 It was a trap. It's a trap! Watch me work. We're here again in the Long Pistol Point Theatre. I got two bars on my microphone. This is the top of the desk. The most important part is to watch me work here. Some of you don't know what watch me work is. I ran into someone today at the beauty shop who said that she was going to watch us on sci-fi. She couldn't make it. So I just explained it to her. I was at the writer's writer. And she was like, No! Watch me work is a men's theatrical free writing class. It's also play. This is how the play works. We do our actions for 45 minutes and our actions are work. Whether you're writing or whatever you're working on. And then taking the dialogue after that. What's the price of your questions? About your creative process. Your questions about your creative process. And if you're not here today and along the way you can tweet us your questions. And we will tell you the address. It is watch me work SLP and tag it with the hashtag New Play. Watch me work SLP with the hashtag New Play. Okay. I'm not going to even try to read it. Great. Because all I'm going to do is to sit here and work with a typewriter. And so we'll have 45 minutes. Are you going to have an interview? Oh, an interview. Oh man. We have colleagues. There's parts of the show. We have colleagues. Alright. That's great. So, questions about your work, your creative process. We will answer. Mark? Mark in the classroom? I like him. He's always like that. He reminds me of work. Oh really? Work. Work. Oh my God. You know. You know. You know. You know. Okay. I'm going to tell you a lot of questions. That's why we're here. I was thinking about you know a lot of plays are sort of those things that you're going to live. Visions. Dramatur. Chattanooga. Some new plays do same kind of force. Any of these tools do this work? You want to make your name Yolanda. Yolanda. Some Y. Is it going to start with a Y? Yeah. Yolanda. Yolanda with a Y. Wonders. What's good. So, if you're thinking about getting your play produced. What's helpful and useful? Geometry, your workshop production. What else? Even before, like I know that like back in the day you stayed here long before. There is some to me that seems very hand-wrapped. You work on it. Right. You have to think about it. And what else is kind of things to help with your work? You know what? And for me to be I think different things are helpful for the price. If the price is quite different it's helpful. That's always right. People, I've heard of people, wonderful writers bringing in just their own, just the actors and saying, you know, let's put this on a speech and they find out a lot that way, they write it that way. And others writers are totally extreme and you know, just bring it in, don't change a word and that's what I'm talking about. So they're, they're different things that are completely different. And what you want to do is experiment on what works for you. And as you said, your wife is a writer and what life is like. So different things work for you in different situations. And all of us, we don't need to get locked in one way. We work that way that time, so I'm never doing it differently. You know, maybe an opportunity would prevent something south to feel it. That said, you're right, you want an institution like the workshop training and then the dramaturgs, you know, get in there and then get you in. It depends, it really depends. If you have someone that you know, a dramaturg for example, that you love, work a bit, oh, they're a lot of an accident. You know, then of course you want to give them your, your play to give you advice on and stuff like that. If they're just a random person assigned to you per seat, I would say per seat is caution. You know, it's like dating. It's really like dating. You could, you know, maybe do get down to your young first date, but you know, maybe you want to have them take their hitter for a couple of times and to maybe talk to some of their friends. So it's just like dating. In this case where she's like a date, but I do just say a date to finish it. Nobody goes over it. That's the way, you know. Just because it's an institutionalized thing doesn't mean it's bad, but it doesn't mean it's where everybody goes. So we should really do what's comfortable for you. I'm not a big workshop or a person, but I do believe in the workshop process. I mean, I'm having to play workshop and headwork. I'm not because it's workshop, but because instead of doing it out of town at first, which is the way they used to do it, they didn't just sit down on the ground. It's like a gym and meal and start this play. And it's really good. You know, I mean, it would travel to the oddest person, so it was playing all the same for me back then. So there was a tradition of lots and lots of productions which one could be played through the workshop. Yeah, exactly. It's just the new information of things that used to be well done and often done. You know, it's just a new environment. It's the