 Okay, that's 20 minutes. Do we have any questions. Oh, it looks like we have a question from Kara. You should be able to unmute now. Awesome. Thanks. I'm about to graduate. I'm about to graduate college and I'm starting my writing career. Thank you. I'm wondering how would you. What advice would you have for someone just starting out after college. Wow, did you say writing career. Yeah. So what kind of writing do you do. I do play writing and screenwriting. Right, right, right. Oh, wow. See how exciting. Well, congratulations. We're about to embark on your writing career. I would say. Right as much as you can. Right. Do you have friends who are writers. Yeah. Oh, great. Okay, good. Hang out with, you know, make sure you keep in touch with your good friends who are also writers, right. Right as much as you can read as much as you can, you know, um, you know, maybe you can't always afford to go to a play. You don't have time or you have a day job or something like that, but read as many places you possibly can. And also, you know, read as many screenplays or, you know, watch as many movies and TV shows if you want to also write for that genre, you know, just couldn't just ingest a lot of things. As much as you can, but the more important than taking stuff in is also writing right, right, right, right, right. As much as you can. And then, you know, hang out and see if you can, I don't know, are you into self producing or have you done that before that kind of thing. Yeah, I haven't self produced anything before but I'd be really interested in learning how to do it. Well, you just find a group of people who are, you know, interested in putting on your show, or maybe you have a collective of people, if you have, again, if you have other, you have friends who are also writers, playwrights, for example. I mean, you can easily just put on a show and the idea is you do it for, you know, you don't have to spend a lot of money to do it, you know, you can also these days you can make a film on Zoom, make a film, you know, on your phone, you know what I mean. So you can write a script and make it on your phone and then put it online, you know, it's a great way to get your stuff out there just keep writing stuff and keep getting it out there. I think that's the most important thing to do, you know. And again, you know, no need to wait for the perfect opportunity to come. And just just think all opportunities are great. I'm just gonna keep doing stuff keep putting stuff out there. Keep reading as much as you can and watching stuff. If you can live going to live shows is better but if you can afford that then reading plays is really great. Yeah. Okay, I keep hanging out and watch my work we're around. Thanks. Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you so much Cara. Looks like we have a question from Lisa. Hi there. Thank you so much for doing it. This is my very first time, and I'm very excited to be here. So thanks everybody. I wanted to ask you about your revision process and how because I'm kind of in revision mode right now and I wanted to find out how you take the feedback you've been given or your own thoughts and start to work towards a new draft. Right, right, right. Yeah, that's good because because I'm, you know, not all notes are are equally good and helpful. You know, and even sometimes people give us notes that are really good notes but the way they give them makes them hard to hear and hard to take. Sometimes I talk to people who say wow wow you know they gave me a great note but I don't know how to take it because the way they talk to me is really hard so it makes it hard to hear so it's a real. It's a whole skill set, not exactly an art form but a whole skill set to be able to give people notes and then to be able to take notes. But basically hopefully you have all the notes you sort of keeping track of the notes whether you take you write them down on your phone, like I do sometimes or you write them down in a notebook. You know so hopefully you have them kind of all in one place you can see them, you know they're not so if you don't if you have like lots of different than lots of different places, put them all in one place right. And then read through them more than once and see which ones which ones resonate with you, you know, like if you have a note like I don't understand what the character wants. For example, the main character. You might go well that that that might resonate with me and you can just circle it and go well that's what I'm going to think about as I rewrite. A couple of notes that might make sense to you. And then you can go through your draft reading it. Allowed, are you it's a to play or a novel or a film script what kind of what are you rewriting Lisa. I'm going to be the distaff person here probably I'm doing a collection of short stories. Great collection short stories okay so we'll a collection short stories are they linked in character theme or storyline or not. A collection storyline but linked by character. Okay, so, then we would, we would look at one at a time, right. Is that does that make sense to you. Yes, it does. Great. Okay, okay, so you would. So, so then I would guess that your notes, the notes that you have are. Are they specific to each story or are they a general kind of global notes for the whole collection. And at this point they are there specific to each story with some side notes going oh I see that this character shows up again here. Maybe you could highlight the fact that this character is going to show up later, or are more along those lines but I'd say more specifically towards each work, say, great. Okay, okay. So great so you have them, you have all your notes in one place. All the notes are specific to each church or pretty much. So, that's even easier in a way because again you're dealing with a shorter