 I'm wearing glasses, and I'm trying to find my time. You didn't come closer, right? You didn't come closer? Yeah, he was like, what? Yeah, we're trying to get, we're going to get the, like, or we'll all gather around closer. So can't we all agree on the same thing? Oh, wow. So it's a nice feeling. Wow, wow. Oh, wow. Wow, that's cool. OK, well, we're very, very, very, very high tech and low tech here, I can't decide. I think we're super high tech. We're a mixture of super high tech. But I, like, hurt my eyes, and is that, like, you know, actually, you know, I started telling people that I was a, I'm a cyborg, and my eyes in the shop, and I don't want anybody to know, except that I told them. So if you're out there and you want to tweet us a question, watch me work. So we are at Watch Me Work SLP. So if you tweeted us, the hashtag is New Play. And also throw hashtag HowlRound in there, because they're our wonderful hosts. Can you spell HowlRound? H-O-W-L-R-O-U-N-D. That's very tricky. See, HowlRound, not HowlRound, like some people think. Right. OK, now that everything has been clarified for us, what we're going to do is we're going to work for 20 minutes again today, and then we're going to take questions about your work and your creative process. And I usually work on a typewriter, but today I did a lot of typing, and I have some notes from some really fancy producers in Los Angeles. So I'm just going to try to incorporate those notes into my notes. No, we can't do that. After the public theater, we're going to go home. And we're going to watch, it's OK, but because it's going to be dark outside, that's why. So as you see, we're real busy over here. And there it is. There's my timer. OK. Oh. I don't have to strain my voice like I did last time. OK. Now we're really high tech. Yes, here we go for 20 minutes. Thank you. Here we go. OK. My family is gone. Thank you. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Has she already kicked out? No. So, um, anybody have any questions about your creative process for a small group today? Well, thank you so much for being a piece of my time. Anybody? We don't do that today. Tomorrow, though. There's no show tomorrow. I know. So am I. No, so the idea of, oh, have you been here to watch your work? I haven't explained it. OK, I'm sorry. I didn't get the preamble today. So what it is, is we sit here and work together. Obviously, which is what we just did. What's your name? Mara. Mara? M-A-R-A? Hi. Hi, Mara. So this is your work. And then we talk about your work and your creative process. So the Watch Me Work in the title is actually about you. This is a time when I basically hang out in the lobby of the public theater, giving people, you know, constructive feedback and encouragement. There, whatever it is they're working on, whether it be a play, a novel or so long, you know, some more working project that they might have. The letter D. Some of us are working on the letter D. So, but what do you work? What are you working on? Oh, very good. Yeah. So I produced two of the two features. Uh-huh. And I just did a reading of the first 15 acres. Oh, fantastic. Congratulations. Yeah. Right. But they heard the whole thing. Mara had a big... And they gave you feedback on the first 15 acres? Yeah. And not the whole screen? Not the whole thing. But you finished the whole screen? Yes. That's very... That's even trickier. Yeah. So did everybody hear Mara? She's done several screenplays. Yeah. So that's tricky. So how are you going to go about signing? What are the plans? Okay. So the way I did it originally was I started out with like two pages of setting up the two lovers. Right. And then jumped up five years. Right. Which is really where the whole thing takes place. Right. And the current day. Right. And then liked the other teams to give it to us again where we need a brief flashback a little bit in after you've already drawn us in with the main action. But I kind of like... That's what I've been working on. Oh, that's good. Oh, that's good. Yes. Oh, that's good. I think it's a good idea. I think it sounds... That sounds good to me. Sure. That's my current. Sure. Sure. And is how they fall in love and get together like incredibly unique? Or like... Oh my God. You never believe it. No, actually, no. No. It's just sitting on the fact that she gets killed in the course of the street flight. So I'm trying to set up the fact that it was this earlier relationship. Right. But the time we've really seen them, she has his job. Right. Oh, I see. So when I want to set up the fact that these people were really involved years earlier. So I showed that they were in love years earlier before you see the main part. We just do a brief flashback ten minutes into the story. But then you have to actually see the fact that they love each other before they hate each other. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or just get bits of it. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Because most of it they hate each other. Right. But yeah, I want you to see that there was... There was a good before there was a bad. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Sounds like a good screenplay. Yeah. What's the title? Oh, I love the title. That's great. I've worked in creating those for a long time. Ah. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Wow. Wow. Yeah, with other people's money. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sounds great. Sounds really great. Anybody else? June. June. June. I can't remember what it was. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I ditched the screenplay that I was working at last week and I ditched the revision to the short story to go back to a novel that I have in progress because that's really what I want to be working on. So I'm working on what I want to be working on. Very good. Excellent. So do you have a finish line? Yeah, a finish line. Um, no. Question is, they're loading the ice into the... If you wanted Matt can zoom the camera into the air on our stairs and we can watch the work down there and if someone is working very hard they can get that ice ready for all of us to go to the next time and see what's going on. Yeah. So, um, thank you Matt. Okay. I don't have a finish line. Should I give myself one? Well, so, have you ever heard of, um, the New York City marathon? Yeah. They ran it Sunday, right? Yep. So, um, what are the two things that you know about that? Right? We don't even have it. Did you watch it? I didn't watch it. What do you know about it? I know. Three things actually. Three? Yeah. I know... It's usually quarter. Where? It's in Columbus. I'll give you a hint. New York City. What's it in? It's in New York City. Right. It's in New York City Marathon. Right. It's in New York City. Right. Okay. That's one thing. And it's a New York City. Oh, there's one the whole New York. And it's a marathon. So what do you know about it? Sort of thing. There is, like, a time limit attached to it. A distance limit. A distance limit, right? So there's a finish line. Right. To indicate the distance. The end of the distance, right? Yeah. So you've already passed your starting point. So if you've gone across the water, you'd have a very wrong and narrow bridge. That's right. You've done that part. So a finish line? Hell, if there were not a finish line and there weren't called marathon, those people would still be running. Those fabulous Kenyans who run New One yesterday. Would they still be like, whoa, what? There's no finish line, right? Then there's a one to stop. So we call it a marathon. Every team would finish line. And we say New York. So yeah, it's a good idea, finish line. What kind of a finish line? Well, what kind of a finish line? This is my issue, I want it tomorrow. I want it tomorrow, right? I want it to work 40 hours. Good, yeah, yeah, 40 hours. I want it done now. I want it done now. I need somebody reasonable. Somebody reasonable? Well... I'm just trying to balance my both. It's fun, somebody reasonable. So, how long is it usually? It started as a novella, but I think it's much longer. So how many pages? 300? 500? I want to shoot between 350 and 500. 350 and 500, type pages. Manager pages. Double pages. Okay, let's just say 500 pages. So how many pages are you going to write today? Let's go over to my favorite show right now. It's called The Odd Squad. You can watch it quite often. Don't forget kids. Anyway, so when things get rough, we say let's go to the math room. So let's go to the math room. I see Lance as an accountant. So let's go to the math room. So, 500 pages. So, how many pages are you going to do today? Well, realistically? Yeah, realistically. I could probably get between three and five done. So let's say two. Realistically. I love you. Sorry, I know. Just so many times how you go. Welcome back. Two pages a day. Two pages a day, which is a lot. Because you have a life. I'm not just guessing. Right? I mean you've got something. Two pages a day. How long do you think it's going to take? Three hours? Two pages a day. Okay, great. So now, she's got 500 pages, two pages a day. How many days is that? 250 days. 250 days. So what's that? Just if you kind of sort of look. What are we looking at? It's about nine months. It's about nine months. December, January, February and March. I'm looking at about nine months. Mayday. I think it's a month. Mayday. How about Saturday? How about April Fool's? It's a good day, right? So we just kind of scooched it up a little bit. We had a little bit of like, ha ha ha. For draft one. For draft one, you write two pages a day. So I think you go home, you print out a calendar, you just spend some money. Account, well, you know, because it's colorful and you're picked like Hello Kitty or whatever. And every day you say, check, you wrote your two pages and that's like your novel writing calendar. And all you have to do is show up for three hours a day and write two pages a day. And do it every day. Some days, oh my gosh, you're going to write like 10 pages. You're going to be like, hi. You're going to be like, yeah, how many have you done? And then some days you won't want to write it all. You're just going to write two pages a day. Right? And you might find, oh, it's only 150 pages. So you get it done faster. But April. April Fool's Day. It seems like, oh, it's such a long way off. Oh my gosh, we're going to have to practice patience. Right. I look at him. I'm more like him. Well, can you make the letter B? Yeah. You're working on the letter D. Okay, so you've got the letter D down. That's it. Yeah, all right. And you can write your name. You can add and subscribe. I got some skills. Okay, but is that? It seems like a long way away. And that's kind of, but it's reasonable. It's reasonable. Right? And you just keep chugging along. And enjoy yourself. And then after a couple of months, you go, oh, this is better. I'm going along fine. And then maybe kick it out to