 It's almost five o'clock. It is. Oh, just turned. All right. All right. Everybody it's Monday this is. We're sitting here doing watch we work I see Lou I want to hear all about your date night Lou and celebration of your project but first we have to do the basics. It's watch we work I'm Susan our parks we've been doing this show for like 12 or 13 years or something like that we start out in the lobby of the public theater and doing it live and now we're very happily doing it on zoom so we can meet with you regardless of our vaccination or health status or whatever. So, the idea is this watch we work me and the title is you, we get together we work together and then we talk about your creative process. While we don't have time for you to present your work during the show, we do have time to talk about your work and your creative process whatever that work is about and if you have a question after we work for 20 minutes will open up the floor if you have a questions. Can I tell you how to get in touch. I can't. So if you're in the zoom room with us, you can ask questions by using the razor hand function, which should be under the reactions tab at the bottom of your screen. If you're still finding it, you can just message me privately in the chat, and I can help you out. If you are watching the stream live on how around feel free to send us your questions via the public theaters, Instagram or Twitter account, or via watch me works Twitter account which is at watch me work SLP with the hashtag how around that's hashtag. So that is how you ask a question. Fantastic. Fantastic. Okay, so. Yeah, it's 502 let's get it together. Here we go and go. Right alright. We are back we are here. Anybody got a question. Lou did you have a question Lou did you you guys go and celebrate. We did we had an amazing night it's been a really good long weekend I'm getting back to work today with you but it was great thanks for congratulations congratulations well done. Thanks. I also don't know the correct what you handed your manuscript into your talent house. Well actually I submitted a really lengthy and in depth revised outline for my major project to my literary agent on Friday so we're waiting to do a call in two weeks and to get it to get it and we'll see confetti falling from the sky. Thank you everybody. Fantastic. Wow, it's really cool. Thank you I'm glad to be back to work today with you all though I will say that. Does anyone have a question feel free to use the raise your hand function. If so, we could just like bask in the reflected glow. Oh, I won't call them while you do. Okay. Hello. I only wanted to say that I am working on my flashcards. Yes, so I have flashcards and I am working on it because it was a week full of things with school and girls and but I began and I am wanted. How do they feel how does that feel. It feels good. It feels different because I came with the, you know, this typing typing typing and suddenly I changed it like changing gears. I am and I like it because it's making me see the day situations. Oh, okay. So to put in the cards, I need something that is I like to talk a lot and I am very, you know, the cars are making me to thinking concept to say, okay, this is happening with this and I like this and to have all of that so I can see the thing, the entire thing. Oh, very cool. Yes, very, very cool. I wanted to tell you that because I am so thankful it is a different thing to do and I am happy to try. Well done. Very good. I'm so glad. I'm glad. I'm glad it feels it feels good. Look at you. Well done. Good job. Look at us. People getting work done. Yay. Thank you. Listen. Yeah, well thank you. I mean, it takes, you know, it's all of us sort of moving forward, you know, and we inspire each other so definitely that's how it works. I also have questions or comments. It looks like we have one from Rebecca. I will ask a mute. Rebecca, how are you doing? I am good. Good to see you. Good to see you even though we're only seeing your beautiful headshot. Well, thank you. I was, I'm on my phone so I'm just, you know, I'm not very good at using the phone, but with. Hi there. Hi. Good to see you too. So I just, I was trying to do my morning writing practice, which is, you know, 20 minutes or three pages, whichever comes first. Fantastic. And, and I've been having difficulties. Continue difficulties wrestling with my manuscript. You know, I feel like I wrote a really good agent letter. I'm looking for an agent. And I remembered the talk with Luis Alvaro from last year, and I went and looked for it because great. He, because the thing I was trying to remember was the three part piece where he described. He's an object, an action and a line for his, his morning practice. And I've, I've seen similar things from other writers. So I'm having, I'm having difficulty reengaging with your morning pages or with, oh, go ahead. I'm sorry. Well, with morning pages and with the manuscript. So I was just trying to find some reminders that would help me sort of be back in it more. Yeah, I mean, just things that ways to do things not, you know, I mean, maybe these might be helpful. Thanks for asking. Sometimes, you know, going stress, I mean, goals are great. Don't get me wrong. I love goals. I love finish lines. I love lists. I love crossing things off the list. I love getting shit done. I love making money. All those good things. Okay, whatever. Now, sometimes the best way to sort of move forward is to come at it from a different way if we're feeling, you know, you know, like we're having some kind of difficulty. We're still feeling slow and down or we need to reengage in a different way. So sometimes in my notebook, you could write. I know this all sounds really corny, like a gratitude