same thing all over again. It's just what's comfortable for you. It doesn't sound bad. If something feels weird, then it sounds strange. You know, again, it's all about people. If you like the people you're working with, you go for it. If you don't feel like it's so free, then take slower steps and smaller instruments out there. You know, there's a dramaturg, John D. Now he runs a theater, two for the theater in New Jersey. No, I love talking to people about the work. Emily Morse, who now is on the staff for a year, is now at New Jersey. Love talking to her about the work. She used to be at New Jersey. John used to work here at one of the places. I love talking to people. I love talking to them. I don't like talking to people about my place. I don't like talking to people. First, it's really purpose for person, not the institution. Because that makes sense. So there's a way to do it, and then you say, well, I'd like to be in a district as a person. Like marriage, it's a great thing. If you're married to someone in school, right? Marriage is an institution, right? You're not like this marriage, you know what I'm saying? Like writing a sentence. So there's that person. Right, and what's your name? Morgan. Morgan, hey, Morgan. What's your revision process, unless I'm discouraged? What is your revision process right now? I don't know. I'm trying to figure it out. I basically wrote it, and I got it. I think I got it once, or I'll give it to myself tomorrow. And now I'm 20 years old. Now I have to go back to it. Get it ready for the next one. Right. So you've written a play. You've produced it once. You've seen it in one. You've gone around, and you're wondering now. But I think you're the perfect place to play. What works for me, if you see things that you want to change, thank the changer. If you don't see things that you think, I like it like it is, then I would say, keep it like it is. Just because you did it already, doesn't mean you have to change it. You know what I mean? Just because maybe you're being, you know, cordial, sexy doctor, you know, doesn't mean you have to take your notes. If you like it, then I would say, keep it. Then you saw some things you want to change. Go ahead and change. I thought you were going to want to change. Yeah. I feel like going back, like that, it's kind of overwhelming, isn't it? I think you're going to want to change that. So, like, how is it going back to this sort of thing? Right, right, right. Okay, that's great. That's what you just said. So Morgan said, he saw some things he wants to change, but it feels overwhelming, great, to identify that feeling. I think sometimes we can just identify what it is, more or less, exactly that we are feeling about something. We can have a handle on, you know, addressing it, right? So, we're feeling, oh, one might feel overwhelmed. Okay, I feel overwhelmed. What do I do if I feel overwhelmed, right? So instead of taking your normal sleep, oh, I feel overwhelmed. I'm keeping it all at once. I'm just in the little light. So what's helpful sometimes, you have to say, okay, this is the thing you want to change. I know when you're rewrite, when might you want to get the rewrite fixed? This is kind of a pain in my nerves. It might sound weird, but when might, just a dark trip to the date. Remember the 15th, great. Okay, so you pick a date. It's basically the 21st of August. Okay, great. I often get, pronounce some paper calendars. I have a map, so I pronounce the I count, blank piece of the paper. I mean, blank calendars or squares, right? August, September, October, November. That's my thing, right? Okay, so they put together, put it on my desk and put it in my notebook, carry it around. Okay, now, what you're going to do is you want to divide up your script into bits that will mark the shoot for October, November 15th. So I would say you want to have like a first goes through by say October 15th. So you want to go through the whole thing, rewriting. By October 15th, read it through and then do it again. Okay, so divide it up. So if you have, how many scenes do you have seen this? Okay, so your pages. Yeah, so it's like more scenes than one. Great, so you have X number of pages, right? So divide it up. So do like, do a portion of those pages every day. So you say you have 100 pages, you might do like five a day or something. Rewrite five pages a day and march through it like that. So it's not so overwhelming. One bite at a time or five bites a day. So you have your goal. It's like Everest. I know I'm not Everest, but I imagine they do it one step at a time. They don't just go, you know what I'm saying, right? They do, they go. And they're holding on to a rope, right? I think it's all pictures. You know, sometimes they look up and they go, and they just do this, right? And that's what we do when we rewrite. We write even. I can't say we write a page a day or a one word at a time. I break it down really small to make it manageable. And if it feels overwhelming, I step back and