 Are we good? Are we here? So this is watching work, as far as I know. I should have worn my English medal. My blame, you'll all wear it next week. Oh no, even my mom wanted to put it in the shower. More consistently parked in the lobby of public theater. And in case you guys don't know what we're doing. What we do is we meet here, like, every Monday, kind of sort of, pretty much. And we have what this is. This is a free writing class. It's also a play. It's a men's theatrical free writing class. For those of you who went to Harvard, I believe. Anyway, so what we do is we write for 20 minutes, and then we talk about your work and your creative process for as long as the questions keep coming. You can ask them live if you're here, like some folks are here, or you can tweet them and you can just kind of tell us how to do that. Yes, thank you. So the way to tweet is that the handle is watch me work, SLP, and if you send us a question, the hashtag is new play. So let's watch me work, SLP, hashtag new play. Thank you very much. And I think I have my tag with me, so we're going to set our tagers for 20 minutes. You know, I'm just going to eat some chips. I'm like, no fucking money. He's just hugging me. Excuse me, this isn't part of the show. Oh, here we go. If he does that again, then I'll direct it to you. I'm going to talk about your work and your creative process. If anybody has any questions. I'm just, I'm going to repeat it. Okay. Do you find yourself kind of writing multiple pieces and then jumping around? And is there ever a point where you're like, okay, I've got to put these, you know, I've got to make a choice? Right. And how do you, I mean, I think every artist is probably, but how do you, how do you get that place? Right. That's blanky. I mean, that's very, that's blanky. What's your name? Samantha. Samantha. You know, behind you, June, right? Yes, I'm, this is my friend. Oh, June, huh? June was laughing behind you. She was laughing behind your back, literally. Because we, you guys are floods, so you know that she was laughing because she had a similar question, which is why I love this Watch Me Work because it's basically just like saying five questions that we keep asking. And that doesn't mean that they're bad questions. That actually means that they're good questions. So it's always fun. So do you have several projects that you work on simultaneously? Yes. Okay. So then what do you do? Do you feel the, at some point, you feel the need to, I got a big one of these, right? What I'm finding is that one piece is getting very demanding. Uh-huh. So no matter what I do, I end up back there and I'm feeling distracted by it, if that makes sense. So you have several pieces that you're working on simultaneously. You're more likely to have some. Something like that, yeah. Or the joke, the lazy Susan, we call it top of the time, right? So we have to keep it nice. The lazy Susan, right? And so you kind of turn it around and maybe this week you're working on this piece or this hour you're working on this piece and then tomorrow or whenever you turn it and you work on the next piece, right? Yes. And right, and then at one point, one of the pieces becomes demanding. Yeah. That's great. That's great when you're just like, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. And then what do you do? I kind of block and stuff. I mean, I keep saying that. I'm just, I'm kind of at a point where I've written to a point and now I'm not sure where to go next. So it's not that. It's kind of not that the piece becomes demanding, But it's not demanding to be, is it demanding to be finished or is it giving you like, for lack of a better phrase, consultation issues? A little bit of both. A little bit. So you're doing this? Yeah. A little bit. Right, you're going. A little more histrionic. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure, sure. We're just, yeah, okay, I understand. So the question is how do you choose between projects, which often we have that question. Yeah. The question is how do I roll away this kidney stone? Yeah. Pass this stone, how do I pass this stone? How do I let this love flow? Yeah. So do you have a regular writing time? Yeah. Okay, and when is it? It's around now and then early in the morning. Okay, so great. Wow, look at you, you're too regularly. I tried. Yeah, that's fantastic. Okay, and about how long do you spend? In the morning, it's easier, so like an hour or so. Okay. It's just walking around, speaking it for dialogue. And then at night, I'm a little more distracted. That's where I notice the different pieces getting. Is it possible to put more time in the morning and let the other time go, or? That's what I'm trying to do. I think it's more like, no, I must do this now. That's the time I have, and then I, of course. So how do you demarcate the time? I time it. I actually have it on my phone, it'll go