The Writing Life x3

Monday, December 30, 2024

Writing by the Numbers 2024

Amanda J. Collins in A Light Under the Dome, photo by Nile Scott Shots.

In 2024, almost all of my creative energy was focused on my work with Plays in Place (PiP). Pulling at the Roots played for a second sold-out year at Historic Northampton, and Revolution's Edge returned to Boston's Old North Church for 11 weeks this summer. My full-length play, A Light Under the Dome, premiered in the Senate Chamber of the Massachusetts State House, for what felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The team was amazing, audiences were enthusiastic, and by the final performance we had more than 200 people on the waiting list. This was part 1 of a 3-play series, Suffrage in Black & White, that we're creating for the National Parks of Boston.

Plays in Place reached almost 2,500 audience members with our shows, over 59 performances in 2024. Plus we were workshopping our new bike plays, The Kittie Knox Plays, which we plan to produce in 2025

Myka Plunkett and Will MacAdams in The Optimists Razor in Northampton, photo by Tom Kelleher

We are currently working on projects with the National Parks of Boston, MassBike, Old North Illuminated, Historic Northampton, Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine (State of CT), Historic Deerfield, The Preservation Society of Newport County, the Texas Historical Commission, the Associates of the Boston Public Library, and others.

I feel extremely fortunate to work with a such a great team of artistic collaborators at Plays in Place, and it's been a joy to watch the company continue to grow (our budget almost doubled from 2023 to 2024).

Outside of PiP, my number of productions was way down from last year. I had a small handful of short plays produced by companies here and there, and my published short plays saw a little action but not much. One big highlight was the creation and production of Leap/Fly with my friend and magician, Evan Northrup, for the Boston Theater Marathon. This was my 20th appearance at the festival and it was exciting to bring a play that was a magic show, too.

Part of the reason for so many few productions outside of PiP is that I've mostly stopped writing and submitting other scripts. My number of submissions is my lowest since 1990. Instead of sending out script submissions, I spend a lot of time meeting with museums and other potential clients for Plays in Place, and networking now involves presenting at museum conferences. My writing and research schedule is a bit overfull at the moment, all for projects that are commissioned work. I'm at the point where i have to decline to take on new gigs because I just don't have enough hours in the day. Even so, I still feel a little guilty about not marketing my other plays as much, like I've abandoned them somehow.

As always, I share these numbers with the hope that others will do so, too, and aspiring writers (aren't we all) will get some data points about the writing life and business.

Stetson Marshall in Revolution's Edge at Old North Church, photo by Ben Rose

My writing/life stats for 2024:

Performances/Audience.

Number of Productions/Readings: 20 (20 full productions, 0 readings).

These were of 18 different plays, including 2 full-length scripts, in 10 US states and 3 countries (US, Canada, plus my first show in Argentina!).

Number of Performances: 91. This includes published plays.

Previous Years' productions and performances:

2023: 43 productions and readings, 141 performances

2022: 18 productions and readings, 33 performances

2021: 26 productions and readings, 60 performances

2020: 14 productions and readings, 21 performances

2019: 46 productions and readings, 310 performances

2018: 42 productions and readings. 259 performances.
2017: 48 total. 227 performances.

2016: 40 total. 106 performances.

2015: 49 total. 151 performances.

2014: 44 total. 123 performances.

Estimated Audience for 2023: 4,529 total.

These numbers are way down from last year. But I feel good about the quality of experience my audience is receiving, especially from our Plays in Place shows. That being said, I'd sure like to get back to more than 10,000 a year, but I can't see that happening for a while.

Previous years' audiences:

2023: 7,293

2022: 1,760

2021: 3,300

2020: 1,607

2019: 12,077

2018: 11,424

2017: 13,092

2016: 6,000

2015: 11,578

2014: 13,411

(For published plays I estimate low--50 people/performance. I don't track plays used by students in competition, so the actual number is higher. )

Thomika Bridwell, Marge Dunn, and Regine Vital in A Light Under the Dome , photo by Nile Scott Shots

My novels have all been out for a while now, so sales are tiny.

Books sold: 10
Previous Years' book sales: 8

2023: 8
2022: 22
2021: 15
2020: 76
2019: 35
2018: 77
2017: 40+
2016: 60+
2015: 350+
2014: 78

Marketing:

Almost all of my marketing time is spent securing new Plays in Place projects, which leaves little time for other submissions. The Playwright Submission Binge remains a useful support to make sure I take some time to market my non-PiP work, but even then my numbers are WAY down. If I can find the time, I want to send more copies of published work to companies in 2025.

