have always wanted to write, but you only think you can. Like, you know, like five things that you put on your bucket list that you don't really think you're going to get to. Like, I wish I could write a song. But I don't really think I'm good at that. Yeah, so put that on the list. You know, right? Because you might be seeing a bear covered or a bear wall because you really, it's difficult to face what you really want to do. You know, so you're not seeing it. You're just not seeing it. So five things or even 10 things. So 10 stupid things, 10 stupid things, 10 things that you really want to write, but you don't think you can. Or 10 things that you never think you could write. Maybe you're a novelist. You want to write a play. Maybe you're a playwright. You want to write a novel. Maybe you want to write a comic strip. OK. Right. I mean, maybe you want. Fun. And 10 things meaning you really want to write, meaning that you think would be fun. That would be fun. But I could never do that. You want to write a song. Or see a song cycle. And that would be fun. But I'm playing an instrument. You know, whatever it is. That could help. What else? You could go to your, I don't know, assume when you have books or not everybody does these days. But say, you know, books on a shelf. You could go to your bookshelf and go, I really want to write something like that. You know, like this is something I love. I really want to write something like that. And whatever it is. Maybe it's a book of lyrics. Maybe it's a nonfiction book. Maybe it's a book on, you know, gut microbes. That's what I was reading the other day. You know, whatever, you know, like a history book. On a subject that you've always found interesting. Maybe it's a book of essays, you know? So look on your bookshelf. Your bookshelf might, you know, your bookshelf is going to tell you what you love. You love them enough to bring them home and live with them after all those books. And it might give you a clue to what you want to create yourself, you know? You could also do it by genre. If I could write songs, what would I write about? If I could write essays, what would I write about? You could do that, you know, different, different. If I want to write a, maybe I want to write a pilot for a TV show. That would be fun. What would that be like, you know? So there's, I could go on and on. There's, I mean, I just think, just start making lists of things. Like this is what I'd like. I'd love to write a TV show. What would a pilot for my team? The TV show that I always want to watch. I turn on the TV if you do it all or your computer or whatever. And I sit there and I'd love to see a show about whatever. And it's not on. Why isn't it on? Because I haven't written it yet. So, so why don't I, you know, I'd love to see a show about blah, blah, blah. That could be fun. You could write a TV pilot and then you could, you know, that could be a lot of fun to write a TV pilot. And there are only like 50 pages long or 20 pages long if it's a sitcom. Yeah, so. Cool. That's super helpful. Thank you. Thank you, Timothy. Good question. Great. Thanks, Timothy. Does anybody else have questions? Feel free to raise your hands. We've got about 14 minutes left. So plenty of time for a couple of questions. Looks like Louise has one. Hold on, I'm muted. Hey, I think you should be able to, yeah, there you go. OK. I don't really have a question yet. But I have a comment. OK. I was recommended to the group back in 2020 during the pandemic. And I was thrilled. And but I just wanted to say that when you had your show about the pandemic at the Public Theater at Joe's Pub, I I was so overwhelmed and my thoughts were because I've heard you give, you know, parcel out advice. And one of the things that you say is when if I have questions is the whole process of writing it out of just getting it out, just letting it flow. And when I saw your show, that's what it felt like. I said to myself, oh, she practiced what she preaches because it was such an outpouring of all of this material that you had experienced about the pandemic and it was so powerful. Add on to that. I loved your singing. Oh, thank you. I loved your music. Absolutely loved your music. And then the third thing is. You mentioned a really chero of mine, Robbie Macaulay. And I just, that was just, I just lost it then. And so I felt, I had to say something. Thank you. Robbie Macaulay, for those of you who don't know her is a brilliant or well was because she passed away. Was a brilliant writer, a brilliant performer and a very kind and righteous person. And I meant, did you meet her when you were, are you in New York, Louise? In New York, and I knew her from back in the day. I knew her when she did, the color girls went to Broadway. However, she also did a lot of experimental stuff. And one piece in particular that was one of the best works I've seen in New York, I've seen a lot, was My Father and the Wars. And it was just, you know, it's about her father and fighting the war and family traveling through the South. And then I know she also did Sally's Rape, which I believe she won Emmy, but she was just an amazing, amazing person. And we mentioned her, I just, you know, I lost it. So she was so wonderful. And I knew her when she was hanging out at Down in the East Village. And she worked with a mentor of mine, Lori Carlos and Jessica Haggard-Arch. They had a group called Thought Music, right? Is that there? Am I getting it right? I wanna get it right. And Robbie has a daughter whose first name is Jessie. Jessie Montgomery. Yes, Jessie Montgomery, who's a brilliant violinist and a composer also. Anyway. Yeah, so I just had to say that. Next time I'll pose a question about my voice. I just had to get that in. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for that. Thank you. Yeah. Loved her. Loved her very much. I just put it in the chat. We have about 10 minutes left. So feel free to raise your hand if you have a last question or two. Anyone? I have a question. I wonder if you ever are doing something and you start out to do it on one thing and then as you're writing, it switches to something else different because that has been happening to me. I was writing something on horror and then it switched to sci-fi and then it switched to something else. And I was like, wait a second, what's going on here? Right, right. Yeah, yeah. Things can definitely change up. Usually for me, they don't change the kind of thing they are, but the tone might change. But you said you started, it was horror and then it switched to sci-fi, is that what you said? Yes, and I think they can be related. I do think they can be related. But then it switched to something else and I said, okay, concentrate, concentrate. And because I wanted to come back to horror because somebody had said to me that if you are doing a film, horror is the easiest thing that you can get funded, which made sense to me. Yeah, look, you don't have to have a name, a big name, sci-fi, you have to have a lot of technical stuff, so that's expensive. But horror, you could do just about anything for horror. And it happened, I sat down in one of these sessions to write and I started writing horror and then I was telling this friend and that's what she said and that gave me something to think about. And today when I was writing, it kept switching. It was like my mind was just almost like wandering different places. Well, but maybe you're just expanding on what you're writing about. I mean, the other thing is, is it a screenplay or is it a novel or what kind of? Well, it's a script for film. Okay, that would explain, because you said that, right, you have to have all this technical stuff so that makes sense. Because if you wrote it as a short story or a novel, it could just be in the mind of the, you know, sometimes things do switch and change and morph into other things. My thing is though that I don't really write in what would you say, genre? What would you call that, sci-fi, horror? I just, what would you call it? Call it genre. Genre, right. I don't really write like that. So when I write something, it is whatever it is, you know what I mean? And if yours is switched from interesting of not needing a lot of technical elements to needing more technical elements, and that's why you call it sci-fi, maybe it's just a horror film with lots more technical elements. You know what I'm saying? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Because I think as long as you're writing, telling the story, keeping focused on the characters, that you're doing the work, you know? And I think maybe it's just telling you, the story is telling you more about what it needs. And that's okay, I think as long as you're focused on the characters and what they're doing and what they want and kind of the story, then I think it's okay. I'm just trying to think of an example of that. Something starts out very simple and then as the story grows, it gets more technically complicated, you should say, but that doesn't mean it's switched genres, it's just expanding its scope. Yeah, I was just curious to know what you thought about it or anyone else, if you've kind of had that experience of something you're writing, switches and switches. Sure, we can open it up. Has anybody had that experience of their writing and with some heads nodding? Or raise your hand, how about, and then I can unmute you if you wanna speak to it. Crystal? Yeah, I feel like that happens more than I'd like you to. Like in your mind, you have it a certain way and then draft after draft, it kind of morphs or molds into something a little different than what you started in your mind. And I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing though. I mean, unless you have a super sharp pointed vision that can't be compromised, I think if you have like a willingness to grow with your story, then it's okay. I think. Oh, well said. Yeah, thank you. Sure. Kat, do you have a question? You wanna comment on that? Comment, I wanted to say that I never know what it is on the outset. My process I've set is like winnowing because I start with a very, very wide scope of things that I believe are related and that I don't necessarily know exactly the dynamic of the relationship yet. And so it'll be a smattering of characters and scenes and images and facts, like and pictures and then I, yeah, I winnow the task as I go. And it reveals me because for me, writing is a tool of exploration and a tool of learning and knowledge. That's cool. That's way cool. Timothy, did you have something to say on that too? Yeah, just real quick. I've had plays turn into films and films turn into plays all the time. I mean, you know, and a lot of times I'm resistant because it's like, you know, I really wanted to play, you know, so, you know. But, you know, I had a teacher tell me sometimes you just gotta go where the story takes you. And, you know, with, you know, where there's certainly a horror film and I, you know, whoever told you that about horror is 100% correct. I have a friend of mine who corrects horror films. You can, you know, if you wanted to go that way, and that's it, that's a fairly lucrative avenue. But I would kind of just write the story and, you know, if it ends, you know, if people are getting butchered then you got a horror film that they go, you know, something else happens, then maybe you got a sci-fi. I mean, you know, it's, the story's yours. Right? Yeah, this is all very helpful. So I just want to thank everybody for, you know, the comments and, you know, and yeah, it's extremely helpful, so thank you. And thank you. Thank you. I'm sorry, I'm really scared to do that, yeah. I love that. I love the ways of looking at it. We got to go where the story takes us and the writing is an active self-discovery and it happens all the time. Yeah, I think that's really, really, really helpful. That's me. Yeah. Thank you all for those insights. It sits, yeah. Oh, that was a wonderful, like, class sharing session, though, from everybody. Oh, so I am the host now. Am I the host now? I am the host now. Okay, I think Lolly pushed a button and made, put me in charge. So we love you, we'll see you next week, which is the 15th, yeah, I think, and I think definitely tell your friends and family to show up because going into the fall, we're gonna take a little bit of a hiatus as I run around like a busy person. But we'll see you next week at 5 p.m. Thank you, love you. See you next time, okay, bye-bye.