off. Okay, stop. Great, great. So we're gonna, what we talked to someone, I think it was a week before last about, it was Brett, no, yes, it was Brett, and he was having a birthday. I think, I mean, I know that we have someone here that can come through and Brett and he wants to have a birthday, but I'm not sure if he asks this question. We talked about how to re-define success, right? So while we're working on passing this, for example, I mean, the ultimate stone pastor, right? Jesus. Yes. So he's just lying. Right, I know. That's true. But it's true, he's just, he's been through a lot. I wonder if you could say to whatever God would have, we can put that to the side. The historical guy, he's been through a lot, right? Many, you know, he could say he's been through a lot. You've written maybe more than one draft, right? Okay, he's been through a lot. And now he's gone through all the thing and the cross on the thing was long cry. And he's lying there in the dark. Brett, that's kind of you, there you are. You're trying to pass the stone, which is what, you know, what would the stone that's kind of the same thing. So we're gonna change how you call yourself successful. And we'll do what he did, we're just gonna put the time in. Not only do it in three days, okay, cool. It might take you, you know, a month. But what you're gonna do with consistency and faith is you're gonna show up at your writing time for the appointed time. You can get yourself, you can buy yourself a present in anticipation of your success. And I don't get a kickback on days, I swear. Yes. A timer, which is not your phone. Right. So you buy yourself a gift in anticipation of your success. A five plus two program, you know, don't buy one of those confusing ones, because you don't have to read the instructions. Yeah. Okay. So you buy something in anticipation of your success. You show up at your writing time for two times an hour. You might set the timer for 30 minutes. And you want to be, you set the timer for 30 minutes. So it's not your phone, meaning June isn't gonna be calling you on your timer. June, no look, it's not gonna happen. So you're already done with it. No one will, no one below she will be distracting you with love. You'll be just, you will put the time in what, five days a week? You're right, you know? Yeah, okay. Okay, well, I mean, let's just say, the weekends are kind of dicey, you know? So if you do five days a week, five days a week, one hour, you're certainly gonna have to implement with faith. And you just show up. And you sit there with maybe your pages or you stare at the screen, you know, get on Facebook or check out what Dash is doing. Okay, well, let it go, right? You can show up with your pages, with your story and just either write something, it doesn't matter if it's good or not. You're gonna spend an hour, five days a week, just showing them. If it worked for him, no, really, that's what I'd do, I'd just show up. Because what happens when we're blocked or whatever, is we don't do something different. I gotta do something different. You're not doing, you're just in the tunnel. That is almost something. You're not doing, I just felt being, you know, I had to do something like that. Okay, so you could confuse the two. Where do you are? Yeah, right? That's what, you know, imagine the voice that Jesus heard, or Joe, or whoever, or Susan Handling, or Harry Tubman, or whoever you want to put it in a place where someone doing, you know, it's just something difficult. Harry Tubman's in the woods, trying to get somebody to bring him. And he's like, oh shit. You know what I'm saying? You can't do it. All those voices are voices that we all have heard and everybody who's ever tried to do anything wonderfully. So they're in your company. No, really. And you say two voices, you say, you know this gesture? Yes. Can you do it? Right? Thank you. Right? Thank you. And... I'm working to, I'm trying to balance two things out. Right, so maybe I'll ask the next question. Okay. But the thing I'm currently working on, I'm having, I'm almost halfway there. Right. I'm having a lot of trouble with, I think writing for the sake of, it's just very emotionally hard. So there's a lot of violence. There's a lot of hate. There's a lot of anger. Being in a very hard place and I'm trying to feel a little bit of what's coming out and constantly being in that place while writing. So I feel like a little bit like drama's fiction just kind of backing forth because it's just, it's just, it sits right here. It's like a stress or an anxiety. That has to be written. But the reason why I said, okay, I will write this because in the midst of all of it, there is this friendship, this hope that's supposed to bring light some way, somehow. But it's just so, so grimy. Everything is so, not light. So I'm just having trouble getting through it. Waiting through the valley of the shadow