 It is five o'clock, I'm just waiting for the stream to go, but I think we're good, should we do it? Let's do it, let us begin, are we all assembled? Yes, we'll just start and then we'll begin. This is Watch Me Work, happy new year, happy Lunar New Year, hooray, hooray, we're here. We're back, it's 2022. And for those of you who are joining for the first time, Watch Me Work is a show, it's a meta-theatrical, a writing class in which I invite us to work together for 20 minutes and then we talk about your work and your writing process. So it's called Watch Me Work, but the me and the title is you, is you. We've been doing this for how many years have we been doing this? Like 12 years or something like that for a while. And during the beginning of the lockdown we did it like every day in a row for many, many days and now we're back here to be with you to encourage you to get your work done and have some fun along the way and encourage each other and build a community. So that's everything I can think of. So Audrey's gonna tell us how to ask a question when that time comes and take it away, Audrey. So there's a couple of ways to ask a question. If you are inside of the Zoom please just raise your hand with the little raise your hand button. I believe it's in the reactions button at the bottom of your screen on a laptop or a top on iPad get a lot of nods, that's exciting. And we answer questions sort of in any order. We will get to everyone's questions, but we do our best. And then if you're watching the stream on HowlRound you can ask us questions via Twitter at at Watch Me Work SLP with the hashtag HowlRound H-O-W-L-R-O-U-N-D. You can also write to us on the Public Leaders Instagram or Twitter as well, we'll look there too. So that's sort of it. That's sort of it. And now for the rest of it, we're gonna start our timers and here we go. All right, all right, all right, all right, all right. We are back. We are back. Here we are. All right, all right. Okay, okay. So now here's the part where we... Hey guys. Here's the part where we take questions from people. That is this part. Let's take our first question. Melania, go for it. Hello, Melania. Happy New Year, sis. Oh, I mute yourself. I mute yourself. You got it? There you go. Okay, happy New Year. Hi, Susan. It's so good to be here with all of you. I miss you. I am happy to be here again. Likewise. Yes. First, I want to say thank you to you because what you told me the last time about, I was talking about the thoughts that I have that what I do maybe is not worth it or when all this kind of not good thinking you, I learned first the talk to the hand and I like it, but that wasn't that work for a time but then there was this kind of recurrent thoughts and you told me that they were like sloths that they were very slow and I am faster. So, and what happened is that one of my daughters, she has a lunchbox for school that he has a very funny sloth that is pink and very funny. So, in my mind, I was picturing this sloth that is very nice. So, I can be with him but I know that I can run whenever I want to and that worked. So, now I see the lunchbox and I think about all you told me. So, first thank you about that. And now what I would like to know is I would like to have your wisdom about this. Is that I am showing up to my work. I am having sometimes these thoughts that we were talking about. I am doing the old sloth situation. But what happened to me is that I sit down, I write, but I can't focus on something specific. I am writing, writing, writing, writing, writing. I don't know, sometimes I feel that maybe it would be good to say I'm going to do this and working on that. But it's like I begin and I change and everything. So, I would like to know if you have any suggestions about maybe this is too much, but how do I know what I want to write? Right. Because it changes every time and I don't know how to do that. I think that's a great question, Melania. How do I know what I wanna write, especially those of us who have two or three things or 10 different things to choose from or? And yeah, sometimes it's hard to know if you've chosen the right thing. One of the things that makes it a little bit easier, not totally easier, but a little bit easier is if you have some things that are all the same length. For example, if you're writing, if you have some ideas for some songs or some poems or some essays, they're all the same length and they're all relatively short. And so you can say, okay, I'm gonna pick one, I'm gonna work on it for a week and see where I get with it. That's one way of choosing. But if the things on your plate are all really long, that's trickier because then you're in it for the long haul. You'll say, yeah, you have one idea for a novel and another idea for a novel and another idea for a novel and you're not gonna really know if you've chosen the right one in a week. Although you could use the a specific amount of time to your advantage. So what if you say, regardless of the length of the thing, right? Say, well, without telling me specifically about the projects because sometimes it's best to keep quiet about them. What are these projects? Are they plays? Are they screenplays? Are they