 That was my favorite moment that has ever happened. That was wonderful. It's five o'clock everybody. Hi mom. I was eating some dessert. I apologize for that. I, I'm not apologize, I was great. Professional. Loved that moment. What was the dessert? It's really good. So you take like an ice pop, you know, like organic fruit juice and you make an ice pop out of it or something. And then you put in the glass and let it melt a little bit. Then you put coconut whipped cream. Whipped coconut milk on it. Not whipped cream. Don't go dairy. And then you have someone you love very much or just the other side of your personality. Feed it to you. That's amazing. It's the, it's a beautiful, yeah, it just reminds you that, you know, yeah, it's a good thing on a difficult day. All you need is love and sugar. Yeah. Yes. Agreed. Agreed. All right. I'm so sorry to be real. Let's go ahead. I'm so sorry. This is a serious show here. We're serious people. This is Watch Me Work where it's Monday all day long. And for those of you who are new, I'm Susan Lee Parks I'm the writing residence of the public theater. We've been doing a show for 11 years. Ever since I sat in the lobby and went, gee, I want to, I want to reach out to people and offer, you know, artistic cheerleading to them as they work on their projects. So here we are. We sit together and work for 20 minutes and then we talk with you. I talk with you about your work and your creative process, not my work, but your work. Watch Me Work is all about you. So because thanks to the public theater for helping us continue to create this show. Thanks to HowlRound. They came on a few years ago to help us live stream and they've come on in full force together with the public theater to help us create this online community for which I am personally very grateful and love seeing you guys four or five days a week. What's next, Audrey? I have to tell them, Audrey would tell you how to get in touch. How to get in touch, yeah. So if you're inside of the Zoom, all you need to do is, I'm so sorry, my partner's also on a call. All you have to do is click on the raise your hand button which is in a participant tab, likely at the bottom of your screen on a laptop or the top if you're on an iPad or a tablet. And if you're watching on HowlRound.tv, you can tweet at us at Watch Me Work SLP with the hashtag HowlRound, H-O-W-L-R-O-U-N-D or you can tweet at public theater N-Y or right into our Instagram. And that's the way you can ask some questions. So many ways, so many ways to get there. Okay, so we're gonna work for 20 minutes and then we're gonna talk for the remainder of the hour. Here we go. All right, all right, all right. All right, all right, all right. We've got a question. Melania. Hey sis, how you doing? Are you there? There you go. Oh yeah, yeah, thank you Audrey. Hi Susan, Lori, how are you? I want to first, I want to thank you very much for the visit of Luis Alfaro last week. It was such an amazing experience. I couldn't stop writing down the things that he was saying because for me, for my soul was so eye-opening and it's helping me a lot to process and think about situations as I am living in my life and it was beautiful, really beautiful. And then I, because there was something that I love about his visit that was the relationship he made between theater and face and all the situation. So I wanted to share something that happened to me and I think that is thanks to you and all my classmates here. It's that in my church, they had a summer camp for children and they didn't know even that I write. I never talk about it because I didn't have the courage to say I loved writing, I loved to write, I am a writer, but since I am with you and all the beautiful group, I took that courage and naturally it came out of me that I write. So they said, okay, we have this summer camp online because of all the coronavirus. So we would love you if you want you to write the introductions to the videos and the outros if you would like it. And I said, I could love it. So suddenly my faith, my love for children, the online situation and all appear and it was something, yes, that I know that God put through you and all these groups. So I wanted to share that. Thank you, thank you. You know, there's a saying that says Melania, God works through people. And whatever your faith is or whatever, we can say that the great spirit works through people and you're an example of that. You're all examples of that, you know. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Oh, thank you. I thank God because it was about you and all Luisa Farros said and it's all together. You know it's this, God is working through all of you. So thank you. Yeah, thanks. Oh, what a beautiful story, yay. Happy writing. Thank you. Thanks Melania. Okay, up next we've got Stelina. Are you there? Hello, I'm writing something with two characters and I was wondering if you need a third character do you need a third character to get complicated or if you can make it complicated with just two characters? That's a great question. You can make it complicated. I mean, imagine yourself sitting in your, you know, room. It can get complicated with just one person. It can get very complicated with two people. There are a lot of great two-person plays out there where you really, you know, and it can