again. Sorry, it's always five o'clock. It's always five o'clock. You know what I mean? Exactly. It's like a story we'd all heard before. It can apply to what we're doing now. But that's precisely right. It's feeling like I'm in the valley of the shadow of death. And just like, wow, there's no light. I know I gotta get light somewhere because then there's a point to the play. If it's just, if it's just, I mean, I don't know. I feel like there's a calling. There's more to it than just darkness. But I understand that it's necessary for me to go as far as it takes me. I'm just having a hard time not separating myself from having a very hard time. Just maybe I'm really crazy. No, no, no, no, no. So what you can do when we're having, when we're writing difficult, to something, Crystal's writing something that's important and it's also challenging and it's dark. It feels like she's walking through the valley of the shadow of death. So she's still writing. So what you can do is, number one, coming here and talking to people about it is good. Or just talking to people about it is good. We're gonna just talk to people about it. Just let some air in and some light in, okay? You don't have to be specific about your play. You can just say what you did right now. You could also do things like, where do you write in your room? What time of day? 10, 11. 10, 11. The kids are asleep? 11, 12. Okay, 11, 12. So what kind of lighting do you have? Light lighting. I mean, you have fluorescent lighting. You have someone standing there with a torch. What do you do? It depends who's in the room. If there are kids in there, it's just a little lamp. Or to highlight the family. Okay, so you get to get yourself a present too. I believe in giving yourself presents. So you get to get yourself a present too. So you could go to the, like the CVS. I don't know where they sell these things. A little votive candle. A little yard side candle. A little small candle. Okay? A votive candle. A little round one. The tea candles. They call them. Yes. That's CV2. The master's doors. He's having some artistic concerns also. But what you can do is buy yourself a little candle. Small, modest. They come at you. There's clear jars. They sell them at Dwayne Green. Probably at the candle section. Right? And you buy yourself a little candle. A present. It costs like a dollar. And then when you go to the right, or the right, you can buy a candle. That's not going to distract the kids in the middle of anything. I mean, I hope not. Okay. They're hardy. And you say, this is the life that I need to work this evening on this difficult play. This is it. This is the life. And you can, wherever you think it's appropriate, it came from, you know, the characters in the play, I hope you like this life. And they want me to finish the play. You can say, my grandmother is not going to like this play. Because she's like, you know what I mean? Anybody who inspires you, you can like that. Or you can just like the candle and just say, this is the life that I need. It's symbolic of the greater life that I'm looking for in the play. It's right here. You can do that. Okay. Some dryers. I'm going to play. And again, like you said, I'm not going to say my name is Samantha. Well, as we were saying to Samantha, keep steady with your writing time. That's the most important thing. When, you know, we're walking through the valley and shouting, it's easy to go, oh, I just want to go in the ice cream. I mean, you know. And it's okay if sometimes that happens. But if it happens as a habit, instead of your writing time happening as a habit, you're going to be working on this. All right. Needs. Needs. You should have a little mirror. If you're sick, I'll get on with you. Just tell me. Jason? Anybody else? Also, you know, like that. Anyone else in the house? Right. See, this is, it is interesting. I couldn't help him. We're all the beings together. They use it. I choose not to. Because I want to see what it's like. I want to up the difficulty. It's very, it got to the point where it's very easy for me to do this. Because we've been doing this for six years. How long have we been doing this? Yeah, like so many years. When we started out down stairs. And anyway, to not forget what we're up to, I can work. I can do stuff. I can figure out stuff in front of people and then talk about their work. Oh, hey, Alexis. Alexis. Yes. How are we doing? I like your hair. It's pretty. Oh, not? That's over. Oh. So that I cheated on my work was another work. But that's because you cheated on your work was another work. And I knew it was all just not to do that. Well, I don't like it. I can just cheat. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. But it's because I was made a flaw. But it was a good flaw. Yeah, but how's it going with the new work? Now it sounds like Dr. Phil. I mean, you know, how's it going? How's it working for you? That's new work. Well, it's like, I like it. And it's going well. But, you know, that's exactly how I felt when I was writing the other one. Alexis is like, I cheated on my work with another work. And it's going for the well. It's going for the well. It feels great, you know? Just like you step out on your significant other. And it's the first couple weeks you're like, hey, hey, this is the best thing in all of my life. Doing this person's life since high school. And then you realize, wow, wow. Right? You're going to get, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. I know, that's what you said. Because you can spend a lifetime doing that. So, you're supposed to be done, right? You're done. I think there you are. That's the other one. I was angry. You know, I started from the middle. It's because I started from the middle. And I was like, I don't know. But I started from the middle. And I was like, wait, how do I begin this? And I'm like, if I don't remember how I was supposed to begin this, I'm not going to know how I was supposed to end this. And then I just like went to sleep one day and had another idea. And it was just, it actually had an order. And I knew where it was going to go. No, no, no. Number one, I hope that the new piece that you started in the work of the moment, I know that. I hope it's going to be great. I mean, I'm not wishing anything, you know. I hope it's going to be great. But what we want to develop is the habit of tenacity or, as I tell you, grit. And you get to be like, you know, have a blanking. Because grit, blanking is full of grit. And anytime we need grit, we all have a blanking. Right? So I want you to develop the habit of tenacity and stick to it. You know, resilience, you know. No, no, no. Okay. So only because the reason why you step away from a project is because your mind is saying, well, I started it in the middle. And because I started it in the middle, if I don't know how to begin it, then I won't know how to end it. And that's just some BS that your mind is telling you. You have a lunchbox or a toy. But you have a lunchbox or a toy. You don't have a lunchbox or a toy. Because you want to develop the ability to somehow stay the course regardless of the negative voices that are telling you, actually. You know? So what I want you to do, how soon can you be done with this piece right here? Okay, so that's like, what, two days? Like, I mean, if I'm sitting alone, I'm like, this one's done it. Yeah. You can do it like a week. Great. I want you to do it in a week. Okay. You can do it in a week. No, you can do it in a week. I mean, you're on page 15 now. Somebody good? Matt? Matt? Anybody? Here you go. It's a week, right? It's a week, right? Four days. Right? Four days. Okay, so why don't you finish it in a week? Okay. Quality. We're going to give you points for quantity. We just want you to say, yeah, I finished. That's how you're going to measure your success. So we just changed the measurement of success. So all you have to do is say, I wrote it, and I wrote the end, and I'm done. And it's about how many pages, 95 pages. That's actually in a week. That's not the best. I could do that. I got to do it. Little Mr. Sunshine over here. You know what I'm saying? I'm going to tell you. Because what I want you to do is just develop the habit of sticking to something and just going for it. You're going to hear negative voices in your head. Oh my God, what? I just dreamt this and got out of bed and started it out of the blue. What? I should start writing something that I thought about before. Negative voices, right? So thank you for admitting your crimes, your sins, and your fortunes. Can you do the week? Okay, great. Can you see? It's going to be great. It's going to be fantastic. You just have to, sometimes you just have to hypnotize yourself. Right? Into the right mindset. Yeah, you do it. I do it all the time. I just hypnotize myself. Because either we're doing that or we're hypnotizing ourselves into the wrong mindset. I can't do this. What am I doing? What is my life amounting to? You know? You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. Right? So you've got to hypnotize yourself into the right mindset. I like it, Mom. She's stick to it. She's stick to it. She's stick to it. She's stick to it. She's stick to it. She's stick to it. She's stick to it. It's okay. Let me see. What do you have? Anybody else? Yeah, Kar Rabb? She said, sometimes when you get to that spot that seems so dark and you know there's been a lot of trouble with, maybe that's the feeling you need to express and get it out and use it and it's pointing to something. It's pointing to something. I've never seen a person that wanted to be hypnotized and like, let's take a look at that and see what, that you want to use that energy in the work rather than against yourself. I don't know if that makes sense. Well, you