poems, songs, essays? What happened to me? What I tried to do because a person told me that he said, well, yes, at the beginning to do some like automatic writing, I don't know how to study it. Yeah, yeah, that's how it, yeah. Perfect. And so I do that. When I do that, usually it comes like short, I don't know if I can call them poems because I don't know if they are. But I am having one, that one is a theater play that a person asked me in Argentina, a person that I love a lot. And I was presenting some parts and she loved what I am doing. And what happened with that is that even when she tells me that she likes it a lot when I show a scene or something, I get very happy because I see that the person is happy. But at the same time, I get like stuck. I don't know how to, and I am trying to do them, you know, some plotting, trying to, but when I try to do that, I cannot do it. I don't know what happens. And I see that scenes come, but then I don't know where to go from there. So when that happens, I abandon the situation because I feel very uncomfortable. And I began with the automatic writing and several things that are short and for children because I would love to write for children. That is the thing that I have. So some things happen like that, but when it's automatic also they come, some texts, I don't know if they are short stories or what, that are a little more complex that I would like, that you know this kind of, I say, what is this kind of thing? But I like them too. So with this, the theater play, these short stories. Right. And yes, and it's that. And then I have ideas for a lot of, it's like I have a lot of ideas. I see life, when I see life, I am walking in the streets and I'm sitting in a place, I can see like a lot of theater plays happen at the same time. Right, right, right. And I like everything, but then it's difficult to me to say, okay, it is this. Right, right, right. Okay, so I know I hear you. So what you could do as an experiment is, it's gonna sound maybe harsh, but choose one project, regardless of the type of project or the length that it will be when you're finished, right? And focus on it for the next week. Just choose. Like the play that you're working on with your friend or for your friend in Argentina, that one. Okay. Just, that's what you're gonna do. Okay. This is what you're gonna work on. And every time you have difficulty, keep working on it. And when you feel uncomfortable, maybe strategize different ways to work on it. If you're writing and you're feeling uncomfortable, you're writing like longhand, maybe start writing on where are my wonderful things that are there. My desk is so messy, it's horrible. Index cards. Okay. If writing on paper is daunting, you're right on index cards. If right on index cards feels yucky, maybe turn on your computer and type. Okay. If that feels not so good, turn on your favorite song and dance around and talk about it. Just every single strategy you can think of. Take a walk around the block or whatever and talk about it as you walk. Call a friend and tell them about it. This is what I'm working on right now and da-da-da. You know what I mean? Just every single strategy you can think of to work on it, keep working on it. So what we're going to do is we're going to, instead of having lots of different, instead of entertaining the possibility of lots of different projects and only one strategy, you're going to have one project and lots of different strategies. We're going to flip it around. Okay? Yes. It's like a relationship. It's like being a mom. I mean, you want your kids to do something. You could do that. No, you have a different strategy. You know, there's so many strategies that you can have as a parent, as a spouse, as a human being, human. You know, there's so many different ways to work on something. So we're going to apply that knowledge to your work, that one work. Okay? Okay. Does that feel okay to work on that play? That theater piece? Yes. Great. You're just going to, okay. If it doesn't feel, you know, pray on it. You know what I mean? Laugh at it. Draw a picture of it. Anything you can think of. Take a nap with it under your pillow. Put it in your pocket. That's why I like these. You can put them in your pocket and carry them around or in your bag, you know? And it's only a week. We're only asking you to focus on it for a week. And then you come back next week and tell us how it went. Okay. You know, and also keep a log of the strategies that worked, that were interesting, that were fun, that you hated, maybe why? You know, make it a little experiment. I like that. Okay. Thank you, Susan. You are... You're welcome. You're welcome. Well, so are you, Melania. Thank you. Thanks, Melania. So good to see you. All right, we're going to go to Karima next. Go for it. Did that work? Yeah. I'm on mute. Can you hear me? Yeah. Yes, we can hear you. Okay. Hi, how are you? Hi. All that stuff. Thank you, Karima. I'm struggling with two things right now. One, the first thing I'm struggling with is that my play is kind of current because it's dealing with the virus. So I'm struggling with not constantly letting new information or what's happening come into what I'm writing