list. It might have nothing to do with your writing, your or your project. I mean, sometimes it's good to write about someone who you're someone who has done you wrong and something you need to let go of. Sometimes we can't hold on to what we, you know, accept what we is being offered because we're like this. And with good reason. I'm not saying, you know what I mean? I mean, I'm not saying we don't have, we don't have the right to be, you know, hurt and angry or about some things. And I'm not, this is not anything that you're specifically talking about, Rebecca. I'm just talking about in general. Sometimes we, there's a there's a there's a heaviness because we're carrying things that we don't need to be carrying right now. And we can, we can put aside. And, you know, like that. There was that there's that story, I don't know if it's a fake or not, but it's interesting that when whoever what was it Michelangelo was paying the last supper I think it was. I don't know if I'm getting all the facts wrong, but he was paying he painted all this, you know, this Apostles everything he was paying the face of Jesus he couldn't paint it, because there was someone who was he was so angry at he couldn't really paint the face until he let go of that unnecessary. You know, these days there are, there's a lot of stuff going on that I believe that those of us who are who are feeling it or being directly, or, you know, yeah, you know indirectly impacted by it have a right to feel, you know, wrong. And yet, third days when you got to, you got to you got to you got to give it to, you know, you got to let it put you got put it down. If you want to go forward with your work that might not directly have to address that that issue. And it's tricky because then we look at people who never have those kinds of issues. They seem to have this kind of issue to go. Hmm. It looks to me like they're on easy street. Maybe they are maybe they are not for matters. So there's a lot of stuff out there. You know, that's, I mean, that's what that's what I just deal with in my own just daily life. Forget the work, you know, my own just daily like living day to day so I just offer that as maybe something that would help just different ways of getting on the page. Sometimes I just write pages about what I what I'm thinking for Oh, it's a lovely day I have a fan in my apartment. It's a hot day and I got a fan, you know, and it works, you know. And then I'll turn to a, you know, a ball of sweat. You know, silly things like that I guess, is that at all helpful I mean, I think it is back looking back over 2020 I realized that I had been doing like this gratitude thing every day. And then I thought it was just like, oh well I'm not going to write that. And, and I was wondering this morning it's like, I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Yeah, so that's helpful. And, you know, writing about a difficult event and then at those difficult events keep happening to, you know, to people to black people is also frequently, you know, I just come to a screeching hall and it's just like, yes. Yeah. And recognizing the story is necessary to the conversation. I mean, it's, yes, it's imperative for the ancestors, you know, but it's and it's necessary to the conversation. Yeah. But it, it's hard. Yes, it is hard when and when we read about or we hear about or things happen. And you name it, wherever, you know, yeah, I would hear about those things and there's a, there's a, there's a, there's a, there might be a weariness that comes over you one, not you not putting on you but there might be a weariness that comes over. I'll just me, I might feel weary. I might feel angry. I might feel, you know, like, yeah, yeah, all those things when I hear people who I respect profoundly, talk about their lives and say people who are older than we are and say, my life has been framed by segregation. Someone say that recently and I'm like, and it's true. And it makes me more than want to holler words, you know, So there's all that. And yeah, so I'm not, I'm not denying, you know, I'm not turning a blind eye and I'm not, I'm just going out on a limb here and I'm not saying like, so many people in the marketplace say, come on, make it about black joy now. Yeah, well, I'm like, no. It's like when you walk down the street and some construction worker, you know, tells you smile. You know, so we, there's a lot of, there's a lot of, there's a lot of stuff that we're wrestling with. Yeah. So if you feel, if one feels weary sometimes and your pen feels a little heavy to pick up, you know, but all the more reason to find a way. You know, you know, I do have to say thank God for masks in terms of the construction work. Yes, yes, yes, yes. You know, I mean, so we can, we can say things like. Yeah, I love my, I love my mask. It's, it's, yeah, I love wearing it. Like, like Fanon said, you know, we wear a mask, you know, so yeah, yeah, I mean, yeah, I'm gonna be wearing mine. It's a long time yet. Yes. Thank you. Yeah, it's, it's thank you for, for allowing me to talk about it with you. Thank you. Thanks Rebecca. Next we have Laura. Hello, how are you? Hey, how are you doing? I've been writing from this group and then I performed this weekend. I haven't been performing doing stand up. That's right. That's right. How's it going? It's actually I got paid for the first top second time this this week, but it was like fun. The thing is, is that it's very apropos that I come after you because you know my stuff is all about race. And all the people that were talking, you know, all my buddies that I do this with, they're not about race. But they didn't say, Oh, you're, you're really writing and I'm not a student on like, I was horrible in school