 this is so perfect. I love doing it up here. Yay. One day I won't have to. Okay, we're up. Okay, we're happening. We're on. This is again, this is, so this is Watch Me Work. I'm Susan Laurie Park. This is Leandro. What's your last name? Zennetti. Zennetti. What a great last name. Thank you. Leandro Zennetti who's helping out today and every day. So Watch Me Work. We're in the lobby of the public theater for those of you who are not actually with us live and we have people here who are awesome and so Watch Me Work is a, it's two things or maybe more at the same time. Watch Me Work is a play and we will have action followed by dialogue which you will help us with hopefully and Watch Me Work is also, I have to read it from the paper. Watch Me Work is also a meta theatrical free writing class. A free writing class, meta theatrical free writing class and so what we're going to do, this is the action of the play is going to take place first and the actual play will be 45 minutes long today. Some days will go longer but today will just be 45 minutes. The action of the play is you guys and me, we're all going to do our work. Okay, for 45 minutes. I'm going to set the timer here and when it goes off, we'll do the dialogue of the play which is basically a Q&A with you guys and you will be encouraged to ask me questions about your work and your creative process. Not my work, but your work. Okay, so if you're having trouble with a character or how to get started on something or plot development or whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, please feel free to ask me. Also for those of you who aren't here, it looks like everybody here's going to be writing today. So those of you who aren't here and hanging out with us on, what is it, live stream? Two things. One, you don't have to be writing obviously because this Watch Me Work is about any kind of work you're doing and if you should have questions about your writing and your work and your creative process, Leandro, what is the address? You can tweet at hashtag new play. Hashtag new play. So tweet us your questions during the writing session and we will answer them. That's a promise. Okay, so I'm gonna, anything that I remember everything? Okay, I'm gonna set the timer and we're gonna get started. Okay, so the writing session has begun. It's the writing part or the work part. That's the actual place where we can like take a pause from the action. I couldn't hear earplugs with some of you from where it really might want to bring. I just forgot. Like little earplugs. Just thinking. As I sit here and work, I think of like things that might be helpful to you guys. And Leandro just just reminded me that the public leaders might be doing a fire alarm starting at six. So if we hear a fire alarm, they held it for an hour for us. And if they, that's not the fire alarm. If we hear one, we should, I'm not sure what we should, I'm not going to tell people to leave the building. Yeah, it's just a test. So you don't have to leave, it's just a test. Yeah, they're just testing the business. Right, cool. Okay, okay, great. You probably saw me playing with this timer. It's temperamental. So I had to turn it on its head, but to work. So anyway, questions you guys might have about your work? Anybody or answers? No? You guys are laughing? No answers? Yes, question. Yes, Carol, go. Can characters have more than one want or need? Yeah, yeah, can they have more than one need? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think so. I would say yes. Can characters have more than one thing they want or need? Yeah, I mean, so often we get into those like they want one thing and you think we'll be referencing Hamlet a lot because I think most people are familiar with Hamlet. You know, think so. He wants to figure out what to do about his dad or his stepfather and his dad, the ghost, and he also wants to figure out what's up with Ophelia. So he has different things, you know. So those are just examples. He has three things going on or more problems, you know, so sure he can have things for the character. You know, I think it's probably better to have to sort of refine it, you know, so your main character, your Hamlet can have many things going on, but maybe you're, I don't know, think of Fortin-Browns, you know, what does he want? Right? He doesn't want like seven things, you know, maybe because he'd be on like, you know what I mean? Maybe he did in the original, but then they cut it down. So now we only see him like walking across the stage saying something and then he keeps going, you know what I mean? So maybe the main characters can and the less main characters might not, just to make it like a strong, you want a strong line, not a fuzzy, you know, let's put everything in the soup. You don't want everything in the soup. You can have many soups, you know. Do you have a question? Yes. What, are you, are you starting this solo? Sure, sure, sure. Well, okay, are you, have you done any, any performing? Oh, you have a BFS, so you have a degree. So you have a degree in acting, so, so you know everything that you need to know. I don't know, but you have some experience, which is great. Okay. And sometimes with a degree in acting, sometimes your experience might be more doing plays that have already been written, or written by somebody else. So, so now you want to write your own piece, right? I would say the best thing to do is find a time of day that works for you to sit down and write. So what time would be your special time of day? What's your favorite time of the day? I know he's laughing, the guy behind is laughing. Two would like, I know, right? Like two in the afternoon. So like snap time, basically. Okay, great. So your favorite time is nap time. So do you have a schedule that will allow you to sit down every day and write during nap time? Okay, but why don't you, so why don't you do every day at two when you can, and then when you can't, you do it in the evening. So definitely claim your favorite time, right? Because that's part of it. And sit down for a certain amount of time, say 45 minutes, because you just did that now, right? So you can do it. You sit down and you just write. And you stop, you know, you get a few sentences and then you stop, just keep going. That's the thing. There's no secret other than just sitting down and doing the work. Okay. Right. Um, so I guess it's always like I don't know how this, like the creating character is like, uh-oh, there's more. Wait, there's more. It's not just a solo show. It's like a solo tell-all show. Don't worry. We won't tell anybody. What you can do is write it and not show it to anybody. Right? Just write it. So if you hear the voice in your head going, you can't tell that about Aunt Juni. I'm just going to keep writing, right? And your job is just to show up every day at two for 45 minutes or maybe 30 minutes, how about? And just put something down on paper and keep going. Don't edit until you're done. And don't worry about telling the family secrets. You're not showing it to anybody. So it's kind of like just in your head. Okay? And then once you get it down on paper, then we'll talk about how to, you know, what it is. But right now it's just a whole bunch of like, oh, I think I'll go outside. No, I might, oh, I don't know. It's New York. You know, and you stay inside your whole life. Go outside. See what's going on. And then we'll have something to work with. But show up. Try showing up every day for yourself. Okay? That's the most important. Oh, go ahead. One more. Then we'll go to the gentleman behind you. I think your point A is sitting down and your point B is writing. That's the main thing. Think about the form, the structure, who you're going to offend with your writing, what prizes you're going to win, what you're going to say in your acceptance speech. All that stuff comes later. You got to sit down and write. Okay? If you already had it written, then we could talk about the other things. But just write and see what happens. You have to give yourself permission to write. Okay? So try that and see what happens and maybe come back. And after you've done that for, I don't know, a week or something, do you come back and we'll talk about it some more. Okay? Okay. Sir, behind you. Go ahead. Right. I understand what you mean. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. So there's, he's trying to express pertinent information, something you've got to know about this character that reveals their psyche, something you've got to know about a character that reveals their psyche and how, and it happened in the past. And how do you convey that information in the present without being like, oh my God, he's just talking. Right? Or he's just blah, blah, blah, blah, right? So it's emotion connected to an emotion. Right? If I'm telling you like, because anything that your character says is totally boring, unless it's connected to the need of the character. Right? And the need other than like the need to tell the story, that's done. I'm talking about what's going on right now. Okay? So they might tell, I'm just thinking once an example, like Hamlet, I can't think of one of them off the top of my head. Oh, you know, the guy in the grave digger. What's the name of the grave digger? No. The grave digger. Oh, the skull? York. York. So you know, but you're in the grave digger. There's a grave digger in York. Right? Oh, long time ago, I'm paraphrasing horribly, long time ago, when you were born, such and such and such and such was happening. Right? That tells us some pertinent information that happened in the past. That's really interesting. Because why? Because the character really wants to tell this information because it's connected to an emotion. He's digging. He finds a skull. They talk about it. Right? It's it's you dirt on your hands, a skull in the graveyard. It's an, oh, Alas, poor York. I knew you way in the way when you used to dance around or whatever the fuck it says. Excuse me. But you know what I'm talking about. Right? He's telling Alas, poor York, I knew when you used to dance around. That's right. That's information from the past. But it has something to do with something because there he is looking at the skull, thinking about mortality in his own life and his dad and all this kind of shit. Right? It's tied to a really strong emotion. Okay? So tied to a really strong emotion other than the need to just repeat some information to the audience. All right? Okay. Do you understand what I'm saying? Some present tense desire, some present tense emotion. Something the character's wrestling with and this telling of the information helps him to wrestle with this problem that he's wrestling with. Okay. Let's just think of him. We maybe have a problem. Not only will your day seem so much brighter, but you know you'll figure out all your dramaturgical issues. You know? Oh, three minutes. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Right. So are you writing a novel? Right. Right. Right. So you want to, so you're writing a play. Tell me if I got it. You're writing a play and she wants to know, wow, it's kind of heavy on the details and the like explaining, to explain me or to big stage directions. Oh, just don't write stage directions anymore. No, look at again, Hamlet. How many stage directions do you have? Not very many. Right? Enter exit or you know, whatever that play is, the winter's tail. Exit pursued by a bear. Right. I mean, wow. Make him like that. Don't write any stage directions or write very small ones. Okay. And what you have to do two things you trust your collaborators because when you write a big long stage direction you're not really you know it has to be just like this you know and some writers used to do that I've heard stories of like Samuel Beckett who would show up to make sure that you know his play was exactly how you want it you know that's a lot of work you know I'm saying so what you want to do is trust your collaborators by not writing so many stage directions and most importantly you want to put the action in the line the action in line right so someone says give me those gloves give me those gloves that means what there's some gloves over there that you see what I'm saying it's not like gloves on the table she reaches for them hey give me that's a good right give me those go think of it again Shakespeare does it all the time you want to put your action in line in the line that will make your writing come alive because it's like everyone's talking like this instead of and explained in the stage direction okay so just just stop writing stage directions don't write and if you write keep or maybe you are writing a novel but I believe you I believe you're writing to play I believe you're writing to play just just cut out the stage directions and read some Shakespeare because he does it really well the no stage direction kind of thing okay anyone anyone have a burning question burning question that we must answer yes sir we mean stop what right right right right right right did you get to the end yes so you got to the end and you wrote the end okay well there's a stopping point I mean I'm serious right I'm not being funny you get to the end right okay and then you're like well maybe I need to rewrite it so when do you stop with the rewriting maybe right okay right right right it's a it's a field thing and that's it's a skill that you're learning right now when to stop rewriting right it's a skill what you know that in that play with Maggie the cat and bring you know her husband drinks a lot he says I drink until I hear the click that's what you're going for right without the drinking but you're writing until you hear the click and that's a skill right so you're gonna develop that skill okay and basically you can develop you can have do you read your play a lot great how does it feel when you read it does it feel like the characters are saying what they got to say and do what they got to do so maybe you're done if it feels like one of them everyone's walking you know one of the characters is kind of doing this then you got to fill out the rest of his body or her body right they just feel like they're all walking along in the way that you want them to this time to I don't know call up your friends and do a reading and you're living or something okay but it's a skill set and you're learning it and you get better and better at that skill okay so next week we won't be here because I'm in Kansas or city next week so next week we will not be here because I am in either Kansas or Kansas City I'm not sure which and but the week after we will certainly be here so thanks for coming thanks for being online we love you