say that sometimes when you're in a dark place in your work, that's a place where you really want to focus and use the energy. So is there a way that you can use the dark energy from fuels? Is that what you're saying? Yeah. And not something to self-laden with life? No, you know what's interesting about it? It has an active light. It's so different because you have to use it. You have to go right into the belly of the beast. But I feel like with writing, you're doing similar things as preparing, but it's lingering because you've got to create this realm, this world, and it doesn't leave you. You can't sleep well. You're hardly eating. You know what I mean? It's the pregnancy thing. You know, I feel like when I'm acting, it's an exorcism almost. It comes out every time, but it's coming out where with this, I have to be patient because of the writer part. You know what I mean? The justification period is different. Yeah. It's different. It's like having a baby elephant. You know what I mean? It's a demonic baby elephant. Well, yeah, but if you do not write it, you will not exercise it. Writing is acting on paper. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Although, we're making it up. Let me scratch it. It's slow, isn't it? I mean, you could say we're reading it off a great reel in the sky. We are. But, you know, you just unroll it in a great school on your age. Not bad that you're getting ready to get some more. Yeah. Anybody else have a question? Yes. What's your name? Hi, I'm Ashley. Hi, Ashley. This is my first time here. Yeah. So my question is, for people who are coming in and writing, and what's the purpose of the writing? Are people here just, are they making plays? Are we doing this to just get off our feelings? What's the purpose of most people writing? Are we making a book? Are we making a film? Good question. Where are you supposed to be, you guys? I mean, I won't answer for myself. What are you guys working on? Crystal, what are you working on? A couple things. I'll just add. Crystal's writing some plays, and June's writing a screenplay, and a novel, excuse me. June's writing a novel. Samantha, what are you working on? A book for a musical. A book for a musical. This is just like, you know, just in their spare time. There's 20 different plays over there. Alexis is, well, she's working on a lot of things, and she's cheating on, she's writing something new as of last night. And she's going to finish this time next week. Derek is working on being four. Great job. I'm working on a TV show. You know, just kind of during still working on it. When I came in, I didn't have, I didn't know this is what it was going to be. I've actually been, like, trying to write a couple shows that me and my friends have been doing, but I haven't had much inspiration to finish it. So I actually just started writing about, like, just some new stuff I want to do. Like, some goals I have, some workshops that I want to do, and stuff like that. So that's kind of what I work today. That's good. That's good. The most important thing is to sit down and put the time in. And you know, we're in this part of the year where we're thinking about, like, what do I want to accomplish? What did I do this year? How do I manage distraction? And what do I want to do next year? How do I build on what I did this year and go forward next year? So that's a cool thing to do. Whatever sort of gets you pointed in the direction of doing the thing that you want to do. And sometimes we take a very huge ginormous step. Oh, look at me. I wrote a hundred pages today. You know what I mean? And sometimes all you can do is point your feet in the direction. And that's all you can manage. But doing a little something every day as best as you can is very important. And so we just here to sort of encourage that. And have fun with it. Free people and roll away the stone and you know. Well, I'm going to have a rough picture. Are you worried it's going to fall? You know what? Niveca says the system is going to fall on you and hit you on the head. And then we don't want that happening. So why don't you clear it? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. I have the play that we've been working on for the last couple of years. The Stefan Violet play. Someone is interested in reading it. Oh. I'm excited. Yeah. It's very exciting. It's kind of a big door. Someone like a theater. A theater. Oh. Exciting. Really nice. Yeah. So it's still three parts. But it's still very long. Right. Like I know it's too long. But I've heard it. I haven't heard the first part. It's just the last two. And I literally was able to cut down about, you know, maybe nine pages. We're still at like a hundred, over a hundred and forty, over a hundred and forty-seven pages. Okay. And so I still enjoy what I'm doing. Right. But I don't know if it's, if it's too much, if it's too much. For somebody to read? Not