growing up and everything, you know, but thank you for letting me have this. I'm just wondering how do I, maybe it's always race just comes up every single time I just write about race and it's like, I don't know, it's really not a well I'm trying to make it comedy. You know, because if nobody else is talking about race. I mean, it's obviously not working. You know, so that's why I, I said, Okay, I'm just going to tell you three things. I said, I said, Okay, we got to socialize together, break bread together, and have sex together, whites, blacks, Asians, whites, we got to fuck together it worked for me. But these are things that I do. And so, I don't know. I don't even know if it's funny, you know, I laugh, I don't know, but then I'm weird. So, that's, I love it. But what do you what do you mean what do you mean it sounds like things are going well for you. Well, actually, you know, I, Yuri Kochiyama was my mentor. Okay, you know, and she was a great she was Malcolm X is like Malcolm X and she were when when Malcolm died she was holding his head. So she was sort of like the Asian American person, you know, so my writing, I know that I can't speak like her as an academic or whatever. The only way I could do it is through comedy, you know, we're just trying to make people laugh. And I think this, this topic needs a laughter I guess, you know, maybe that's what's saying to you. Why don't you write about happy black or whatever. Right, right, right, right, right, right. But it's different Laura if it comes from you, and you say I'd like to write in such a way or I'd like to whatever that's something coming from the artist. I'm saying when the marketplace tells us to be a certain way. That's the same thing with that's the same thing as a marketplace saying only write about slavery, because that's what sells it's the same thing. That's what I'm saying I'm, I'm, I'm, I have issue with what the marketplace telling us what to create in order to sell something. And this advice you gave me was don't worry about the audience just write what you're going to. Yeah. Yes, I guess that's it so thank you so. No, thank you thank you and I'm so glad you're doing your work and I'm so glad you're getting out there and write about whatever you want if it's raised what about where he said if it's not. Not if it's whatever you said you had a son, a daughter right. I did say that. Okay, so if you want to write about you can you know whatever you want to write about you, you get to write about it. Actually, that line was is that, you know, you don't even look Asian, but don't open your mouth because you sound like a Jew. And I said that and this, this guy in the front didn't like that he was like, My next line is, I feel like a feisty Jewish woman, you know, but I'm trapped in this midget Chinese body. So these are the type of things I say. I like those jokes. Thank you. And I see some smiles. Thank you guys. I love you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions. Like Salma has a question. Cool. Yeah, hi. Um, so I am just starting out like with my writing, I'm a student but I'm an act like I study acting so like writing isn't something that I've always done. So do you have any advice for someone that's just starting out. Yeah, sure. Let's see. Do you like to write in a notebook or on the computer? I guess both like I have my notebook in front of my computer and then I have like a document as well at the same time. What do you think about so if I mean writing is like, you know, training for like a series of marathons, you know, you know, do you have any kind of physical practice that you do like a yoga practice or a walking practice or running practice? Do you do anything like that? Yeah, running and running. Great. So you know what it was like, maybe you can remember what it was like when you ran your first, what, half mile lap around the track, right. Right. I mean, you had to kind of build up, right. And you had to be consistent. And you had to not overdo it because you wanted to come back and kind of do it every day. You know, so writing is a is a discipline and art form like any other art form like learning how to play an instrument like yoga or yoga, yoga arts, I suppose, the martial arts. You want to commit to a practice every day if you can. That sounds possible. Like we do in watching work are super helpful. Like you want to start with a daily practice that's modest enough so that you can come back to it every day like 10 minutes. That's possible. Does that seem possible? Like a 10 minutes. What's your favorite time to write? Do you think? Probably like in the morning, I think, or even before bed. Okay, well, let's try in the morning to start. Well, you know, because, because, you know, the morning, the phone doesn't ring so much and you don't have fun activities to pull you out of the house like a party or something like that. So, or even a rehearsal if you get it, you know, when you get doing an acting gig. So if you could try, you know, like every morning you just try like 10 minutes in your notebook, just random thoughts. You want to get in the habit of writing, you know, and then sort of, you know, our experience, the stories or themes or whatever kind of bubble up to the surface, you know, are you already sort of further along than this? Do you already have sort of a daily writing practice? I'd say yeah, but it's not like consistent because I haven't set out a specific time in my day just kind of like happen, like find time I just like go on my laptop or on my notebook and I write. So I would suggest finding choosing a specific time. I mean, it doesn't have to be, you know, seven o'clock a.m. on the dot, it doesn't have to be like that. But it should be, you get up