form, you know, so I'm guessing the notes are about how many know like if you say that the first story in the collection about how many notes do you have for that one. I've had people who have done line edit notes on the stories. So, in that case, there are quite many, and other people who have written, you know, a generous several paragraphs on the story. I belong to a writing group and people have been very kind and very generous and take a lot of time. Great. I believe they're kind and generous. How do you feel about all those notes. I feel like I just, I just put out a new story. And this is kind of what made me want to ask you about this but the story is written from a five year olds point of view. And it's about a five year old and his non gender conforming friend. And I wanted to keep it I was very interested in how the children react to this and or they don't, in most cases, they just ignore it and get on with their lives. And I got several. The comment that was interesting to me was well who is the story for. I thought, well just because it's about children doesn't mean that this is a story for children. The narrator's voices and the third person is very much an adult boys, commenting on the kids in question. And then I got comments like well you don't have any adults in the story. But the point wasn't to have adults in the story the story was to stay within the world of a five year old, or a couple five year olds. I read these notes and I just was really puzzling and I know that I've had writing teachers who have said if the note doesn't make sense don't do it. But I'm wondering if a whole bulk of people are making this note maybe it's something I should listen to. Yeah, yeah. And is that the case here a whole bulk of people are making giving you the same note. I'd say for the most part most people said okay yeah who is this for why why would an adult read this why would you know why don't you have any adult interaction, can't you bring in the adults point of view in the story. But your narrator is. Yeah, the narrator is observing this action. Yes, yes, yes, but that's you said an adult voice. To me it always felt like an adult voice, it does not feel like another kid was so that there's your adult. The watcher, you know, someone, there's someone watching. There's someone narrating who is an adult so there's your adult. I mean just, it sounds it sounds your writing group is very helpful and it sounds like. So, so there's your adult there's your adult voice. So if you were to answer them. Well, the adult is my narrator. Because it's through the lens of the adult and I mean if you if you want an adult in the story there they are. They're there. Right, I mean, as I as that's how I, in my, you know, non MFA understanding of stories that there's an adult there, you know, they're just watching. You know what I mean, like we talked about the male gaze the female gaze the black gaze the white gaze the whatever non gendered gaze that that's a gaze that's a person that's a somebody who's there narrating so I think you've got that for your, for your note givers right. And now you can get on to the other notes. Okay, which are we yeah, so check, which are which yeah so which other ones resonate with you because I agree with your with, I agree with both things one if if the notes don't make sense to you don't take them. If people give you the same note, then maybe you should consider it. Yes, and yes, and a lot of times you're already doing what people tell you to do. A lot of times they're not paying attention. And I think you've got an adult in the story already. Yeah. Because, yeah. Okay, so what is some of the other notes. I would say that the most of the notes, it's, it's a very short short story so it's not a very long story. I would say most of the, almost all of the notes were wanting some sort of adult story, everybody liked the dialogue liked the characters there are three little kids who were in the story one of them is kind of a bully. The other two are friends and or become friends in the course of the story. And what I was a lot of it takes place in in their kindergarten what happens when one of the characters is given a pair of boxing gloves by his grandmother for his birthday. He also likes to dance. So, there was a lot of, I didn't even think about that, you know, is like, mostly because I teach boxing, and for my granddaughter's second birthday I'm giving her a pair of boxing gloves, which seemed to so I didn't even think that there was any more context to that other than this little characters given something he wants to share, and he wants his friend to like it as much as he does. So that threw me for a minute, and that was like, whoa, there's something in there that I, I guess I wrote, but I didn't see it. But hold on, but the note you were talking about you said they want more adults in the story and then you start talking about boxing gloves so I'm confused. Right. Well one of the care that they other and then you asked me what were some of the other notes you got. The other note I got was, are you making a comment on gender. And I'm going like, no, I just the little kid wanted his boxing gloves and he also likes to dance and that's kind of the point of the story. So, that was another thing that came up which was, I guess it was the first time I'd ever gotten a note for something that I didn't realize I'd even written. The vibe of it, I would side with your, I think you said that a writing teacher said, don't take notes, unless they make sense to you. Don't take notes unless they resonate with you. Don't take notes until they resonate with you they might not resonate with you or make sense to you today. They might in a week. They might never. But maybe, you know, 12 people say, you know, go that way and your gut says, I'm writing the story that I need