do it a little bit less every day. So if say five pages a day and your example feels like you're like breaking out your swipe, it looks like that's what you have to do. Break it out in some pages. Or do time 30 minutes a day and aim to get it done by say the 15th of October and then do it again by the 15th of November. So I have two regrets. So that's always something good. Break it down as long as it's really, really helpful. So this is kind of an international discussion. Yes, it's not about writing, but it's about literature. It's about writing a long list of songs that I've loved for my career. And I get written out because I don't I've started breaking down my chance with the denying thing. But part of me is like, I don't know if I should just focus on one song and say, you know, after two weeks I'll have this song completed or during the day be jumping on it. And it's like, I think I'm trying to get a sense of completion, but I also don't want to be so narrowly focused. So I'm just curious what your suggestions are. And I know people talk about this in general in writing projects, having you try to do that. Are you learning the songs right in the talk? Or learning. Can you play it? Okay, so basically you're learning songs to say. So what are the components you need to learn? Toon. The words. The words. And what else? And where to place it. And both ways specifically. How it's going to fall. And then talk about it. Then the activity. Right, so there's all those components. And you said you're doing how many songs? Right now it's like three or four. That's the master. Over a period of time. I don't like to get them done. I'd say by the time in September. But I feel like that's the end. Performing in front of people? Yeah, I guess that's another step is to get them up in front of people to kind of work shocker. Yeah, so back up. But what we want in September that's just the kind of deadline to finish writing. So one thing I've heard One more. One thing I've heard was to master that word. To master. I love that word because I'm going to master by your chair. But I suggest taking that word and putting it on the side. I might take a long time like finishing. I'll never do it without a break and I'll never take a word. I'll take a while. But you can't get to a point where you're never. Give it to people to lose. So mastery likes to go on the side. Because mastery or it might come after you've been singing the song for five years. After you've been singing this song brilliantly bringing tears to the eyes of your audience for five years. After ten years. So let's let that work out. You're going to learn more. Now, can you learn four songs in different four ways? Yes, you can. You can learn four songs in four words. You're not going to master them. You will learn the rhythm. You'll learn the tune. You'll learn the vocals. You'll learn the words. I would suggest instead of working and thinking I don't want to be too narrow instead, that's like your little nip by the booze. Don't be too narrow. You should be doing more. Work harder. Work on the ball hundred at once. Talk to the hand. I'm working on whatever song, you know. When I was Oklahoma I would just name that one. Maybe that's not one that you're writing. The lyrics are pretty good. Um I'm just working on Oklahoma this week. You're not to listen to other songs. You're just learning Oklahoma this week. You're not to sing other songs and be injured one more time. You're just working on Oklahoma. Because what happens is, yeah the overwhelming factor. I'm just going to learn one song a week. No, no, do it all once. That's when you get Oklahoma. We were all going through that private league in the public. So, yeah. One song at a time, use your strength and your focus to just say, I'm just working on this song. Again, get a paper counter or make one. And write down songs a week. It's such a thing. Keep your focus on your song list. Like you had received, you had written play. Type out your song list or write it out and then pick that song. This week, I'm just going to learn this song. Period. Anybody else who says, you should be learning more. And if you do it that way, you'll be able to cross the finish line in good shape. Okay? It's really important. We're just learning one song at a time. We're rewriting one page at a time or one line at a time. We're just doing one thing at a time. That's a form of discipline. And just to do that, this takes a lot of strength. Okay? A different kind of strength. I've talked about the courage to write it and the courage to rewrite it. The courage to write it or anything grows and everything goes. And there's the courage to rewrite it and we have to actually slow down. Writing is fast. You just want to get out there. You listen to songs. Do it, do it, do it. Slow it down. Tighten your throat. Yeah, I don't know whatever that was. Arrange it or whatever. Anybody else? Yes. Go ahead. We're talking about songs. Any advice on writing songs? I've been reading songwriters