in the morning, whatever you have tea or whatever you'd like to do in the morning, and then you sit down and write, you know, for 10 minutes. Okay, just try that. Just see what happens when you set a specific time. You can also augment that specific time with other times, more random times during the day. But I feel like if you want to get serious about your writing, then you get serious about when you're going to write, you know, and try that you don't have to be serious about the subject matter yet, or the quality. Just see if you can show up every day for your writing self. Okay, and 10 minutes. That's all that's all you need to do 10 minutes. It's like, you're just starting out, and I would suggest getting a timer instead of using your phone, you know as a stopwatch but that's you know what you feel like doing it this the phone is very, you know it's got so many exciting things happening on it. But a timer is very good. 10 minutes is a very low bar, very modest request you're making of yourself. Okay, and see what happens just see what happens and check in with us every once in a while about how you're doing. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Great question. Thank you. Other questions. Okay, MC. It looks like you have a question. How you doing. Nice to see you all. Thank you so much for your question. But this is when something that you said that really resonates. It says, just keep you said, just keep adding to your pile. So every time I go in different directions or I feel on board or am I doing it well enough. He said, I'm just adding to my pile. And I want to stay in your voice. And I, it's really helped me a lot so thank you. I'm so pleased. I'm so pleased. I'm so pleased. How is the work going. You had a cool project you were working on. I know the Scott preacher. What's he doing there. I killed him off. He's no longer in this, but actually it's going pretty well, knock on wood. All right. Well done. Well done. Well, you know, it's ongoing so. Thank you for being part of this community. So thank you. Oh, thank you, MC. Thanks for being part of it. Really. That is really good to keep adding to your pile. Just keep inching forward. No. I was watching a documentary on George Carlin, you know, the comedian. He was an interesting person and very inspiring as to what he kind of went through where he came from what he came out of and what he became in spite of the marketplace in a way, you know, and and just he just kept going, you know, he just kept going. Yeah, I was once adding to his pile, just kept going. It's a very inspiring to know that, yeah, you're not alone in that, in that in the difficulty and the joy of just like, okay, I just got to write another day. Another 10 minutes, you know, think of think of what we talked Salma just who's just starting out as a writer, you know. If you feel like gee I can I'm having trouble walking through my writing today just say okay well if I were a beginner. And maybe today I am. Let me just do 10 minutes. You know, I do it all the time. All the time. And you know, I've been at this writing for a long time. You know, making things but I say sometimes it's hard so I say well just do 10 minutes. It really helps. It really does help. So, we've got about 12 minutes left so plenty of time for folks to ask questions. Oh I see a clapping emoji is that a raise hand. That's okay and I can't figure out the raised hand so I just did the clapping again. Perfect clapping. It's me again. Hi, how are you. So last week you told me to start making lists of things I wanted to write about which I did. And now I have more lists and more and more piles really so I guess my question is just an extension of what I asked last week in some more. Yeah strategies and organization skills of all these things I have in different notebooks and now new new things because now now with the new list of things. I want to write now. I just have more. No, no, no, we were talking about last week I think you're talking about you had all the notebooks and a wealth of material, and we're just talking about possibilities possible strategies and getting it in a manageable, not under control, but in a little format so that you could kind of see what you have and what you, and then it could then trigger and encourage you to to write about certain things instead of saying I want to write about that time in 1984 when I did such and such and So, you have lists. It's encouraged more things. Can you look at the lists typed up or written out or. No, I just wrote it out. Okay, so the list are written out. So can you go through with the highlighter and circle everything you're really excited about. Yes. And not circle what you're not what you're a little less excited about. Yes. I'm going to circle what you're excited about in a highlighter what color highlighter are you using. Sometimes pink, sometimes orange, sometimes yellow, I have all different colors I love. I even have a purple one. Okay, so why don't you use one color, maybe just one color. And if you've already started you know you can even, you know, take a picture of the pages, print them out again. Just use one color. Again, what we're doing is your narrowing in order to widen which doesn't make any sense if you think about it, like what do you mean, you know, because it's wide is widen, but if the Mississippi is like this. It's not going to be nearly as bright. I don't think powerful as if it's got banks on it. Right if you're driving all over the road. And you want to get to a certain destination it would behoove you to, you know, sort of get some kind of focus right you're going to narrow part of the artistic process who's that man who's that person isn't Michelangelo again I can't I can't