certainly, you don't need a third to make things complicated. If you're play, if you feel like two characters is what I want, then I think you can, they can go at it just with two people. Okay, great, thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. All right, up next we've got Karima. Right here. Can you hear me? Hi. I just wanted to say, thanks also for the gift that you had on last week. I, too, got so much information and I also got the book that he recommended, that after the book, it is good. So I just really just wanted to say thank you because I, it was, the way, because also I'm an actress too. So the way that he spoke visually and all that, it just, it just ran, it just tore it off. So thank you so much. And I really, really am so happy that this is being done. And I'm hoping when all this is over, that this will be done. Okay, so thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you, Karima. I'm gonna send Louisa another note. You know, I sometimes write back and forth the text back and forth. And I will tell him how much you guys are still singing his praises and being very grateful. His visit was, and of course I always invite him back. You know, he's got his schedule, you know. But in terms of continuing after the COVID thing, what's really great about HowlRound and Audrey and the whole team at the public is that they've made it very doable. You know what I mean? They've made it possible. It's not a huge mountain to climb. And you guys have really made it possible for us to meet every day or four days a week or whatever. So my intention is just to keep continuing and keep inviting guests in, because it's always great to hear from lots of folks who love you guys and want you guys to succeed, even if they haven't met you yet. So that's my intention, that's our intention. That's where, you know, as long as we have Zoom today, you notice I got a wall, but I'm not in my mom's backyard. I got my own internet in my little rented house. So we will continue. So thank you, thanks. Thanks, Karima, thank you. Nice to see you, Karima. All right, up next we've got Erin. Hi, it's really, really cool to see you. I was wondering, I'm working on a piece that's about the protests in Minneapolis and the protests in the world. And I'm wondering, as I'm writing it, I'm wondering, you know, this, I probably won't be able to show anybody this for another like few months. And if all of this ends up blowing over somehow, or like even if a year from now I'm done with it, like, how do you keep something so specific, current, when it takes so long for a play to really develop? Yeah, that's a great question, Erin. And we think of, we can like reverse energy, think of plays that have endured for longer than the hot minute or, you know, when they were written, you know what I mean? My suggestion is grounded in, you know, you have the things on the surface, right? That are like biggest in our vision because they're right in front of us, you know what I mean, like that. And then you have the things that are maybe not quite as visible but that are the more enduring nuggets, kernels of wisdom, issues if you will, character traits if you will, you know what I mean? That might not be right in the front, right? I would say, ground your play, show these, but ground your play in these. Does that make sense? So you want the enduring qualities. I mean, why do we just take a play off the top of my fences, you know, fences was written in the end of the win, maybe the 80s, you know? We still wanna see it, you know? Why do we still wanna see, you know, for colored girls who've considered suicide when the rainbow isn't up, right? So Intazaki wasn't just writing it about what was going on in the 70s for women of color, right? She was rooting it in really deep character studies, things that would endure or take plays more conventional, Hamlet, you know what I'm saying? Or even hair, the musical, you know? That still rings true because it's not simply about the moment, it's about all time. Does that make sense? It does, thank you. Okay, so root it in the things that are very much of the moment, that's very important to speak about where we are now, but also things that endure, that keep coming around again, you know, those character traits that keep coming around again, okay? Okay. Okay. Thanks, Ari. Yay, good luck with your writing. Up next, we've got Emery. Oh, hold on, my mouse. Ah, there we go. Hi. Hi. Hi, I'm here. Hi. Hi, thank you so much for this, this is really, really fun. Something I've been, something I've been that's been showing up for me is that I feel like lately, I haven't been wanting to show up for my work and I find it really easy to, like if something feels hard or like honestly like painful, like my first instinct as of lately is to just like throw it away and like do something else and like work on something else. But then of course like the same feeling comes up for that. And it's like the cycle of me like starting new things, a lot of new things over and over. And so I guess I'm wondering what you, like if you have any advice about like sticking with something even when it really hurts, because I know that's when it's good after you get, after you crack something, but I'm just having a hard time like sticking with it right now. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Two words, you used to crack, you didn't use breaking the back. In the old days, they used to talk about figuring out a story or a play or a screenplay and they'd say, I need to break the back of my screenplay. You didn't say that, but crack it, you know. And I always went, ooh, I wanna crack it. I wanna like embrace it. I wanna pull it in. I wanna hug it. I wanna incorporate it. I wanna eat it. I wanna digest it. I wanna make it a part of my body, you know what I mean? This is where the work is, Emery. You know that. I know I'm telling you something you know, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. This is where the work is. Pima Chodron, the Buddhist nun. We know Pima Chodron, if you don't, that's a good book. She makes books that are little and you can carry them around in your pocket when you go protesting. Awesome books. This is where the work is, right? So know that this is where the work is, so it's essential and you know that, right? Know that you're not alone. If you have nobody else, you got us. You know what I mean? Here's your squad. Here we are. We're all doing it. We're all working on those hard things. I mean, I don't wanna speak for everybody, but just speaking for myself, I weep. I read the news and cry or throw something. You know what I'm saying? You know? It's like, or at least I'm throwing my hands up in the air going, what the fuck? You know what I mean? So those feelings are being felt. You're not alone if you're feeling those feelings. Or I'm so overwhelmed, I don't know what to do. Putting your work aside, it might be the thing that might feel good for a day or so, but ultimately it's not the right choice. So reduce the task. This is really good. This is really good. It's a timer. It's a timer. It's not a phone. Can you tell? Right. So you set it for 10 minutes and maybe you'll only do your work for 10 minutes a day. Right? Maybe that's all. You have to do 10 minutes a day, Emory, that's all. You inch into it. Inch it along. Right? Because it wants to be done. Right? Your work came to you, whether it's a play or a movie or a song or whatever, because it wants you to sing it, Emory. And you're the one to sing the song or write the play or write the novel or what have you, right? So little tiny bits of work time, 10 minutes at a pop, maybe three times a day. Right? Also give yourself permission to write in a less than brilliant style, right? Write a shitty first draft. You know? Okay? Those of us who are professionals do that all the time. Oh, okay. Thank you so much. Okay, so just keep plugging along. And if nothing more than you come here four days a week, Monday through Thursday and you write with us for 20 minutes, that's good too. You know what I'm saying? Okay? Thank you so much. You're welcome. Good question, thank you. Thank you, Emory. All right, up next we have Jacob. Go for it, Jacob. Hi, Susan, Mike. Hi. So my question is about sort of how to, it's sort of a similar question to Emory's, but a little bit different, I guess, in that I'm transitioning right now into a period where I will be writing full-time as my job, essentially, which is exciting. And it's the first time that that has happened. And but the flip side of that is that basically I have four projects in order to make that work. I have four different projects, right, that I have to work on that are all in different phases of the thing. And all of which like have to move forward to some degree. So it's not like I can just be like, oh, I'll just work on whichever one is the most exciting right now. They all sort of have to move forward on a somewhat, you know, in the next three months. And so I'm wondering if you have any advice in terms of how to create a sustainable practice that holds that kind of space. I have time, time I have. Okay. Which is usually not a thing I have. But I don't really know how to structure or hold that time in a way that is functional. Okay. So are all these four projects, good question, Jacob, are all these four projects, are they all related to your working as a writer for money or? Yeah, they're basically, yeah, it's essentially, yes. One of them is just for me, I guess. Great. But like one's a commission, one is part of a writing group. And one is like a movie rewrite, all of which are, yeah, like they're the thing that are paying my bills right now. Fantastic. So have you ever been in an airplane? I have, yes. Great, great. Okay, good, this is gonna work. Okay, so, but maybe you haven't been an air traffic controller, right? Not then. Okay, okay, that's okay. You don't need to be. You pretend you're an air traffic controller and you know they keep all those planes in the air, right? Okay, and you're gonna be developing that skill and you'll be, I'll be right alongside with you. I've got about six different projects for six different people and they're all paying me and they all want them done like last month. You know what I'm saying? So what we're doing is we're flying those planes. You ever look out the window of a plane? Right, you're sitting there and you look out the window and you see a plane go by like, zoom, like that? You've ever, have you ever seen that? Like, oh shit, it's going so fast and it's kind of close. Not really, but you know, right? That's how fast you're going. That's what you look