maybe three pages a day. And that's why I'm keeping it up to April Fool's Day. So it's actually a shorter time than two pages a day. Okay? And what it also needs little space for is other projects that might interest you. Right. You just date and you're not married. Right. So try. Give a try for a week. Try it out and see how it feels. I don't know, are we here next? No, next week is an event here. So we're not here. But the following week. Yes. Okay, so follow. So try it out for a couple of weeks. See how it feels. Come back, fellas, you know. Okay? Thank you. All of it? Okay, that's interesting. Keep going. This is like odd squad. This is so odd squad. So I hate so much of it and I don't know where to start to make it salvageable because I believe it's salvageable. I believe in the writing. I believe in what I'm trying to portray. Wow, that's really good. Everybody's heard this too many times. It happens. It happens a lot of times. You don't kind of look right at all and you feel like I hate it. But what you said, correct me from wrong, you said I hate it. I hate all of it. I totally hate it. Well, like 30%. So, June, you're an accountant. 30% to all of it. I mean, what are you talking about? 30% to the majority. I'm just kidding. We're looking at a third. 30% is kind of a third. I'm now convinced that it's an inside job. You're mine. You're mine. Get somebody is on a rampage and it's like, it's clouding your judgment. Seriously, right? So, I'm glad you came here because to say I hate the whole thing, it sucks, it's awful. It's not bad. It's something that you do. It's like, you know, your thing. You can try it and say I was going to turn your thing into a change. But I like your thing. So it's going to be great. But in the meantime, what are you going to do when you read your thing that you wrote and all you can feel is gosh, gosh, gosh, Idle, you're going to be in a room is gosh, gosh, gosh, I don't like it so much. Right? Do you have a good friend who can read it? Maybe give you positive feedback? Yeah, I have a friend coming over to read it on Wednesday night, and then I'm going to Chicago, and I'm going to bully another friend to read it. Good, good. Bully, like, bribed? Bribed. Bribed. I will give you the best bottle of this. That's good. That's good, that's very good. Okay, and these are great friends. Who's Oreo, and okay, great, so there you go. Do you have backup? Do you have a decent friend? I don't think the best did. I do have money, I don't really know what to say. At least I got the way I was going to say. But yeah, okay, so that's it, we're just recognized. So anybody would find ourselves saying that I hate it all, and then well, maybe about 30%. Well, maybe about 30%, what would you do if I hate it all? And then I'm so happy, because you're able to pull back from that cloud, under that cloud of moving, and say, well, actually there are 70, there are seven things on the table out of 10 that I actually like, which means that most of it you like. So could you just say, just to practice, say I wrote this draft and I regret it, and there are like three things I don't like, but seven things I really think are great. Could you just practice saying that? Sorry. Like you're doing this, because this is a play, so we're doing something like this, can you say that? I wrote this draft. Uh-huh. There are about 10 things in it. Yeah? There are three things that I don't like, but there are seven things in it I really don't like. Okay, and you're gonna take it to your friends and get some additional feedback? Yeah. Oh, that's an awesome idea. Okay. Thank you. Did you see that funny? Isn't that funny? So that's good for you, well done. See, it's that easy. And what we have to do is we have to catch ourselves when we're saying that, when we're just letting that tape, that record, that CD, whatever, just bluh, bluh, bluh, bluh, bluh, bluh, bluh, bluh, bluh. Right? We have to catch ourselves, and just brrr, brrr, brrr. Like that Missy Elliott song, right? You know, it's just nice to do it again, right? We just gotta really gotta back it up and just say again. With the mindfulness of, you know, what you say is pretty much your reality. Anybody else? Yes. Talk to yourself as you would have, talk to yourself as you would have talked to a friend. Right. You wouldn't say that to a friend. I told so many people that this week. Right. My husband, my daughter. Yeah, there you go. It's especially important to start with them. It was just, right. And you know, they just perked up and it was just a wonderful piece of advice once you're eating. It's like a no-dub, right? When you think of it's like a no-dub. Like, would you ever like be talking to your friend like that? Sure. And if your friend would talk to you like that, he'd be like, yeah, I don't wanna know you. You know what I'm saying? And then you'd like put her on your secret list of people that you caught in the street and like go the other way. Where we learn to, you know, I don't know what, where we learn to talk to ourselves like that. It must have some kind of helpful evolutionary evolution. You know, it's a question for the odds of what kind. Some will appear next time, but I know a lot of them. I know a lot of them. You don't have to watch that program. If you're talking to these kids, there are two ages, Otto and Olive, and one is 10 and the other one is 12. And they solve cases and it's really interesting. But, anything? I have a question for you in the world