believe this this can be true. I'm the guy you know we talked about them piece of marble you know you get a big piece of marble and chip away at it. And he chip away everything that wasn't the David, you know, right. And that's what you're doing you have to sort of make decisions like, I'm going to not use this right now. And it's not like I'll never use it Oh no, it's lost forever darn it's never going to be included hogwash you just circling what you want to work on right now. One highlighter color. And circle the things you're most excited about. And then write up a list of those things. You're just focusing. That's all. Yes, it is about focusing for me because I just get so distracted like you were saying about the phone it's it's not just the phone it's it's so many things distract me I don't know anything that I any any tool of my own mental management I guess. Yeah, yeah, that's okay. Oh helpful. That's okay that's that's what you know that's it's it's so much about art making his personality management. I am finding that going right into for this session and we're all together I go right into the document and I and I type out. I don't write because I'm always writing freehand in my journal so I need I think I need to separate like this is the time you're writing freehand this is now time to write right onto the document either transferring something from a notebook to it or what's happening right right then you know. Okay. All right, you can also circle all the things in one color highlighter that you're very excited about and type up that list. And write that stuff. You can always go back to the other documents and circle other things in another color highlighter but for right now choose one highlighter circle the things you're excited about type up the things you circled and go from that work from that list. Yeah, it helps and check back in because we want to hear how you doing. I will thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks, Richard you're up next. Okay. I figured out how to raise my hand. Hi, how are you. Is there a magic moment. Is there a magic moment you know when it's the right time to send out what you've written for feedback. I guess like a year you know I like feel we went to I went through this thing where the feedback that I've gotten was so unhelpful and you were really helpful to tell me about you know ignore it. Um, so I'm just like every day like I like been an hour or so I write, it's always being revised but I don't know at what point I just need to send it out to someone and tell me, is it working. That's a great question. And you say you've been working on it very, very mindfully. And I would say if you think about what are the things I want to do with a manuscript. So you know, like you have a. I'm trying to remember what it what you're writing. The screenplay was question was, is it a play or is it a screenplay, right, right, right, right. And I'm thinking that if you, if you can read the manuscript and you have some things yet that you still want to do. Right. That's okay. You can sort of just jot those down in the notebook or or the document. And then you think of okay I it feels like you want to send it out to somebody, because it's nice to get feedback or at least be in conversation with somebody. It's very important to think to whom will I send it. You know, so perhaps the people who were gave you the not so helpful feedback last time might not be the people you want to send it to right now. Maybe you want to send it to somebody else. Maybe one person maybe a close friends, maybe have the screenplay, maybe if it's 120 pages I should say, maybe you want to send them have or a quarter of it maybe just 30 pages. You're the first 30 pages of my screenplay. Could you give it a read, could we have a coffee about it, or a zoom coffee, you know depending on where they are in the universe. You know, so again, sort of. Be modest in your request to somebody you know gently go into it, but now might be a good time it sounds like you want to send it to somebody so think of hope you send someone who really cares about you. Who cares more for you than for their own opinion. Yeah. And who's willing to read it 30 pages is a good amount. You know, get their feedback first 30 pages that would be fun. That would be a fun coffee you could take them out to lunch and, you know to reciprocate would be social. Does that sound like it might be helpful. Yes. What was the first thing you said about choosing who you wanted. It was something about the audience. Just feeling the need for an audience. It sounds it sounds to me like you would like to have some feedback on your project so while you might still have some things in your script that you would still like to work on you say I know I need to really sharpen the main journey I know I need whatever these things are and just making these things up, but it's even if you know that those are the things you have to do. Sometimes it's still fun to get some feedback because it's social. And it sounds like you might enjoy that. And so I would say send out just, you know, 30 pages or 20 pages even and hang out with a good friend and just talk about it. This is good friends your good friends will have time to read 20 pages of have a coffee, you know. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you, Richard. Thank you. Good question. Awesome. We're at 558. Does anybody have a last question before we close out going once going twice. Okay SLP do you want to close this out. No, thanks everybody for being here thanks Ali for being the MC, and we'll see you is next week. Okay. We'll figure out the schedule as we go forward we look forward to seeing you guys real soon. And enjoy your work until then.