 Just like this because I'm going to Todd Haynes movie opening tonight which is going to be exciting and I've been Todd since I met him in 1989 so we grew up well as we say but we're in a lot of politics just watch the work for those of you who are new should I explain to you what it is or do you think that would be great? Yes that would be great and those of you who have been here before No it isn't So I'm just going to start with a lot of you who have been watching me work it's about you so the meaning of the title is you so basically what it is is we work for 20 minutes and then anything you want and those of you watching online are working along with us and then we talk for the remainder of the time about your work and your creative process okay so if you forget and ask me a question about my work I'll think about it in the comments okay I'm really here with that and you can try and see if I can make more but it doesn't work between us and then we just talk about our creative process so any questions you have all questions are welcome you know if you're having an issue or block of a difficult time or you want to get happy about that you can do the draft you can do more or something you can do that and you're going to tell us those folks online she's going to tell us how to get in touch to her Yes so if you can join us in the lobby of the public I'm live to the event and you can tweet in any questions and the hashtag is new play it's watchtreeworkslp If you want to stay together get close to that watchtree so there you go hashtag new play and tweet at watchtreeworkslp excellent I was told the other night that you have to kiss me oh wow it's very intimate well that's the actual intimacy of the mother of all invention actually right okay before I forget I have to give a shout out to Chester I got to tweet the other day the chest that I mentioned in Chester's Chester's Twitter account he is an employee at drama books and his reading father comes on to the wars and he is a pomegranate so if the dog is reading my book it's great thank you Chester um yeah that was cute I didn't know a dog's could read I have to say it right nothing Durham's in the house you can see how that goes and so yeah so I didn't bring my real time I brought my phone so let's do 20 minutes right and me and Yufika are going to keep the time so y'all have to it is James Bond okay here we go boom alright what's the date 15? 16? yeah after I hear it I don't know if you want to then who went up I'm trying to strategy to make it go that was uh what is your book that was plain and hmm I don't know um James Bond my brain is working so I had this thing about memorizing what everybody's doing I just started she's talking about not mine I do kids I do another brain really? yeah I want what you're having you know what okay this is not so about your work in your creative process so what are your names Diane okay and what's your name Andrew so there's a song there's a print okay that's the thing whenever it's closest to the surface of your mind because it's there anyway you know the song yeah yeah I was thinking of Jack and Diane that's my mind so does anybody have any questions or answers or proclamations or solutions or anything before no go ahead you don't have any I have a few no Crystal has Crystal usually tweets in but tonight she's coming in person so much more there at Crystal I make a little more sense okay go ahead where do we start the play the first I think one of the plays that I think I told you I was reading and I was questioning if I should change the ending yourself so the critique I got was that overall it was good or consistent or something but it didn't have enough I don't know what the right term is but I guess enough things happening I guess that would make it more and I kind of didn't know what to do with that per se because I thought it was provocative but not in the sense of for shock value so I didn't know how much of that to take to heart I haven't looked at it since I haven't read it since with that in mind but I kind of don't know if I should humble myself and go back to the writer's room pause so you're pushing pause so Crystal wrote a so she wrote a play this play that she's been working on for a while and she gave it to one reader yeah this was not the one that I've been working on and the person gave her some feedback and she's not sure about the parts of the feedback she's not sure the feedback I mean I've got the specific with the specific in there what might be in the line the specific I got was basically like it almost seemed like oh just making more rated R like you know make the father figure more evil but I didn't write it that way because it's a dual character one of the characters is he plays the father but he plays a character an actor playing a father and so it's kind of like this good and evil kind of flip switch with this guy and I guess the idea was make the father who isn't that other character more evil in reality as opposed to what you see on stage like the play within the play you know the same thing with the main female character more gross but I remember when I said something beforehand in several meetings ago classes ago where I had been given feedback about her being unlikable and I kind of don't care if she's like or not it's can you watch it can you listen to it so he was kind of saying to make her even more like I guess to base unlikable so we say make her more like so I mean I know you're short but there's a general note that that sounds like sometimes we I've heard this note given many times in many ways don't be afraid to sort of dirty up your kids because we become attached to them we ignore them we love them maybe they want them to become unlikable or we just don't we're just not ready to go there so there's a don't be afraid to mess up their hair so with her that's kind of general common note that you can get and sometimes people sometimes that will do things like of the states right so sometimes she's like you know she is a serial jay walker sorry for that you know what I mean okay that's interesting she's jay walk in Los Angeles okay alright it's different she's jay walks in New York she's jay walks in Los Angeles alright okay already something let's say she's a jay walker alright so you make her less likable you know or you just kind of up the stakes because getting arrested for shopping was a way of jay walking say she's a shoplicker oh say she's been someone who feels money from old you see what she makes me feel in a way to make her less likable is a tricky note because that is something that is depending on the reaction of an unseen audience but I don't like up the stakes make it more resonant creating a drama in a moment by getting your character to mess up their hair a little bit is something that maybe you can work with now to maximize the advantage of making dramatic