out there. Yes, you wanted to, or can you say it, ta-da. So this is from Crystal Adams. Oh, Crystal, hey Crystal, hey. From Jersey? Yes, so. From Jersey. I think so. I hope, yes. I'm wearing glasses because my eyes hurt. I hurt my eyes, so that's why. So, she says, hi, I'm only a few pages into my first draft, Writing Out of Order, and now I hear voices I couldn't hear before, but now I'm feeling that what I'm writing is not what I'm hearing. And her character suffers from something traumatic that almost breaks her, but she's still too strong. How does she begin her? How do I feel about that? Oh, okay. Crystal, and I think it's, maybe it's the same Crystal. Maybe there's another Crystal. That's Crystal. We know it's you. Okay. It sounds like you, Crystal, have ideas about your character that are different from your character's ideas about herself or himself, right? She's such a, how do I weaken her? How do I form her into the shape that I have of her in my mind, right? I'm hearing things different than what I think I should be hearing. So what you need to do, Crystal, is get out of your own way and just write it down as it's coming to you. And if she needs to be, quote unquote, weekend, later on, we can work on that, you know? But you're only a few pages in, and what you need to do is just write. Get to, like we always said, get to the end and then rewrite it. You're writing and you're writing at the same time. And that just makes it more difficult. Is that helpful, Crystal? I hope so. We love you. We miss you. Happy Daylight Savers time. It is. It was. It's for us yet, but that was a great day. That was like fantastic. I want it with another one. I want one every week, okay? Right? Sure, we can give them to, well, you know, there are a lot of people who, well, I don't know, who don't need, like, hey, I don't need a lot of time. I don't need time to do that. People who, I don't know who they are, but anybody else? Oh, yes. Oh, okay. This woman in the, I don't know, I guess I mean, what's your name? My name's Bianca. Bianca? Yeah. Okay, hi. Characters don't know what he wants. Paul does not know what he wants. And I don't want to come in the way of what Paul wants because then I'll probably make it like that's a happy ending. I don't want to, I don't, the character's in my play are trying to figure out, his wife is trying to figure out what he wants. And he is not sure of what he wants. And I don't want to just make it this happy ending. I want it to be, I don't want it to end with him still not knowing what he wants, but I don't want it to also end with another character not getting what she wants from him because of not knowing what he wants. Right. So, and for me, I could just, I could say what he wants. That's easy for me to do. You think you could? Go on, say it. I'll give you another one. I think he wants to be comfortable with just comfortable with not knowing what he wants. He wants to be okay. He just wants everyone to accept how he is. But that doesn't mean. And what does that look like? What does that actually look like? Like, I'm gonna wear a suit and tie to that. I mean, whatever. I'm gonna, what does it look like? What does it actually look like? I'm gonna come home and pretend like everything is okay. I'll act like everything is okay. I'm going to come home and continue to be my standoffish, quiet self. But at the same time, I'll play my dutiful role as a father. But I'll also play my role as a husband, but it's not, it's almost like he's pretending. It's not really him. And the characters know that they're pretending. They know that this isn't real because of how their relationships affect one another. And he wants to, he lives in this world where he just wants everyone to be in this fairytale imagination of him. But they know that he's just pretending. And that's how they know he doesn't know what he wants. And he knows it, but he continues to live in this bubble. That's your best sense. I think it makes sense, it makes sense. I think you do know what your character wants. It seems clear to you. What you need to do is find some actions, some clear actions that will have some things that happen. Like he comes home, there's a shit storm and he is calm, cool and collected. And he wants everybody to be okay with that. This is who I am right now. You know what I mean? You need to find scenes that show that instead of just him going, I'm not everybody except me as I am. I mean, that's kind of one note, right? He might say that during the course of the play. Is it a play or a screen player? It's a play. He might say that during the course of the play, but you want to show it, right, Yonka? So we want to see different moments where he is actively pursuing that, thank you. Actively pursuing that want. In case when I say, what do your characters want? What do they want? And what are they doing to get it? So he's detaching. And we want to, if you want to see him do that, for example. Does that make sense? Okay. And what about the, there's a wife character? Yes. Okay, so. Right. Right. Around that thing. Right. And sometimes they get caught off guard with the characters that they say. Right. Right. The wife could once and she even asked him what do you want? Why is this, what do you do, what do you want? And he doesn't know how to express himself. Uh-huh. And what are the son does not want? The, does not want the father to be going to get the home. Right. They weren't expecting you on the spot. Right.