 Happy New Year! Happy New Year! Happy New Year! This is Watson Ward and we're back We're back like a We're back like an unlucky runaway slave We're back like a We're back like a Like! Like! Like! We are we are not unless we're back We're back We're back What are good things that Oh! Oh! Like a flower is like a so it's been so much so much Clearly I'm not going to repeat that because this show is really for children which is why we're all here Happy New Year! Happy 2014! If you didn't get everything you wanted last year this is your year and it's going to be wonderful and we can talk about some of that goal setting or how to, you know, maintain mindfulness and get your work done things like that, things like that So honestly, this is Watson Ward and anyone who's never been here before will tell you and the people online JB's behind the camera look at us up to the world and I have a clue and for those of you who don't know what this is, this is a play and first we do the action which is we work together for 45 minutes and then we do the dialogue which is you and me talking about your work and your creative process and the folks online who are watching online and might have a question about their work and their creative process can tweet us at Watch me work SLP with hashtag New Play and you can even do it and you can even do it you know, after the show is over you can question, you can tweet us and we'll get it next week and we'll answer your show live from the lobby of the Public Theater where we are at right now So I'll, can I forget anything? Good evening, I took that So we're going to work I'm going to type some on my typewriter today that also writes up my hand and we're going to set our collective and we're going to set our tires and Jim Hattie is riding a shotgun to the shotgun and she's here to help us out today so we're going to set our tires and we're going to begin to work It's been so long I know, it's been so long It's been 45 minutes we're going to do let's get started It was only 45 minutes and it's kind of, you guys wasn't waiting so yeah, that happens Anybody have any questions? Okay, so I'm doing it I'm doing a really specific assignment right now where I'm adapting a call into a story and so I'm just trying to find I feel like I go very slow but I'm adapting in text because I want to find everything just right and I'm not sure if I'm doing just general progress with stopping myself perhaps with it too much How, like for example in the way I'm adapting it this one section of the original work doesn't coincide with what I want to do with the piece so how do you sort of negotiate that if you're in a situation would you try to write calling to the poem would you go back to the poem or would you go back to what you wrote or because he hasn't made a wonderful voice and projects beautifully so you've heard this question so you're adapting a call into a story and if you're wondering if you seem to have maybe gone but it's an assignment yeah and you're going to turn it in it's a work for hire or an assignment it's like a brain situation or a society it's like a robot writer's workshop so basically you can do whatever you want sort of they gave me a problem and I guess I could do whatever I want with it in front of it it's good to stick to the original sure, sure you're doing the assignment but what I'm saying is that if you fear it off it wouldn't be the end of the poem because if I were to work on working best if I turned it on to best in freedom maybe like somewhere where we weren't helping you work up but you can turn it into best in freedom it's great but anyway you can turn it into best in freedom you can go off the road and it would be okay do two things when I'm adapting I try to stick when I'm adapting sticking close to it until you find so many things leading you away and if it's not a work for hire meaning you can do whatever you want kind of thing then I would go ahead and go with your your instincts but this is where you have to ask yourself as you're kind of veering off the yellow road into the forest the lights are changing the trees with your hands am I just veering off the path because I want to do something different can you have to ask yourself what are your motives am I truly being led by the news or am I just going to be wrong you have to ask yourself that question if you're truly being called by the news or the sirens that's not a good analogy but you know what I mean if you're truly being led by the spirit to discover something that is not totally with the original work then go for it it's different with the riff so you're doing an adaptation it's very different because I've done a lot of riffs your eyes are watching what you're doing it's an adaptation of the riffs like using the scarlet letter to write some plays which have very little to do with the scarlet letter very little to do with it so that sounds very different from what you're doing if you're doing a riff you just do whatever you want from the channel okay I think you should go but where's the strongest choice to ask yourself the original story the story that I guess is like there's an empty room and this guy's deciding whether or not to leave it and then he leaves it and then I've sort of changed it to this like co-built user where empty is sort of in the moral sense and he leaves as well but I don't know how it's working with the action way of adapting it so it's both the empty room I think this one matters for you I don't know which one yeah relatively recent it sounds and you're going to take on something just keep leaning into what that's just a jumping off so you're doing a riff instead of an adaptation making your own thing like you can think of here's my favorite things by John Coltrane that's an adaptation to really hear the melody of the original Roger Anderson I like to hear his song but you can think of Charlie Parker's Now Is the Time da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-ada da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da that's a riff on you're in the army you're in the army now I mean that's what I think you're in the army now keep more like stepped out You don't readily Well, it's like in this one there is this he's like trying to get with this guy And that's what's like And so I don't know it's it's micro fiction So I don't know how much dialogue to use and I do use dialogue and I have this guy next to him He's sort of bugging it sort of person by this a hand And I don't know further the exposition of it without watching him out more than just a hand So I don't