 So now we're going to do the question part. So who? Anybody? From Kate Townsend. Oh, you're Kate really? Yep. Or somebody who says you're Kate Townsend? Sorry. Live streaming right now, writing all the way to Kate Town on 11-15. Watch me work late. Hi, Kate Townsend. And her question is, I can never get started. How do you overcome the hurdle and the pressure of the first words that opening sentence may be? Wow, what a great question Amy. How do you overcome the word, the terror? Did you say no? Did I say no? Hurdle and pressure. Oh, the hurdle and pressure. The hurdle and pressure, which I think of as terror. So, which is to say, Amy, that I would say, like maybe a picture of hands, that I'm not the only one who has this fear or feels this hurdle. Does anyone else have a prayer? Like, how do I get started? Right. So there are other people, Amy, and that's a good thing. So, the first part of the answer is no, that you're not alone in your fear, or in your, when you see those hurdles and feel those pressures, I would say fear. Maybe it's fear. And the best way to do it is by doing this writing exercise, it's really complicated and it's, I know people are laughing, it's the only exercise I ever give, which is you sit down and you get a timer, something like this, and you sit down and you put the timer. You just start, if you type on a computer or a typewriter, or you write long hand, you just put the timer and start writing. And believe it or not, that actually gets you over those hurdles. Imagine, you said hurdles, right? Imagine, so, you know, anybody watch the Olympics? Like last year? Right. They do that with their legs. Imagine if they were, they would run up to the hurdles and just stand there. Yeah, and they take very specific look like that. But so we have to take a step, and as writers or as artists, our steps are just what we're doing right now, right? Put the timer in and check back with us and try that, pick your favorite part of the day, which might be now, for you, way over in South Africa, and set a timer for, say, 30 minutes and start miracle sales. Thank you so much, Amy, but please keep up with us because we are you from Africa. Remind me of your name, please. You've been here before, right? Yeah. You're doing a one-woman show now? No. Yes, I'm back to the, I am working on the actor right now, guys, a finished thing for me. Congratulations! I'm working on it right now. And I'm kind of prepared for this question today because it's sort of been a working part. Last week, I just wrote down about six times, keep showing up while you were talking. Very good. And that's been, that's good. And so, it's more about, I'm in a place now where I'm having trouble when it's time to talk about it, like the thing and say, you should come or you should want to know more about this or like how to, how to do the next thing. I think the effort is really good. You guys seem to be a little bit about producing it a little bit. It's where I feel like, because I stare at this and the professor leaves me without me, to start to understand what this thing is. Right. Very good. Is there a question there? Lee, your name's Lee. I just want to get that right. So, Lee has a question. Did everybody hear her? That she's doing a show right now so she's accomplished some stuff, right? She's done a show or two. She's written some stuff. She's been here and other places writing and performing, right? And now she has this question where, you're right, you've written this other project. You've already written it. Well, it's sort of still a little bit of a progress because it's a collaboration. Okay. But it's where I've got to talk about it. Right, so you've got to talk about it. You want to attract producers or audience members, at least. Okay. And how do you talk about something? And it's almost like an animal. You have in you more than one, there's more than one Lee, right? And you have to, if there's the writer Lee, let's just pretend she's like, writer Lee, right? There's performer Lee who's on stage, right? And then there's press release writer Lee who's a different person. You can like work a room, right? Glad hand people, smile and talk about her work. We all have this in us and if we don't, and if we have a part of us that's like weak, like, oh, I don't like talking about my work. That's, you know, Jeremy will tell you, you go to the gym and you work on that tricep, that muscle, right? Because that's something that you need to be able to do if you're an artist. You need to be able to talk about work. So you've got to kind of exercise that part of yourself, right? I've just said the same thing. You put the time in. You know, and try it out with your friends. Try it out with your performer. Try it live. You know, pitch it to your friends. This is what I chose about. This is why it's awesome. You're live and then you'll start hearing things and then you can write them down. Try it live. Maybe if it's not, if you're freezing at the, try it right or at the, try it live. Set yourself a deadline. Same rules apply. When do you have to have it done? I think it should be done by then. Like as in Friday or Saturday? Friday. Friday. Like at five? Sure. Anytime. I love that. Okay, Friday at five we're going to be done. So what's the day? Wednesday? At like 5.45? 6 o'clock? Great. Okay, so you have those that time. Come on, right? So do you have some friends that you can call up even? And I'm going to pitch you this. I'm going to try it out with a couple of good friends. They can give you feedback. You can type up something on email. They can give you feedback on it. Okay, so that's your deadline. Just keep showing up when you do it. Do you have a title? Do you want to have a title? Oh, great. Seeing the praises of the collaborators, even one of the other people, just say blah, blah, blah, whatever, and then your friends will help you hone it down and start doing it. And you've got a title that's like half the battle. It's just coming forward. It's about. And don't worry. Like, oh, people don't like it. Don't start thinking with your, like, negativity grade. Just think, you know, you're working around. Hey. I think everybody can start going through what you've got to put up with at the time. But is this... It's too much. It's too much to be... I don't know. I think what I'm having trouble with is that I see what I'm writing all the time. I hear what I'm saying about it. And it sounds, it doesn't sound like what the thing is. You know what I mean? It sounds a lot more serious or wobbly in this way. I'm like, yeah, those are some things, but it's fun. Put that in. Look at your body. Oh, Luna! You're talking about it like this. Get up. Start talking about it. Like, you're talking to a producer. You're in their office and you're like, hey, I got this great show. You've got to see it. It's