because it is making it change too much because now you're aware of this happening and you're like, but I wasn't really talking about that and now I'm just trying to creep in. The second thing is trying to give it some layers where it's not just strictly, it's a family situation. So it's not strictly them just dealing with the virus situation, but how to bring in some other stuff that doesn't take away from what the play is about but helps to make it more interesting. Am I making sense? I think so. I think if I heard you, Franklin, you're writing a play that is current. So it has... COVID is about COVID. Okay, it's about COVID. It's good because it seems to me that you said two things that are going in opposite directions, Krema. You said, while you don't wanna keep bringing in new information because it'll make it change and it's not about that, you do wanna bring in stuff that's gonna make it multi-layered. Right. Maybe the stuff that you're avoiding is the thing you need. I mean, think like, if it's about, you just said it's like, if it's about the virus, think like the virus. The virus, you know, because it's like the virus is like, nah, I ain't gonna entertain that Omicron thing. Because, you know, the virus is like, Omicron is doing that? Oh, bring it on. Because that's gonna help me be the thing that I need to be right now. Omicron. You see what I mean? So you don't, if it's about COVID, you have to let it be about COVID. And right now, Omicron is what COVID's about. You know what I mean? If you really wanted to talk about what the virus was, then it wouldn't necessarily be contemporary. Well, the issue, not saying the information you're giving me, I can't use, I'm open. Yeah, I understand. The issue is that this sister who is a nurse is totally against getting the vaccine. How she thinks about it is she's not for it. And so her siblings and her family members have actually gotten it. So the battle is what's happening with the dynamic within this family of her being the one that's in the medical field. Yes, she's the one that's really against it. And they're not in the medical field. And they're like, we need to get this thing or whatever. So I was just, well, I'll figure it out. I don't know, I mean, yeah, well, actually, yes, you will. I have no doubt that you're gonna figure it out. But my, let's look at the other, I would say let in what needs to come in. I mean, keep it, it sounds like a really cool idea for a play, really cool play, really interesting characters. Give yourself an opportunity to address your second question or the layers, look around, look around. Like you're focused on, it's about the virus, right? Right. Okay, so you're looking, let's just pretend, you're looking straight ahead, straight down the road, right? You're driving straight down the road. That's what it's about. It's about being on 66, you know? Okay, well, I don't know, glance over there. What do you see? Who's over there? What, take your blinders off. Okay. Allow yourself to entertain the stories that are happening on what seems like the periphery. Okay. You know what I mean? Is someone trying to, I don't know, I don't know, it's their first year teaching in school. I mean, I don't know, I'm just thinking, there's so many other things that are going on right now, you know? So just entertain the beautiful things that are happening on what looks like the periphery without having it hijack your whole play, right? Okay. You know? Because there's more going on. And also, you know, you might wanna dig deeper into the characters. I mean, I'm sure you have. She doesn't wanna get the vaccine for very specific reasons, I'm sure, that have a history for her, you know? Maybe there's something in the past, which means that again, to use a car analogy, you're gonna have to take your eyes, glance from the road straight ahead and look up into the rearview mirror. Do you understand what I'm talking about? Yeah. Maybe there's something in the past that we need to look at, or that's part of the story, a more active part of the story than you would think. Okay. Okay. All right, thank you. Okay, thank you. And check back in next week. Okay. Thanks, Karima, good to see you. All right, we have got about 20 minutes left and we're gonna go to Emma. Emma, Emma, Emma, Emma. Hello. Hey, Emma. Thank you, how's it going? Well, well, we're well. We're here. Cool. So I'm wondering if you have any advice for how to think about who your audience is as you're writing, because I am writing something that without going into too much detail, it's about like psychiatry and sexual violence. And it's kind of a dark comedy. And I'm in a workshop right now. And some of the feedback I got, the farther, someone said like, I think the people who are really far away from this experience will think it's really funny. Like it's kind of more farcical, the less real it seems. But if this is something that feels real to people, this is really sad. And I guess I want it to be some kind of like combination, which is why I want it to be a dark comedy, but I don't know how to... Like I really want to think about how to protect my audience and not make something that's just really like upsetting and triggering