know Less than a thousand Getting somewhere It's a challenge Always always always Even we have a million words. I mean, I don't know how Attemptive, you know, do I suppose? But I think how well he was real Shakespeare he's like Like So I don't know I don't know how to do the things that I want to do in it, but I like the idea Yeah, and the normative is overwhelming it helps you Okay, so there's that So is there any I don't know I have never climbed ever actually but I imagine Is there what you might want to do garrison is On a separate piece of paper, you know, either by hand journal writing, just get out of the computer It's on your computer. Yeah step away and get into a notebook and hand write the ways that you can make it into bite-sized pieces I've done like I'm very good at like I'm very type a very like I can list things like I've been working on it in chunks Okay, and I guess now I feel like I haven't done the homework and so I've written the parts I want to write but now in terms of getting the whole thing done There's like I haven't done Right these scenes that I don't really want to write All the characters that would be in So how do you somebody have to see that you don't want to write or chapter that you don't want to write How do you make that smaller project less of a ballpark? You might either on the computer or in your notebook write a summary of the So right so you say you have eight scenes that you don't want to write so you might write summary simple This seems gonna be about this is this is this is gonna be about this is or even better get eight get three by five cards index cards small paper and a big pen like a magic marker like a sharpie and Write down what those scenes are about Not what they're about not me Not me what the drama terms we talked about in a coffee after a play is brilliant Not that we're talking about what happens in the play what happens at the scene. Okay in this scene You know Jeff says to Alice, you know, blah blah blah whatever. Okay, so those are really helpful, too Because that makes it even small So you have several of those cards might come up on your wall in your apartment or on a bulletin board You know Just look at them every once in a while That's the way of making the task less overwhelming more manageable Because a lot of times we have these tasks and so like gosh, it's so much to do You know Ten parts that I want to write I've got ten parts that I don't know And they all And then just kind of one time if you got that type A or whatever type it is type D But that's good. It's gonna help you. That's the head that you're gonna use to Make it smaller and smaller and smaller and lower the bar. We lower the bar so low That's easy to step over. Yeah, right and then Because we just get stalled when the bar is too high Jump over it or memory Getting over the process. What about where are some ways you can work out if you have a draft that you completed And you feel pretty good about it. Like, you know, it's not done yet. What do you do then? What's your name? I'm Daniel. I did Maybe So so you've got I'm just guessing you've got something you've got a couple of drafts in them. Yeah, you feel pretty good Well, pretty good. Okay. It's not done. Okay. You have friends. Yeah, you have them ready to work to you Yeah, okay. Okay. So have you asked me for feedback? Yeah, you do. That's why I got to like, you know, Good. Good. Okay. But it's not done. Okay. So what are you thinking? That you need to do to get it done? Well, that's about some good transpiration I mean, uh having it read out loud is very So I suppose that's one that said like that's an intermediate Your friends have read it out loud so we can have them read it out loud again Oh, right. Sorry. They have it right out loud. Um, oh So, okay, that's an immediate If you feel comfortable, you also need read it in the privacy of your own pot Aha, so they might might they come together and in your room or Stacks, I gotta provide snacks preferably not on holiday. So they say To, you know, pull it together so they can They might you want to give it to me beforehand Once and then they come and they read it live in your room. That might be helpful That's why I asked is because most people work differently from me. So I started by asking what might be helpful to you What I do is look different. I said, but it might be helpful I sit around the house when no one's watching And I read it out loud out loud to myself and act out loud You guys don't stop. You guys aren't supposed to block me at that point I'm sorry to hear you go into um but So that might be helpful I sit around the house to read it out loud Not all the parts I do it myself. I don't invite my friends over. I have friends, but I don't invite them over to read it out loud I do it myself because I Work it. I feel like I'm more like a musician working and reworking the tune um more like a composer So I when I think they would not to compare myself these guys these guys are kind of mine like a coltrane like The notes are like Bob. They can hear the music in their head. They didn't have to invite the orchestra in Come on guys. Let me hear it. I don't know what it sounds like, you know, so I really train my ear So I can hear it and then of course when I get to the actress and it's like, you know, I see, you know I see the grade because oh You see what I'm saying So you might want to try to read it out loud on your have you read it out loud already? Yeah, are you standing up when you read it? Are you doing anything? Are you like Oh, yeah, because you're practicing you're seeing what it feels like because language comes from In my opinion language comes from the body Language is a physical act And the physical act doesn't only reside up here So, you know People are you know, I mean they don't always move like that except maybe in my but um, but It always comes from that You know what I mean? So you want to be on your feet being uh You don't have to do the whole thing in one Elsewhere you can do a scene at a time you know Do it do all the characters feel what they're like feel what they're like because that's going to form the language You can get your friends I just hire Oh, you actually know that synapses well with something I've been thinking about right? So like like a flower in the spring is possibly one of the tritest metaphors you could think of lightly or one Right, um, or it'd rather it's going to conventional springs to mind easily and I'm finding Um in my writing right now, I love narrative. I love conventional narrative Is not say that the lonely