like to them. So what we wanna do is create the ability to run all our planes toward their various destinations, right, with all safely, all getting there safely. You can either do it again. You can cut your, divide your days or divide your week, right? For example, like Saturday for me this past Saturday was, I'm gonna just work on this project A, let's just say, right? So all I did that day was just work on project A. Sunday was I'm just gonna work on project B. I have things that I need to do to bring it to a certain level of completion on its timetable and I'll just work on that project, you know? Today, Monday tricky, cause I have meetings and all the project to work on. So it's like, I'll pick a smaller piece of project C to work on. If I get that over the finish line, good job. And I'll do all my meetings. You see, so I take days to work on different projects. That's how I do it. Some people say from 10 to noon I'm gonna work on one project and from noon to five I'll work on another project. That's a way to do it too. Is that at all? It certainly seems like trying. Yeah, and I'm suggesting that it works very well for me. I do days, the thing about the weekends, at least if you're working for television, the great thing about, they don't call you on the weekends. It's amazing. It's like, oh my God, it's so great. So you can silo your brain and kind of get stuff done or you can pick two days from Monday, Tuesday and working on project A, Wednesday, Thursday, project B, Friday, project C, Saturday, project E, like that. You can kind of do it. And just like dim sum, I'm using all these metaphors but you know what I'm talking about, right? Or the lazy Susan, you just move it around. But when you're in a project, only work on that project. Right. Even if it's just two hours a day, two hours, I'm just gonna work on project A. You work on project A and give yourself little goals like I'm gonna read the script of project A and start in the back of my mind, thinking of a game plan for the rewrite, for example. Does that make? Yeah, totally doable. Totally doable, totally exciting that this is where your life is right now. Very, very thrilling, attitude of gratitude of course, right? Even when we're overwhelmed, we're so thankful that we got these jobs, you know, okay? And keep checking in with us, because you know I love you. I know you're from that other incarnation and I love you. So keep checking in, okay? Well, there, thank you. Thanks, Jacob. All right, up next we've got Lynn. Hello, Lynn. Oh, I thought I was on a wait list. Hi, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. A number of months ago, I was doing this workshop with a wonderful playwright called Antoinette Nwanda. And we were doing this workshop and then doing a lot of research, you know? And I realized I was so, how can I say? I didn't have the information, you know? So I started reading a lot and then this happened, especially Du Bois book about the reconstruction. You know, we're never taught this, we're never taught. I mean, the Civil War was, and Lincoln was shot. Basically, that's what you get in school, at least when I was growing up, you know? And it's been a revelatory experience, but also as it informs me, you know, I feel this shame. And as I spoke to a number of friends of mine, African-American friends, they said, don't live in the shame, you know? You have to do something. We're tired, it's your job now. I mean, it was like a command my friend had and I read and read, I cannot imagine. And this is a moment, and I'm alive in this moment of history where things could change, you know? I mean, and I don't know how to actively do something about it, except in my very small life, you know? I feel more informed, but the resonance of this history just lays on my heart, you know? Like a huge rock, a stone. It wasn't that I wasn't aware, it was that I wasn't living it. It was, so I guess my questions, to you, is how do you not live in the shame? And when I write, it's interesting, the play I'm writing is certainly about my background, but I see similarities, but it's not the same, but the similarities between anti-Semitism and this profound centuries of discrimination. But how do I integrate that and use it to be of service, to be, you know, having more information doesn't make me, it just makes me feel less, has that, you know? So how do I actively, and as an artist, as a human, just as a human being, actively help the change, you know? And I'm older now, I mean, I've had my years of protesting and I just, you know, I don't get on the line anymore because it's dangerous for me, you know? So in there is my question. So Lynn, I mean, the first thing I have to say is thanks for asking the question. And the second thing I say is, because I think it's important to say at times like this, because you are one of the folks, you know, we have a wonderful collection of people who would show up pretty much every week when I sat in the lobby. Yeah, easier to show up now, but Lynn would bring her behind to the lobby. And just get your wrist in the chair. Yeah, so I, you know, I can say, Lynn, thank you for asking the question. And I'll just go on and say, I know your heart. And it's good and it's righteous. And I think that it is very important for all of us involved in this culture revolution to