for everyone who would relate to it. Cause I feel like that's, like I don't want to make something that's only for people who can't relate to it at all. But I don't know how to like anticipate that or because I know people will respond to it in different ways and I don't have control of how each person is going to respond to it. Yeah. No, that's a really, really good question. Talking about controlling the audience. Yeah. I mean, the tricky thing about controlling the audience is if you look, on any given day, you look at a theater or a picture of a theater if you don't want to leave the house. And you see these, if there's not a show happening, you see all these empty seats. And I mean, say there are a hundred seats, that's a hundred different folks. So how do you control the minds of a hundred different folks, most of whom you probably haven't met? If you're lucky, right? There are people you don't know who are coming to your show because they've heard cool things about it or whatever. So you're trying to control the minds of strangers, which is, yeah. Okay, so there are two answers to that and they don't sound like they make, one is both eyes on the work. So if you're writing, and this is different from what we talked about, Karima, we're talking about you're driving down the road, you're looking, you're allowing yourself to be aware of what's in the periphery. That's for story content, right? You're looking in the rear view mirror because you wanna see, maybe there's something in the backstory, literally, that might be of use, right? So it's not just in the front as you're going down the road. Okay, but for you, Emma, we're talking about if you're writing and you're continually glancing over your shoulder, what do they think? Oh, what do they think? Yeah, there's an audience gathered behind you, right? And you're looking over your shoulder wondering what they think and you're losing your concentration and your focus because you're wondering what the audience thinks. So that's the first answer. So the first answer is both eyes on the work. Don't try to control an audience that you've never met. Yeah. Okay, that's, oh, okay. And then there's a second answer, which might not make any sense given what I just said. One of the, some of the most fun I have as a writer is actually being able to control the mind of the audience. Aha. And what do you do that? Because you're in conversation with people that you've never met because it's like a chess player, right? If you know the game of chess, I mean the actual game of chess, if you play enough games of chess, you can't anticipate moves that people are going to make. You can't actually anticipate what do you call it? Ways of conversation in people that you've never met because you've spent years and years and years in my case dealing in trading and conversation. That's what I do, character and conversation, right? So you're able to anticipate possible things that an audience member might be thinking when something happens on stage. And it's part of our job is to, for example, if someone goes, someone says an act and scene one, I hate coffee. I've never had coffee in my life and I will never have coffee. The beverage, right? And then in scene two, they're drinking coffee. Oh, this is great. This is really great. I love coffee. The audience, what can we imagine the audience might be saying in their head? How'd that happen? What? I mean, was that earned? I don't know what's going on. That doesn't make any sense. They just said they hated coffee, right? We can anticipate that that's gonna be a conversation that's gonna be said in the mind of the audience. And our job craft love is to control that conversation right? So you want to go back and you want to make sure that that moment of, I love coffee. I'm drinking coffee is earned. Yeah. You see how it works? Now that's like playing chess with like a hundred strangers at once. Yeah. So the first answer is right now for you is the better one. Okay. Both eyes on the work. Thank you. And once you've played like a thousand million games of chess with thousands of millions of people that you've never met, then you start thinking, okay, how can I like anticipate conversation? Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. So both eyes on the work and it's more fun. Write the play that is coming out of your heart, out of your guts, that's your truth, that's respectful to your characters. Have the moments in the play be earned. You know what I mean? Have a make sense. No gratuitous bullshit, violence, sexual shit, you know what I mean? Yeah. Write as honestly and as truthfully as you can and see what people think. Okay, cool. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. All right, we're gonna crystal. So good to see you too, Rebecca. I'm reading the chat. Oh. I'm just saying she has to leave early, but hey. Hi. Crystal. Woo-hoo. Hi. Thank you for being you. That's it. Adam's fam, like, is that your last name, Adam? Oh yeah. Oh yeah, the snap, snap. Yeah. At least it's not like that. I had two things real quick. One is the last time we met, I was talking about my play, the Zephan Violet play, the one about the Hasidic Jew and the Black woman and you said to come back and just kind of see where I was at and I think by that time or a little after that time, I had already submitted it to a lot of different theaters and I got a couple of rejections. I got some just saying that they're gonna read it, but the biggest thing I was concerned about was length and did I just overwrite, you know, cause it's in three parts and, you know, and everything like that. And I realized that like, okay, I see what my fear was. One, my fear was, is it gonna be boring? And then two, because I wrote it hoping to play the role of Violet, was I gonna be able to memorize it? And I think those were the big fears that kind of made me question myself as a writer with this play that I've been with for so long. That I was just like, is anyone gonna want it? And then is anyone gonna want, well, me? And so I think like I've, now that I've recognized that I've been able to kind of push it aside and say, like you said, I wrote from my gut, I wrote from my heart, I did my revisions. I think it's in a very good place. And if anything needs to change, then that's the worst thing that could happen. I just change what I need to change. And so thank you for that. Congratulations, by the way. I mean, congratulations on getting it out there, sending it out there. And also recognizing what was sort of underneath your concerns about it, you know what I mean? Cause I hadn't heard it. You didn't, I didn't, I don't remember you saying that you were thinking of being in the play. No, I probably hid that. Okay. That's really cool. That's really great. I hope you are in it. That'd be cool. Me too. But the second thing is, I'm writing a 10 minute play called Who's Black Barbie Is This? And I'm about halfway through. And it's just basically about a mother who buys a black doll for a white friend's daughter and she comes upon in walking towards her house, she finds a black Barbie doll in the garbage. And so it happens to be the doll that she gave her last year. And so there's markings on it. And it's just, you know, the kids are very young. So, you know, it becomes this bigger kind of question of like, how do you value not just black dolls but black people or, you know, are you having this conversation with your daughter, you know, about equality? It's a bigger issue than the dolls. And at the same time, I don't want to, I don't want it to be just 10 minutes of arguing or 10 minutes of confrontation. So I'm having trouble making it, like I'm not thinking about the 10 minutes right now, but I am having trouble making it like more active instead of just conversational. And I'm trying to be very careful of not just putting, like not putting my own opinions. I want to make sure that I'm writing from these two characters' voices that I'm writing what they're thinking so that it's not one-sided or it's not coming like straight from me. So I guess, yeah, that's my question. It's like, how do I make it more, you know, when it's already a little bit more charged, how do I make it more active as long with or aside from it being just confrontational? Active. Well, I mean, have you ever played with a Barbie doll? Oh, yeah. So have them play with Barbie dolls. Oh. And the clothes and her hair. Oh my God, is she gonna go out with Ken? Here's Ken. Right. I mean, you could introduce, I mean, you just, yeah. And also just a little thing. So have them play with dolls. It's a play after all. So, you know, have them play with the dolls. And also, don't worry about it coming from you. I mean, who else is writing the play? You don't want it coming from you. You want it coming from somebody else. It's your play. It's your play. If it's your opinion, you're allowed. Well, how do you balance that with, you know, when we talk about all the years that we've talked about, like hearing the voices of the characters and, you know, my fear is like this character, Lacey, is literally just crystal, you know? Well, is that a crime? No. Right. I mean, have you gotten to the end of the play yet? No, I haven't gotten to it. Well, you got, then you got to get to the end. Write a draft already. Write a draft. So what if it sounds more like you than somebody else? But then the other character might not sound like you because they're not you, unless you're two people, you only look like one person to me. You know what I mean? Yeah. Go ahead and go ahead and just write it. I mean, you know, and have fun, play Barbies. And is like Stacy in it or is it just Barbie? It's actually Christy, which is like this kid's cocktail. Yeah. Okay, great, great. That's cool. Okay. Have them play the part. Okay. Sure. I've never had that before. And yeah, that sounds like genius, you know? Thank you. You're welcome. Sounds like a fun play. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks, Crystal. Thank you. All right. We've got about six minutes to go. All right. Richard, go for it, Richard. Hey, Richard. Hey, Richard. Oh, did you get them? Oh, you're here. Can you click on mute? There you go. So really excited about having finished what we began two years ago. Each day I sit down and I wanna just read the whole play. What happens is that I get to page three and I understand this really needs work. And it's not, it's terrible. I hate it. It's just, it needs work. It's not moving me towards the next stage. So what happens in the last three weeks, it's been impossible to just sit down and read the whole play because as I'm reading it, each scene, I need to work what's in it. So the question is, is this crazy? Is should I just sit down and just read the whole thing? Because what I'm working on each scene, I know is connected to what the play is. It's making it tighter and better but I can't just sit and read from page one to 67. Right, that's a great question, Richard. Thank you. Yeah, it's a rewriting question. And congratulations first of all on having done the work, right? You wrote the draft, really, really. And it takes a lot of courage to get it out there, right? Because I said two years ago, I don't know how to write. I don't write. I hate writing, so thank you. Well, you do know how to write, so liar, liar, pants on fire. So there you are. You do know how to write and you wrote and did you hate writing all the way through or were there moments? No, it's got so exciting, especially rewriting it. One was just having it sent it to a friend who gave me really great feedback. Oh, great. Oh, great. Simple feedback. Okay, so now you're saying if I hear you correctly, it is difficult to read it through without going, I need to fix this, I need to fix this, I need to fix that. Right. So, okay, are you comfortable standing? Not everybody is. No. You're not comfortable standing? Okay. I can if I have to. No, no, no, no, no, but some people, like, you know, whatever their feet, whatever, people have, you know, they're very wide. Yeah, I do have feet issues, but that's... Fair enough. Okay, okay, okay, okay. So, because I like to stand and read. Somehow it gets me, you know, oh, well, it literally gets me on my feet, but no worries about that. How about reading aloud? Do you read your play aloud? Oh, no, in its... It's great, it's a great idea. Yes, I need to read it aloud. And read it aloud. And how about, let's just read it aloud, that will be fun. Have a notebook on hand and a pen or pencil at the ready and everything that you say to yourself, oh, geez, it needs fixing. Just write it down, page two. Must change the flavor of ice cream. Okay, keep reading, you know what I mean? And you can even say it out loud. Like, okay, Jenny said, oh my gosh, that's a beautiful flavor of ice cream. Oh, I got a page two, you can just talk. So it's all just, you're talking it out. So you're reading out loud. You're taking notes as you read, right? And you're writing those notes down. You have literally a running commentary as you go. And oh, the third thing, you said it was 67 pages, is that true? Yes. Great, because there are seven days in the week. So what you can do is starting like tomorrow. Is that right? Pretty much. Read like 11 pages a day. Will I get you to the finish line by next week, Friday? I mean, next week, Monday at five? It will, it must. I love math, don't you? So do 11 pages a day. That's all you got to do and do it like at your favorite time of day and then you're done and then you can do whatever you want for the rest of the day. So you're going to read aloud. You're going to take a running commentary of notes that need things that need fixing. You're not turning a blind eye or a deaf ear to these things. You are noting them. And you're going to do 11 pages a day, which means you're going to have read it through this time next week. Aha. And it's not, so the critical thing is not I sit down and you read the whole thing together. Just the fact of just doing the 10 pages a day. 11. Get you to 11. That'll get me to the end. It'll have the same effect. Yes. And you have a running commentary of notes. Running commentary. Running commentary of notes that you're taking because your goal is to read it through to the end. So we're going to make it a small, we're going to have a bite size amounts every day. We're going to give you a finish line, which is next Monday. We're going to be here. We're going to go how to go like that. Or you're going to say it went, I read it twice. Oh my God. And I love reading a lot. You know, things are going to happen. But if you do it, then you're going to have a sense of accomplishment. And that's what we're going for. And working in a different way. Well, yes. All that. That too. Exactly. I mean, but you've gone from, I don't know how to write to like, I've written something and I love the process. So this is like, wait, you know, who knows what could happen? Exactly. Thank you. Thank you. Great question. It is six o'clock. We're all turning into pumpkins. Yeah. Pumpkins. But it's a happy Lunar New Year and for Black History Month, we will be here every Monday. Because there's no other way for me to be black except to show up and know that. What does that even mean? It means I'm happy to be here and I love you guys and it's really fun. You're the best SLP. We are glad to be here with you. You're also the best and so are all of you. So it's great because we take steps forward. And it's 2022. This year, it's all gonna come together beautifully. Amen to that. All right. See you soon. See you next week. Bye, guys.