to write. You know, I would, I would, I would stick to the story that you need to write. Just, it's okay. And maybe you're going to see it differently. In, in a week or two or three or a month, you can go, Oh, of course. Now I see what they're talking about. Of course, I'll do a rewrite, you know, but until then just hold them. Just just holding that's not like a pushing back or anything. That's just, it needs to cut the note comes from other people, but the doing of the note comes from you. So the doing of the note can organically and legitimately come from you, then you're just, you know, following orders. And if you're going to follow orders, you might as well be a robot. You know, I mean, and that's not, that's not writing that's, that's, you know, marching in step. You need to come to the place where either you, you come to peace with the fact that you're writing what you're writing and their notes are saying what they're saying, or I understand their notes, right, I get it. The notes have to come from you. I mean, the understanding of the notes, because you're the writer. I mean, unless they're going to write it for you. And a lot of people might see your work and go, well, I would have done it this way. Well, they should go and do it that way. I mean, I mean, you know, okay, so just wait, why don't you sit with them. When did you get these notes. I got them last week and I got another batch this morning. Okay, okay, and I, if I may suggest, you're too many notes. I love your writing group is so helpful. Whoa, that's a lot of notes. You know, gently, gently, slow down, you know, slow down, slow down. That's a lot of notes. Especially the line edits. Is that you like those kinds of notes. I have, well, I think one of the, with all due respect, one of the people in my group is a much better editor than he is a writer, and I appreciate his insights a great deal. Because he does point out things from a very mechanical point of view that I either hadn't considered or sort of rushed through. So, yeah, in that regard I do do I want them from every single person. No. Well, I mean, you know, they have the word, you know, they said there's a saying out there, you know, take what you like and leave the rest and so I think you have to make that determination. I mean, we're at the point where I don't, I'm not familiar enough with your work, or your group or anything. It sounds like it's a little heavy handed to me but if you enjoy it, then you should take the notes and see what you can what what sense you can make out of them. I just, you know, I want you to write the piece that makes sense to you, and not a piece that's pleasing to your writing group. You know what I mean, so it's just sit with them you just got them last week, you know, and then some more this week, sit with them and see how they resonate in a couple of weeks time is there a deadline on this you have to sit with it and enjoy just like being in the, you know, the negative capability being in the midst of not knowing quite what to do. That's okay you've done the writing which is the hardest part. And now you're going to do the rewriting which is the next hardest part. And just see what resonates with you, you know. Okay, and check back in with us you know next week maybe you'll have a different take on I'm curious to see how it developed. Okay, thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you Lisa. I think we had Laura on debt. Hi, how are you. Hey Laura, how are you. Good good. Good. I've been having a writer's block. How do you get out of it. Are you a comic Laura. Yes, Laura. Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome. You're welcome. I think didn't you give me a brutal Laura. Yes, I did. Oh, it's on that shelf back there. I don't know. Okay, okay, okay. So so you have been having writer. Do you write sitting down. I guess that's, and I write in longhand on, you know, paid on loosely paper which is my, I'm so disorganized my life is so disorganized. That's why I'm a comedian. Come on comedians. Did you ever see you probably saw that that if you haven't checked check out the documentary on Joan Rivers. Okay, well she, I mean, she's a comedian organized organized she's got I mean she is amazing amazing how organized she is. First, just a few maybe change it up a little bit you know, maybe right. And maybe do you write at home. So maybe try writing I don't know in a coffee shop. You know I mean, maybe some people around, you know the hub and Bob of, you know miscellaneous strangers it might be fun. Just get you out of the house. It's caffeinated or tea or, you know, hot chocolate or whatever you like, you know, that could be fun. So change up your environment a little bit that might be enjoyable. Also, realize that you're really great hypnotist I've said this before, you hypnotist you know your hypnotizing yourself all the time. So the words are going out of your mouth into your ears right. So when you say things like, for example, I am so disorganized. My whole life is so disorganized. You just. Okay, you might just as an experiment, try, you know substituting something else. But when you catch yourself saying that you might throw in something else that might be more affirming, more uplifting, more helpful in the, in the long run. You know, you know, just some, some, some, you know, positive affirmations. I know the story I'm trying to write and I work on it every day. Yeah, I don't know what, but something other than what you just said. Okay, thanks. Get to hang out in coffee shops. What could be better. Okay, and see and then check back in and we'll see how you're doing. Okay. Okay, great. Thank you. And you do your daily schedule though, right? I think we might talk about it. You have a daily schedule so you're touching on it every day, which is important. Just change up the location and watch what you watch yourself talk. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks again for the Buddha. Timothy should be able to unmute. Hello. How are you. Good to see you. You too. I like a shirt. I'm not a real fan. I'm just a fan of the shirt. That's okay. None of us Nick fans are real. I do. Any tips for trying to finish a play script on deadline. When's the deadline tomorrow. How many, how many pages you have to left. I've got about 14 I want to get to 20. I've got six pages left. Pretty much. Yeah. But every time I think I figured something out, it opens another character door. And now I'm like, oh, okay, maybe this is it. And so it's, I'm just, I'm getting concerned that we're kind of going like this a little bit. So, I understand. So, so, so you've got till is it can we say end of day tomorrow. Close. Yeah. It's like 5pm or we're like 5pm. 5pm. Okay. No, I love to sit like this. Okay, so it's like, it's like, it's like a 24 hour. We've got 24 essentially yes. Yeah, but, but you're not going to stay up all night. Are you know, great. So how many hours left possibly do you have to work today. Oh, maybe one, just like when we're off. Great. And then one more hour. How many hours do you have to work tomorrow. Probably about four or five four or five. Yeah. Great. Okay, great. Okay. Okay, great. So you've got one hour after we get off this. And then you've got like four or five hours tomorrow. Great. That's plenty of time. And you have like pages to write. Yeah. Great. That's plenty of time. Okay, so this is what you do. So today, do you have any. This is not this has writing on it, but you have any index cards. Sure. Or piece of paper that you can, you know, three by fives, right. Yeah. Okay. Do you know. Do you know where you are in the story of your play. Oh, yeah. It's, it's all, yeah, because it, well, it's, it's still a first draft. It's all a little gooey at the moment. But I, I pretty sure I know where we are with the pages that I'm working on. Yeah. Great. Okay. So this is what you do. So you say, and you have, is it all like one scene. Great. Okay. So, so you're going to use your car, use your index cards. You need, you need like, I don't know, six cards. Right. Because you need six pages. So we'll just make it like that. Okay. So on each card, you're going to write the next thing that happens in the story. Okay. Right. So, so you know where you are. Right. You know, and then, and then she, she walked out of the house. And she met Larry and Larry, you know, but I'm bump bump bump bump the end. Right. Okay. So on card number seven, right. You're going to, you know it already, you know what card number seven is because on card number seven, you're going to write the end. Okay. I know it's game. It's a game. Okay, this is fun. Okay. So you got six cards for the six pages, and then the end. Right. Okay. You're just going to write out, after we hang up here, or you can even do it while we're talking to other people, just write out what happens. Okay. And this is what we're going to do. We're going to pretend. We're going to pretend. You're going to pretend that you know the story. You're just going to pretend. Okay. Yeah. Just pretend. Right. Okay. You know the story. You're going to write it out and it doesn't have to be on six cards, but I'm just that's as many as you can use. You can't use more than that. Right. Okay. You're going to pretend that you know the story and then the end and really short sentences. She did this and then they did that and then they had an argument about the car and then he threw the knife at her and then she, she turned into a unicorn and flew around the room and whatever, whatever it is. Okay. That's what you're going to do today. Okay. Then you're going to start telling yourself like we do with Laura. I got this. I can finish this. I know I can do this. Right. It's going to be a draft. I'm going to turn it in by five o'clock tomorrow and a percent. I'm going to feel really good about this. You start talking to yourself like that. You know, when you get up, you just do the work. Just do it as fast as you can and get it done. And that's, you know, that's professional. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Okay. Okay. And just know that like you're in a great club of people who work like that a lot. Okay. I had a feeling it would be a familiar scenario. So we've all been there. We've all been there and we will be there again. And, you know, sometimes you just got to, it's like, it's like showtime, baby. You know, it's showtime. You know, you got to show up, baby. Right. So you're going to, you're going to let you got today you're going to lay out your game plan. You're going to reinforce it with positive self-talk. You're going to hypnotize yourself. Positive self-talk. Only positive self-talk. Right. And then tomorrow you're going to hit it. And you're going to write it. And you're going to be done. Okay. I love it. Thank you so much. Yeah, and it's going to be fun. It's going to be a fun time. It's great. It's so much fun. Great question. That's a really cool question, man. Thanks. Thank you. Thanks for the help. Sure thing. And with the up next we have Andrew and then Michael. Carol. We'll take Andrew first. Hi. Well, Andrew and company. This is Wayne State Theater and Dance Writing Ensemble. So we're all here. Oh my goodness. What fun. So we are having lots of fun together. We typically are writing for performance, but we have some poets in the group one of whom does not want to be named, but we're thinking about when we're writing for the page. We have a particular way that we write but then when we think about if we wanted to take that content and move it into performance. If you have any thoughts about that, especially when there's no established narrative that goes with the writing. So thinking about