this. And then go like that. If it's not working out by sitting down and, you know, your energy is cuddling in your, you know, you've got to stand up and write it. Anybody else? Yes. Oh! I rehearsed at home. Yay! Susan? Susan Laurie. Susan Laurie? Oh, yeah. Very good. Thank you. Or you can call me SL. SL? Or SL people if you want to, you know, go for it. Okay. Yes. I've always had this question. I think great writers, wonderful writers lead an awful lot. Right? They lead. And I've been, you know, I grew up dyslexic and I read really slow, so I feel, I mean, this is a negative thing. I feel like I haven't read enough to be a good enough writer. Okay. Could you address that? I saw this wonderful piece of theater called Sontag Reborn. Oh, yeah. New York Theater Workshop. New York Theater Workshop. And it's so exhilarating. Right. And I recommend it to everybody. But the thing I also was left with was that there she is and reading and reading and things that I didn't even imagine to know. Right. So that's my question. Right, right, right. So Lynn says, writers in her experience and I think we agree, writers read a lot, you know. But my answer to you is, I mean, if you're dyslexic or you grew up dyslexic and reading is difficult for you, why make that? No, I do read. You do read, but why? So you have to, you don't feel like you've read enough. So I would suggest that perhaps the truth that you're believing writers read a lot, maybe it's not true. Writers write a lot. We do, we write a lot. We write a lot. Writers put the time in and get the writing done. There's a truth to writers read a lot, but why if reading has been historically tricky for you, why make that a lot? Like all writers are tall or writers are all people who are happy and you don't wear high heels. You know what I'm saying? I mean, you could believe that Washington State's in the city. They're all happy and they're all helping you out. You could believe that, but instead they're like, hey, maybe happy people wear bourbon socks or batteries, you know, sneakers or whatever. You see what I'm saying? Exactly. So just, just leave that alone. Susan Sontag read a lot. She's awesome. Yeah, but she read like more than me and am I going to like look at her and go, oh shit, I can't write because I haven't read as much as Susan Sontag. She also had like the white gorgeous block of white hair. Do we need to dye our hair like that? Oh yeah. Yeah, oh yeah. You see what I mean? But we do that a lot. We set up these self-limiting beliefs in our mind. That make total sense. If it's getting in the way of you doing what you want to do, then maybe it's all cases. You know, there's a whole tradition of think of like Homer. You know, did he read a lot? He wrote a lot of books in him. Musical. Yeah. I find that revision is more difficult than writing. Right? So I'm just really thinking there's approaching revision and ways to think about revision is just like writing a book or something. Come on, you guys. Gabriella. Gabriella. Oh, you were here last week. Yeah. Gabriella, you heard there's some people in the hall in the lobby. She's revising. And Gabriella, Gabriella, revising is more difficult than writing. Yeah. It's more difficult because it doesn't feel it feels more difficult. It doesn't feel as alive. It doesn't feel as fresh. It doesn't feel, you know, when I first started, I was like, what a great idea. I mean, you look at it again. Maybe it's like I know it's a great idea. And so it's harder to stay in force with it. Oh. Oh, oh, oh. Right. Because there's that sort of voice-up and it's because of more critical writing. Right. Right, right. Do people have more trouble with writing or with writing? Writing? Do people have trouble with writing for the first time? No? Yes? Few people? Me writing? Yeah, yeah. Because in the second camp, you know, the road has been laid. And I'm just walking around like picking, oh, no, I think I'll plant that flower over here. You know what I'm saying? So, what I do is get into the character. So, while you're, you do have a critical oh, this is the exercise. No, we've done this exercise. We haven't done this before. Well, this is fun. So, rewriting, what's your favorite piece of music right now? I'm going to wait over here. Just off the top of your head and let me change it. It's not easy being green. It's not easy being green. Right. And, okay, so what, so if you had a choice black, brown, white, or gray, which would you choose? Black, brown, white, okay. Yeah. Gray. Gray. Okay. And, great. Okay, that's all we need to know. So, it's not easy being green, the color gray. So you want a gray, which hand do you write with? Which is, so in your hand, your right hand is the sword of discrimination, not racial discrimination, but the ability you are writing this horse. And it's not easy being green. It's playing. It does not belong. It's a fun, joyous, it's just a fun joyous thing. You're in the flow. A lot of times we think rewriting, you get out of the flow and get critical and start thinking. Right? No, no, you're in the flow. You're, only, the flow is a story. Okay. You're just writing. So when I say get into the character, just get into the joy of it. It's already made the way. Okay. So yeah, so don't, you're not going, oh bad girl, bad girl, you wrote the wrong word there. You're not doing that. Do you need to fix it? It sounds like a loud sound. It's not easy. It sounds like a loud sound. You just go, whoa, I've already done the heart. I think, I think I've already done the really, really, she can hear it. She can see it. She can smell it. She can feel it. She's got it in her head. She's got it in her finger. She's got it in her tongue. She's written it, but she's not feeling what she wants. It's one thing because think of your audience who will come and see the show. It's a play. Word home. Brilliant. Now you can't control as long as it's coming out the way. That is just a process of what, bad girl, point. You're going to forget the original, I want it to be just like this and you're going to be there. You see that person like, oh, we do like good enough. Good enough. That perfection is what? I know. But good enough is what we do. Right? You're going to let go of the expectations of the audience and what they want, what they take away and what they want. That means, you know, you're just going to feel good to you and then you're going to be good enough and you're going to go and go, you're not allowed to want to be brilliant. You set the bar very low. I tell people, even though the bar is very low and somehow when you set the bar very low, you can become very expansive and wonderful It's like a zen card. Go figure. Yeah, go figure. Well, we'll see you try that. When they write lots, we'll write a lot. Thank you. Is everybody cool? Or cool enough? Thank you guys for coming.