acknowledge the wrongs and acknowledge when we're trying to do right, you know? Cause the work is hard and we're not going to get it right all the time. White, black, brown, POC, BIPOC, I don't care who we are. We're not always going to get it right. We're not always going to say the right thing in the right way and, you know, it's hard. It's difficult just speaking for myself as a black woman living in America for all these years. I am angry. I go to Hollywood, I work a lot in Hollywood. Ooh, I'm the angry sister. In theater circles they're like, why aren't you angrier? I'm like, fuck y'all, you know what I mean? But I navigate those areas, you know what I mean? I try to just be righteous and bring love. So Lynn, I think your friend, if she says don't live in the shame, she knows you're a lot better than I do. If you feel shame, feel it, but let us not use anything we're feeling as an excuse to avoid real substantive positive change. So if you're going to feel shame and you think, well, that's enough, I'm feeling bad. You know what I'm saying? That's not enough. If I say I'm feeling angry, that's not enough either. You know, if someone says I'm feeling a lot of ideas, that's not enough either. It is a combination of these things. We have to get a lot smarter. We have to make leaps in our understanding of ourselves and each other that we have not yet made because that's why we're still here because like Pima children would say, here's the work. The work needs to be done, you know? So Lynn, if you're feeling ashamed, feel it. Cause I'm going to keep feeling angry. I'm going to keep figuring out ways to channel it, you know what I'm saying? But yeah, you're muted though, sis. I can't hear you. Caction or motivations. You know, anger alone is not going to make a change, but anger and compassion. Well, don't, I would ask you that. I mean, you know, I know, that's what I'm saying. Shame alone isn't going to make a change. I say for anybody, if you're using your dominant feeling to avoid addressing the systemic racism that is part of this country, then you need to add a little something else to it to activate it, you see what I mean? So if you're only feeling shame, add something else to it to activate it. If you're only feeling anger, add something else to it to activate it. You know what I'm saying? It's a multi-pronged approach right now because it is so, it has poisoned our whole culture, our world culture. It is so much apart. And Lynn, you said you live in it, but you're not feeling it, and now it's weighing heavy on your heart. It's been weighing on my heart my whole life. Or before I was born, because my parents were carrying it. You know what I'm saying? So yeah, welcome. Welcome to the shitstorm, sister. This is where the work begins. If you're feeling shame, just activate it. Keep active in any way you can. And we won't expect, like we won't expect everybody. Everybody's allowed to operate in rough draft mode. You know what I'm saying? I mean, we don't have to be perfect. We just have to be committed to making that positive change, you know? And doing your work. And again, don't use the bad feelings to not get your writing done. My ass is getting bigger. Thank you, Lynn. All right, we've got about eight minutes left, and we're gonna go to Jolondre. Are you there? Yes, hi. Hi, everybody. Thank you for this. I'm also sort of like, I think it was Kimmy Kim. Writing about something in the moment, obviously there's a responsibility to be telling truth right now. And so working on some essays, and my question really is about ending and release, though it first occurred to me in terms of revision and research. But, you know, I still unfortunately have this fear of maybe sounding like an idiot, or even though we don't really care about that too much in these days, but really just a fear of a lack of clarity in my own thinking. And so, you know, if I'm writing along, and that kind of drives me to say, oh, well, let me, you know, revise this again, or read three more books, or, you know, search every parent periodical to see what people are saying. And, you know, I know that's impossible, but, and so that kind of prevents me from simply submitting a thing to do my work and speak my truth about what's going on. And so, yes, advice about that, please. That's a beautiful question. I remember, if I remember correctly, brother, the first time we spoke on this show, you were outside, you live in LA? No, no, no, I'm in New York, but I usually am in a park or something. Oh, you were in a, it was beautiful. I'm inside today, luckily. Beautiful, okay, cool. No, I was just remembering that picture of you. But I would say that it could be your essay, your essay could be, you know, part one of many, part seven of, you know what I mean? And as your clarity develops, so could your understanding, you know? Like I said, I don't think you have to get it perfect the first time. I think if there's an urgency to what you're saying and there are essays and you want to get them out there, we talked with, oh, was it Vernita? Maybe last week, she was also writing some essays that, and I said, well, you can always do part two or part three, that kind of thing. Would that be helpful? Yeah, I think so. I guess my, yeah, I think maybe that provides an opportunity to get things right that I got