for someone to. I mean, I guess I'm thinking production wise production wise. Or to. So, I mean. Oh, okay. Oh, you're doing somebody. Here you have your play. Somebody in the theater that you like. Right. Says they want to read it. It's so neat. I mean, you're not going to like marry them. You're going to just like go out for coffee and check out the situation. Right. You're not going to make them married and have your children. Making? Will? But not. Like next week, right? You're concerned about, are you like, cool, let's go out on the date. A hundred and forty pages. There's a lot of pages. Okay. So, what you might do is just include with the play a little cover note saying, thank you for doing my play. It's a story of this and that, whatever. I wrote it because whatever. And while it's a little, maybe I'm a little on the wrong side right now. I look forward to, you know, to rewrite right. It's necessary. You just put that in. You know, say you're open to the possibility of cutting if that is what the play needs. Anyone? I would have said already, go into the possibility if that is what the play needs. Yes. Yes. If that is what the play needs. You know, it played on me. Because you're just dating. You're just going out for coffee. I know. But you know, you date but you're also aware of the baggage. You're also aware of what the baggage is doing. It's, everybody's, it's not a baggage. It's how you handle it. Everybody's got baggage. You know, even Mr. or your host baggage. People have baggage. It's how it happened in the past. That's how you handle it. That's what happens. And you handle it the same way. Like, hey, I'm open to the possibility of that. That's it. That's it. You do that. Okay. Come back. Anybody else? Yes, Sydney. How are you doing? You went to Chicago. I was going to Chicago. I was. Because feeding yourself and doing this work. Yeah, it's hard. It's so hard. Yeah. Are you okay? It's okay. Yourself is so hard. Yeah. So applying to a multiple jobs. My parent job ends at the end of the month. And they want to be a burden on the people. On your parents. On my friends. They're going to visit Northwestern. Right. They're writing a speech program. Oh, you want to go to the writing school? Okay. This is my third program. The third program that you've been in? No, it's the third program on my list. Oh, okay. This is first, second, Northwestern third. Okay, okay. So I'm just trying to figure out what type of jobs or grants or fellowships can support me. And how do I frame myself as somebody worthy of that support. Because I believe that I'm worthy of that support. Right, right, right. But it's tricky. You're applying to a graduate program. And you're also applying to the grants and stuff. Yeah, I'm trying to apply that. I understand. I understand. That's good. That's good. Personally, I don't know what grants. You know, I'm not like a resource for that type of information. But I think the way to frame yourself is just, this is who I am and this is what I'm doing and this is what I'm trying to do. I mean, I do know a few. The New York Foundation for the Arts and IFA. They have a fabulous grantee in the system. That you know all the time. Yeah, it's due in late January. We're just starting to make it. Okay, so you know, you know, there are places like MacGowell and Gallo. MacGowell is the writer's colony. MacGowell is the writer's colony. And there are lots, lots, lots, lots of writer's colonies. So those are just two that came to mind. Those are two awesome programs. They'll let you come up and they'll feed you and house you in your space to write. They're amazing. Those three things, right off the bat, there's something called the arts, actually. So you can go, so you know more, you probably know more than I know about the scholarship. But frame yourself as this is who I am and this is what I'm doing. You know what I mean? And every, you know, success you have when you fill in the resume, every production you're reading, every play you write is a success. Everything you write is a success. You can go to the resume to show people that you're serious about what you're trying to do. Anybody else? All right, we will have a last watch for the look of the year. Probably, I'm moving to the next week, the 14th of December at this time, five o'clock, five o'clock right here. While we're sharing the problem with me, is that hopefully we just have this annual holiday party. So we might have to go there and be dancing around. We don't know. But we want to be available for that. Okay, so we'll see what you may do, check the website. Okay, so check the website. We'll know in a couple of days. Okay, I love it that you all are. It's great. We have one more and then we're done together and then we're going to be back. And then after, probably on the way there, probably, right? Yeah, okay. I'll talk to you later. Okay, thank you very much.