play but like, you know, there's a story with characters you can follow and I'm finding I really want to get out of that Maybe it's just because it's Sorry, I still want character Characters and so you can follow but in terms of the conventional forms in terms of plays that take place in houses You know, or I feel at some times I'm thinking oh something's gonna be produced, you know, I I want to go I want to exterminate school and finding myself a little stuff I suppose and I'm trying to think of of Examples or exercises or source material that I can kind of bathe in for a little bit to Ease that See you set your you set the plays in houses Okay You can do you can do like, uh, I mean, yeah, but you want to do something. I want you want to expand Exactly. I want to grow a little bit feel like I'm just not say writing the same but just kind of Using some same It's good to be it's good to be observant though. You're on to yourself like that. I would say, um Yeah, I don't know what to I mean Like zen in the art of archery, so this is nothing this has nothing to do with writing But this is the kind of books I read, you know, mindfulness meditation Meditation practice So you could get one you could get one I know exactly if you can get one It's free and it will be delivered to you the time to get up It varies Okay, it's delivered to you upon You upon, you know when you get out of bed There it is. Oh, yeah, it's free. You sit there. You have a timer. You have a timer. Yes. Good 15 minutes Or 10 or five And you just sit there I'll cushion your pillow not in your bed Sit on the floor, you know our couch or chairs And meditate so a couple of big minecrafts You know that small still voice within not the voice that's saying oh rickardy, you're full of shit. You don't need to write the day It's not that that's not the small still voice of this. That's the stupid voice that needs to talk to the hand Okay All right, but that kind of thing we're just you know, have you ever said a play in a field? Okay, and that's conventional. Have you ever said a play is an historical character? Yes, okay That's good. That's good. Well, I mean, I don't know. I'm going to say a play with Smith. Let me have written about yourself Yes, yeah, it's tricky because I'm I'm the opposite writer of you. I have never tried to do anything I've never willfully tried to do anything different I've never tried to write differently than what I've written before But strange enough all my clothes are different from the one this week. I can't see to repeat myself Even if I don't try but I don't not try either So And maybe I am writing about the same thing and maybe I don't care Maybe you can that's your thing Because some people say yeah, there's something I've never done before. I'll set my play underwater I'll have someone defecate on stage because I've never had anyone defecate on stage in my play. And maybe that's interesting Hey musical instruments, you've written musical instruments. Have you ever played musical instruments on stage? So you do that? Okay, so see now this thing. What are you looking for exactly? You have to ask yourself What are you looking for? Because you know Dorothy, what Dorothy said, you know There's no place like home. No, you know, you know, what was she looking for? She found it on that gallery Well, Rilke said you can know the world out of her thinking of your stuff Sometimes you have to be comfortable with okay, so this is the way this is the kind of thing I write I kind of write a certain kind of like Maybe you can find it within the forms of things that you can do greatly Part of it is like I want you to be writing this. It's a big question. It's a larger question I didn't say that Anybody else have a question? You have an answer You have an answer. Okay, two minutes two minutes two minutes or two minutes. That's the signal I thought I was in peace, but Let's wrap it up girl. We've got two minutes Well, it's been very exciting to I've been writing on holidays for a little bit and I'm hoping that I'm going to be able to Make something with little pieces of my story that I've been doing shortly before That's my statement. I'm sorry. I don't have a question. Very cool. Well, that's it. We've got answers. We've got answers That is great. You're going to come back. Absolutely. And what's your name? My name is Will. I'm going to come back from that from the spot. I'm going to take you to your point of view So, management, we have a great cast That is, we have a great team It's like I'm writing things that we're coming to our own song You know, and I'm just starting to gash it down You're sometimes with your musical evidence But I've been writing Just to let myself write that song I'm sorry, did you write music? Yeah I mean Do you sing into your phone? Do you sing into your phone? Do you have a phone that you can sing into? We talked about this, right? Yes. So sing into your recording device Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. So write the lyrics down and even if you don't remember the tune Or even if you don't remember one or the other, get it down somehow is helpful and You know, I mean, there's some songs that you can do to play It doesn't have to be like, it doesn't have to be, you know, whatever, box or whatever You know, it doesn't have to be box. I mean, box was box No, I mean, usually if I, let's say I've encountered a character during the day, correct, you know, or something If usually the beat will come out in the story or something, it doesn't need lyrics That's free. I'm not trying to understand why That's really good, Carol. You're following. So sing like this in my voice and see what comes up and then Follow that's what if you created a part of your day where you were sitting and cultivating minds on this That's where a lot of the stuff Think of it as like the bottom of a lake You know, leaves, you know, the bottom of the lake, it's very rushy and very soft And you know, allow everything to settle so you can see clearly There's a lot of times in the lake, it's all like this and you can't really see because it's all murky But if you cultivate that line from the sticks, it will settle down And then you'll be able to see clearly and you'll be able to see what's there Or here it is and start coming from that You know, instead of some sort of exercise that I need to do, you know, be excited to learn more today What's the sign for it there? Much better than that Hi, thank you for coming Yeah, I was actually just about to buy my tickets So should I buy at the door? But yeah, great, I'll do that