wrong. I think that's my fear. It's like, oh, I haven't, you know, read all the latest pieces on this. And so there's also a little bit like, am I saying the same thing? Am I adding to this conversation? Or am I just, you know, doing my personal therapy on? I understand. I would say all of those are allowed. You're able to echo what someone else has said. You're allowed to echo what someone else has said. You are allowed to do your own personal therapy. If maybe, man, you have friends, you have trusted readers, I know I do. And you could maybe send the document to some trusted readers and say, give this a read and give me some feedback. Tell me what you think. Does this sound like it's making sense? Or have I left anything out that I need to put in? Or if I need to write a second essay, you know, like that, you can get great feedback from trusted friends who, you know, want you to succeed. You know, does that make sense? That's always good to have readers out there. If you have a reading group, you might want to read it aloud to your colleagues and comrades, you know? That's always helpful to me anyway. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for asking the question. Thank you, Julia. Nice to see you. All right, we don't have any questions at the moment. We've got about four, well, three and a half minutes left. Oh, I spoke too soon. Danielle, hello. Help me, thank you so much for this space. This has truly been like my church during this time. I'm so grateful for this community. It's just so inspiring. So thank you. My question is kind of related, but in a way the opposite of Jacob's. I'm about to start actually today as my first day of a new job. And I'm grateful for the work. And I'm scared that I'm going to stop writing because it's so much easier for me to prioritize things that people are asking me for, things that are happening in a group, things I'm being paid for over things that I believe are my truth, my important for me to bring out into the world. And I'm just wondering if you have any thoughts on that, on like in addition to this space, which is so, so helpful to sort of like find the time just shifting that balance a little bit and finding ways to sort of value the things you care about and believe in and want to be putting into the world at the same level as like things that are supporting you and that other people are asking you for. That's a great question, Danielle. And so I'm silly question, but will you be able to stay at home while you work or will you have to go into the... Yeah, yeah. It's going to be a work from home thing at least for now for the first time. Okay, and are they expecting to see your face at a certain hour of the day? I mean, what's the... Yeah, yeah. I think like generally they're on the West Coast, I'm on the East Coast, so I kind of get to do the West Coast hours, which is awesome. But yeah, I will be expected to work like normal work hours on their time zone. Great. Of course you will, of course you will. This is so great. You got to say thank you to the spirit for giving your job that is based in the West Coast because so 10 o'clock, like 10 to six kind of thing? Yeah, yeah. Great, so 10 o'clock LA time is what time for us? One, one. Great. Okay, Danielle, so you have basically, and can you get out of bed by, I don't know, eight in the morning? Yes. Great, great. Do you like to, do you have an exercise routine or a meditation program also or what do you like to do? Dog and a little yoga thing that I like to do. Dog and yoga, fantastic. Okay, so you got walking your dog, right? Doing your yoga, add maybe five minutes of meditation at the end, you know, something like that, which is like whipped cream. And then around, let's say 10 o'clock in the morning, don't wanna rush you, right? You're gonna do your writing. From 10 o'clock in the morning to say, I don't know, noon, I don't know. And then you close the computer, whatever you close up your writing station and you get ready for work, whatever you gotta, I don't know if you gotta wear an outfit, you know, whatever you gotta do, right? Fancy on top, pajamas on bottom. There you go. Fancy on top, pajamas on bottom, and you know, you look professional right now to me. So is that doable? Basically you're gonna prioritize your self, your work, your heart's desire by putting it in the front of the day and then you will be at their service cheerfully and gratefully at their service from 10 to six L.A. time, okay? Yeah. And you just have to be, you just have to be really in love with yourself and respectful of yourself and know that this is totally worth it, okay? That gives you a ton of time. Yeah. And you don't need to be writing more than like two hours, three hours a day, you know? Anyway, you'll get your work done. Okay. Thank you so much. You're welcome. You can like slip away. You can slip away and like come see, watch me work or some shit. Yeah. You can go to the bathroom. Yeah. All right. It is 6-0-1. 6-0-1. All right. Crazy town. We love you guys. We love you. Thank you SLP. As a reminder, you can always sign up on the public theater website by 3 p.m. Eastern time and I will send you a link between three and 4 30 p.m. Eastern Monday to Thursday. You know, we love you guys. See you tomorrow. Thank you, SLP. Thank you. Thank you, Audrey. Thanks for helping.