on songwriting that you had. Oh yeah, right. I sometimes wake up in the morning with some song in my head but I don't know what to do with it. So I got a little tape thing to sometimes sing it and that's about as far as I've got. Right. So Carol's talking about writing songs and she wakes up with a song in her head and you have a little tape to the beat and you sing into that. You have a way to transfer it and you can use the tape on a tape or you can download it to your computer. I think it can. You can download it to your computer. Do you write notes on paper or make music? You could if that's what you want to do. I like music. I've had many. It's not a plug. I've had many. I did a little thing in the old school and the new school. I love typing. It's kind of good. Just sing it in and then write it down. It were a line from a play or something that you were writing to. You had the same way. Write it down. Get it in a form other than the tape recorder kind of thing. Easily lost. So try to download it to your computer and type the lyrics out. You can note where it is on the tape recorder. Like 05 to 027. You can note that. If we get lost or stuck what's the way to return the initial feeling? What's your name? Julia? Hi, Julia. So if we get lost or stuck we all get lost or stuck. At least I do. Or I get lost or stuck so often. And that's good to get. I think I said the other thing I thought the other day that guides to UITS most of the people who get lost often. You can find your way out. It's not a bad thing to get lost and stuck because you have to figure out what do I do. Some of the things and this is the thing to return to the initial feeling that got you started in the first place that's kind of a trick a tricky bit there it's kind of like mastery maybe the initial feeling that got you there in the first place isn't what you should be returning to. So if you're looking for that maybe you're looking for something that's no longer there. Don't worry about that. Let that go. That might have just been the thing that got you here. What you want to find it sounds like you want to find it again and loving it again. Right? You might not be able to say that has been the beginning of it. Time is the best. Time will do it. Put in the time if you can honestly say I put in 45 minutes a day of our day on this work and I just can't find it I put in an hour a day for two weeks and it's just not there you know then put in the time right? When you walk around during the day a lot of times when we're stuck we walk around and then I have to say so instead of that try saying things like I really love it. I think it's going to be great. I really think it's going to work out. I'm so close to figuring it out. I can imagine myself already writing in the flow I can imagine myself in the flow of writing it's going to be great. It's really wonderful. I just got to keep up the time there. Like a kid, I have a role in the flow right? If every time he's trying to say what was he trying to say in the day? Yogurt. I'm like yogurt Your work is the same way it will be treat sometimes just need some encouragement to come out like a turtle it'll come you show up for it, it'll show up for you you know I've been writing for a hundred million years and that has always happened it might not turn out exactly like I want to I also don't get back to the feeling that got me writing in the first place rarely do I get there when I started writing in the first place but if I show up it shows up for me I work here together, we can come back here I went to band camp last week and you know you say hey we're going to band camp doing something you love often brings you face to face with your shits up in the woods where I went to band camp there was my shit, it was waiting for me your shits so like they come up and there you know so I spent the week wrestling with my stuff and either we can wrestle with our stuff and as we're wrestling we go oh this must mean that I'm not cut out for this I can go back home and not do whatever it is that I love that I know I love you know you love it so much oh this must mean that I'm not cut out for this I'm going to go home because so and so she never has to wrestle in her shit that guy over there just had that show I'm sure he just walks down on the path you know everybody is wrestling everybody most everybody there's a lot of national team that goes on all stage just like a green chat everybody everybody cries it's going to put you in touch with your shit and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you you know that's why we do this right this week momentum he's in my apartment now there's enormous enormous we all have them they all keep getting in I'm going to get a child and the week after I was going to get my child he's a big child we'll be back and look online in September We're going to look behind there, the food is right there, they're in charge of everything. Thank you, J.A., thank you so much. Let's just say hello again. Bye.