choices with me okay well they didn't even have they didn't even want to see a different play you know they have to think about that too but you can also have another reader you know like when you go to the doctor get a second image get a third opinion everybody's saying it's kind of sort of the same thing then take them to heart and if the second reader says no I think this is pause maybe a third reader can see your right to push pause doesn't sound like you know just because you get notes doesn't mean you have to dive in right away and do the right that somebody suggests regardless of who they are I mean a lot of questions you have plenty of time to answer play right now that has um that I've kind of been trying to not avoid writing about but it's like things that I feel like I need to work out the details of it's like a dystopic play and I've kind of shadowed away from delving as deeply as I can into shows like that because inevitably people are asking me a million questions that I don't know the answers to yet um and questions about creating a seamless reality to the world you're creating like well yeah questions like you know how far in the future are we I don't know yet stuff like that so what I'm trying to do to avoid like the other play in mind that you read that was a play that I just straight out wrote and then there was a ton of questions on how the world happens and so what I want to do is I know I'm not going to be able to prevent any I'm not going to be able to prevent any of the you know yeah it's not like I'm going to be prevent questions at all but what I want to do is kind of manage the world as best I can as best I can on the front end so I'm not untangling a lot of wires on the back end but it's terrifying because it's like now I feel like I need to research first before I write but that's not how I like starting a project right I love this I love it you know, inevitably the questions that you guys have are the questions that we all have over and over and over until we die and probably after that so Stacy is saying she feels like she needs to do some research perhaps of course she gets writing so that she can sort of have clarity not eliminate questions but have clarity for herself, right but she hates doing research before she writes why do you hate me you know, hate but what it is is that I don't know when to stop and just write the damn play because what I'll do is I'll endlessly like in the since that initial question and answer session I have read 1984 Fahrenheit 451 I'm digging all over the place trying to find anything about dystopic society trying to figure out where I want mine to jump off and it's like that when it comes to actually sit down and write that it just doesn't happen so it sounds like Stacy has a boundary issue okay right, no boundary issue so what you say is the way to protect yourself is to not do anything it's like the way to protect yourself in itself is to not the thing you don't have a chance of getting there so you ask yourself where do you want to be there, right so I got to give myself an opportunity so that means that I have to do this thing that I haven't maybe successfully done in the past I have to create some value because I stood up when I said that because it's about standing up and knowing that here I am right the way to create boundaries in writing is to give yourself a time limit I will do research on this project for the next two more weeks max okay, so two more weeks max is the 30th? it's such a good day the 30th because I get a prize on the 30th and so the 30th you're still doing your thing I would be calling you with my prize you know but if you're two weeks max that's all you get so you can go ahead and read 1984 that's 1,984 times and fair and high but you only can do it if you only get two weeks after two weeks you have to start writing that's about it that's you saying I know where this ends I know where this begins it's going to begin on the 30th of November at when was that, 630? 630 630 630 it's going to begin okay and no later than the midnight you know what I'm saying it does how about some outline just for good measure this happens this happens you got your cards you're going to be doing those okay maybe maybe in the next 24 hours these are the 20 things I need to know or the 7 things I need to know or the 107 things I need to know before I start I have a list of truths which like one thing that I know to be the truth about the play are they all still the same? let's just say that's what you said yeah those are the things I know I need you to know so do you need to fill those in or are you still the same? there's not a lot of there's like about 5 truths that I know are true of the play so now you need to bring the list of what do I need to find what am I looking for do you need to just run all over the place? that's like right? you know what I'm looking for everybody looks good every sense of my life all public howl around right? you're telling people what you like about that it's not my life okay what you saying right so you know what you're looking for so you know what you're looking for and you know what you're going to stop because magically the day you decide to stop looking is the day you do this and you found it it's amazing how it's going to work and you'll go no I haven't met now you're right and it's magical we're talking about it and so when you write the draft and all that people still like what about this one add it to the list of things you need to discover in the meantime do you watch because you know what people think I know I really have this brain disorder okay well it's really useful because when they're so close to the goal line and they can't make it what they do they punt so that's what you're going to do you're going to be writing them on oh man I don't know about them I didn't know I needed to know that too you don't stop you need 1984 so you're going to punt you're going to create the life of your research I missed the questions she's glad we can't hear I know, what do you miss too we haven't seen anything on this show I just couldn't hear you're like a fellow one of those fancy fellows who dropped this little fellow you're actually going to a meeting say there you go he dropped this girl okay So I'm so proud of me that I'm sticking to something and it's working and it's a screenplay and all this other stuff but I'm having this problem so when I took a screenwriting class my teacher said you're supposed to leave enough white blank space on the page and I'm supposed to like theater where everybody talks so much and I can't get them to shut up like and just get to the next action like they'll banter and banter and banter and like and I don't know if that like should I just edit as I go and just like wait till the end and then like chop off like maybe shaft it I don't know. Right. Okay. I'm right here at the point so Alexis is writing a screenplay. She's really proud of herself. She's going like boys. She's heard, literally, the note just in general about screenplays that can leave enough white space on the page. I think there's enough white space in screenwriting already. Anyway, but anyway, the note's about writing. Maybe she'll leave enough space because it's not a dialogue or a visual meaning and that's a very smart thing to keep in mind. So her question is should she edit as she goes or should she write the whole thing when she's done and start chopping? Please say I can't answer it. I can't really carry it away with long writing but I feel like that's the answer. It is. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes. Editing and action writing is a real wonderful way to feel like... Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. It is. It is. There are two kinds of courage. There's writing, there's rewriting. Write it and then if you need some space, some more white space on the page, cut without mercy. Have you ever done this exercise before? The writing and writing exercise? How many for a time? For a minute. For a minute. Okay, we'll do it. Okay, we'll do it really quickly. We'll do it really quickly. Yes, we have done this. So, writing. Do you like the forest or the jungle? We've done this. The forest or the jungle? Jungle. Jungle, great. Okay, okay. So, when you're writing, when you're in your writing mind, you're sitting in a jungle where you can't put your head, anything goes, everything goes. Like that, right? Okay, so that's when you're writing. That's when you feel something, right? Okay. So, when you're rewriting or editing, what's your, what color? Brown, gray, black, or white? Pick one. Gray. Gray. And what song is going to play right now? What? Go. Shit. Shit. Anything. When I fall in love, there we go. When I fall in love. When I fall in love. Okay, it won't be forever, that one. That was that little anything of it? No, it is. No? Well, that's what we think then, whatever. I said, I said 1984 because that's just like the word that kept me in my head. Fine, 1984. Okay, so then here it is, so here it is. So, when you were rewriting, right? Gray is your favorite color of those colors and 1984 is your song that you're thinking of. And you are writing, writing on a gray horse. In your hand, which hand it are you? You have a sort of discrimination, not racial discrimination, but they're going to tell you what it is in a way. And the song that you're playing. And you're cutting everything that does not have to be there. Okay? And as you cut what does not have to be there, the plants say, you know, they fall to the ground and they find their place, their roots, and grow into something else if they should. Right? So, you don't want to do this to recognize the center. So, right now you're sitting in the jungle and everything's growing and everything's good. Just cut right up. Okay? Okay. I have a show that's written, done. Yeah, it's been rewritten. Okay. That's the point of trying to shop it around. Right. It was produced. And I had a meeting today. Right. A friend, but also someone who does producing. Great. And so one of my concerns is, I'm a dancer, choreographer, writer. Cool. It's an interactive dance play in 2X. Okay. And I'm a tango dancer. Oh, wow. And I use tango in salsa and a lot of my to tell a story. Oh, fantastic. My concern is that over the course of three nights that the show takes place, there's the onstage and offstage life of this dance tree. Right. There's the salsa, the tango, and there's a magician also in his system. That's cool. Anyway, yeah, I have not seen a show like this before. Anyway, I have, I don't choreograph the show, but I describe the show in long stage directions. Right. And so far, people who have read it are pretty much, you know, they know about dance. Right. So my concern is when I hand it in to someone who's a potential producer, who doesn't know that much about dance, and people have said, wow, you've really taken a lot of time with these stage directions. They're well written. They're descriptive. How can I make them more interesting? I just, I'm concerned that they're going to be like, you know, like with the stage directions, because they can't see the show yet. Do you know what I mean? Right. They see the show within the show with the actual show on stage. Right. So my concern that my stage directions of that show are going to be like, boring to them, or just like they won't be able to stick with it. Right. Right. So that's a concern. Right. Right. So you've written this on a, did you hear it? Can you please turn it off for me? Yeah. She's written, she's written a wonderful play, and it has a lot of dance in it, because she's a dancer, and she has a lot of tango and salsa. And right now, the description to, you know, to explain the movement that's going on, they're lengthy stage directions. Yeah. Okay, I don't describe the actual choreography. Okay. Let's say that there's six numbers in a row. Okay. In a stage show, there's someone dancing. But like, let's say that two characters fumble on stage, and that tells about their character. Right. So I describe things like that. Okay. But I don't describe the actual, now they do a left to that. I don't do that. Okay. Great. But your concern is that the stage direction are too thick right now. Too thick. Yeah. I think they're good, but I wonder if some of them will get through it. So my guess, are you with me right there? That's almost an experience. Yeah. I'm trying to break it. So do you, you're a dancer, so you're very, you're attentive to detail of movement. Can we say that? Yeah. So you probably want to make sure that someone reading the play gets what your attention is in the movement. We probably said that. Right. And that's important. I would suggest that because it's on a computer, right, I'm guessing, it's not the only draft over here. No, no, no. Great. Okay. I would suggest that you create another draft which would cut most of the stage direction. See if it can survive. It can help live support. And see if it can survive without holding your hand. It's kind of having a detail that I need for people to understand it. Because I bet you it will still be readable and ballooned. You want people reading the script. You know, that's my, you know, I don't say cut them the two of them away. Cut them in a new document and trim to this level. So that they don't slow down the action of the play by reading. They funnel this. You know, I mean, you might need just a brush stroke here, brush stroke there. Try that. Because if you're concerned about them, then other people might be also. And that's, and if not, you can always give them a fully flushed-out copy, you know, if they want to know more details. Is that, does that make sense? It's fine, you just trim, just trim.