taking poetry from the page and putting it more into the performance aspect. Right. Wow. That's it. That sounds like that's a complicated question. Wayne State. I was smart. I was smart people up in there. Hey, so I would say, so there are different ways to create and just the disclaimer I didn't go to, you know, are you guys you're in a white writing for performance program. This is a bachelor for theater program. Okay, right on cool, cool, cool. I always have a disclaimer like I didn't go to grad schools and I just make shit up. So I'm just making some shit up for you right now. Okay, no offense. No, you know, I didn't offend anybody. Okay, so there are different ways to organize things right so so you, I'm sorry, what was your woman who spoke to me. I'm say say it again. Shantae Shantae okay Shantae so you're talking about like organizational principles that's what I call narrative is an organizational principle right like what's the story right that's an organizational principle. Also, if it's poetry a lot of times. I asked myself, like, what's the group. And base. I mean I basically always write from the group, even if it's a story or a play or a novel or a song or whatever. It's the group which is underneath the narrative, the story. It's something else it's rhythm. And that's how I would organize if I were a poet writing for the page and I was thinking about, perhaps, doing like a spoken word is that am I, is that what you guys are talking about or Shantae is that what you're talking about. It could be that where we're kind of contemplating what it could be. And just kind of thinking about all the different possibilities. Is it something that will be correct with I'm understanding it wrong, something that will be spoken aloud. Yes, great so so great so I would imagine it's going to go through a body. Is that right. Yes. Great. Okay so but so it's going to live through your body and language as I've written for languages of physical act. I would start by just start running it through your body. Okay. A lot of times, some of us we write up here. We're so smart. Oh my God, we're so brilliant. Okay, but language comes through your whole body. So start getting it in your body. Start reading it aloud. Okay, start hearing the rhythms of the words start letting it move you. And this is not just for it. This is all kinds of writing. Right. It should move you. It should move you and if it moves your body. It also might be emotionally moving to the audience. Okay. So and you don't have to do this in front of people because that could be embarrassing. You could try it like at home in your dorm room or wherever you have some privacy. You could read your work out loud my family my husband and my son they live here they're used to me moving around like this, but maybe that's not cool for, you know, your context. You definitely start getting the words in your body, start allowing the words to move you. So they don't have to make necessarily story sense, but they might start making rhythmic sense. Okay, like, I mean if you've ever read my play death of the last black man that is not organized by story, that's organized by groove. When the guy says doing diddly diddly diddly diddly drop drop do it be drip did I say do that's not a story, although you could make a story out of it, but it's organized by the groove. Okay, is that helpful. Like, yeah, fun. We're counting on you all to save us. And be brave and courageous and, and, and speak your truth and tell the truth and, and, and, and, and look into the eyes of someone who doesn't look like you and say hey, we're the same we're, we're one great beautiful being, which amuses itself by making us all look so different. You know, you know, see the unity, because it's there. You guys got to come back and hang out with us on a regular basis. Yes, we'll be back. Any more questions. Are you all cool, y'all cool is that question for today. Yeah, yeah. Okay, blessings. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks so much yeah please join us again. All right Carol, we have our last couple of minutes for you. Hey Carol, three minutes girl, how you doing. Oh, I'll meet yourself. Yeah. Hi. I'm just tech support. How are you. Living tech support and my thing is freaking me out today. I'm so glad I just got to say hi. And I guess that's my question is, is more common. Thank you so much for guiding me through so many years. And I just think of you a lot every time I write. So I wanted to encourage everyone else there to just take some of the vice you're hearing and right away like man have fun. And I seem to be writing poetry these days, a poem a day. We love that. And it's so prolific. It's so but it's so amazes me because it's as if I don't even feel like I'm writing it. I feel like it's there. And spit it out onto the page and it comes back pulling this kind of a little scary. The process that that it does that. And I was wondering if this happens to other people. Oh, yeah, look Dana shaking her head Dana's like yeah look at Dana's raising her hand. Oh yes, we've been possessed. Good because I mean it's a nice feeling. I like it it's great. And it's been my process for years but I just was curious to see if that's a normal thing. I think it's a normal thing for a paranormal thing for a poet and some and it's what comes out poetry but when I'm when I'm writing stories or you know or something it's not that same process. Anyway, anyway, always thank you for your I come to use and watch you constantly when I can when my machine does not freak me out. Amazing. Many, many years. Thank you Carol. Thank you for being here. Thank you Carol. It's great to see you. Good to see you too. I think, I think, yeah, we're at six o'clock, but we'll be here next week and the week after so we'll see. Thank you all. Thank you have a great week everybody.