Submissions:
Total: 12 (down from 45 last year)

queries for plays: 0
play scripts submitted: 12

Carpentry projects provide a good break from writing and theater work. I'm working hard on converting the loft of our barn into a rehearsal space.

Writing output:

I was mostly doing a lot of research and revision this year, but I did some new drafting.

Wrote the first draft of For Love and Honor, a new site-specific one-act, scheduled for production in 2026.
Started the first draft of a new historical play on a commission. Schedule for production in 2025
LOTS of research on new historical projects.

In 2025, I need to write at least three new historical plays on a commission--two full-lengths and a one-act, plus revise a few already in progress. PiP has a LOT of productions already lined up for 2026, so those are being written this coming year.

Inputs:
Plays watched: 31 (saw 26 in 2023)
Movies/TV series watched: 37 (51in 2023)
Plays read: 10 (10 in 2023)
Books read: 25 (25 in 2023)

Patrick's writing $$ for 2024

Gross Income: $27,278
published plays performance royalties: $642
non Plays in Place play production royalties: $271
film projects: $0
play commissions & Plays in Place playwright pay: $8,360
teaching/coaching/consulting: $785
my books: $20
Prizes/fellowships: $0
Producer work for Plays in Place: $17,200
misc. (essays, panels, editing, other): $0

Expenses: about $3,600

Net Income: $23,678 (before taxes)

Past years:

2023: Gross income: $22,765 Expenses: $13,000 Net: $9,765

2022: Gross income: $22,025 Expenses: $7,095 Net: $14,930

2021: Gross income: $11,394 Expenses: $5,866 Net: $5,582

2020: Gross income: $14,162 Expenses: $5,822 Net: $8,340

2019: Gross income: $19,511 Expenses: $7,500 Net: $11,761

2018: Gross Income: $23,192 Expenses: $14,227 net: $8,965

2017: Gross Income: $31,343 Expenses: $9,715 net: $21,628

2016: Gross Income: $25,857 Expenses: $11,472 net: $14,385

2015: Gross income: $8,662 Expenses: $4,979 net: $3,682

2014: Gross income: $7,974 Expenses $5,580 net: $2,494

2013: Gross income: $7,767 Expenses: 5,758 net: $2,029

2012: Gross Income: $3,844 Expenses: $2,808 net: $1,063

2011: Gross Income: $2,638 Expenses: $4,665 net: $-2,027

My income rose a fair bit this year, with almost all of it coming from Plays in Place work. Plus, my writing expenses now come out of the Plays in Place budget, so my net income is MUCH higher. I don't get much of a "salary" just for being Producing Artistic Director, but I do get paid for my work as a producer on various projects, and I get paid for researching, writing, revising, and rehearsing the plays we create. There are couple big question marks about 2025, but if things go well, my income should increase again.

Claire Gardner, Kirsten Greenidge, and I have been writing plays about cyclist Kittie Knox

My time stats for 2024:

Total working time: 1,918 hours total transit time: 202 hours

Time spent on writing stuff: 1,694 hours

actual writing and research: 422 hours

reading for work (not project research): 27 hours

play attendance: 58 hours

rehearsals/meetings/consulting/teaching: 87 hours

marketing and admin: 43 hours

Seven Devils New Play Foundry Board Work: 12 hours

Plays in Place: 1,045 hours

Time spent on Home Renovations/Projects : 224 hours

My overall work time stayed about the same this year, and I made my goal of 400 hours of writing/research time. The amount of time I spend on Plays in Place work just about doubled--almost all my work time is spent on PiP, though I'm still carving out time for home and barn renovations.

How I spent my time in past years:

2023: 1,904 total work hours. 1,597 writing hours (421 writing/12 reading/56 play attendance/108 rehearsing & meetings/96 admin & marketing/27 Seven Devils/Plays in Place 585. 260 in transit. 307 hours on home renovations & real estate.

2022: 1,705 total work hours. 1,340 writing hours (409 writing/18 reading/44 play attendance/130 rehearsing & meetings/127 admin & marketing/60 Seven Devils/Plays in Place 844. 167 in transit. 365 hours on home renovations & real estate.

2021: 1,698 total work hours. 1,358 writing hours (480 writing/11 reading/48 play attendance/189 rehearsing/156 marketing/27 Seven Devils/37 Dramatists Guild/9 Media Work/ 451 Plays in Place. 157 in transit. 339 hours on home renovations/real estate.

2020: 1,882 total work hours. 1,382 writing hours (580 writing/21 reading/55 play attendance/129 rehearsing/176 marketing/36 Seven Devils/106 Dramatists Guild/200 Plays in Place. 78.5 in transit. 519 hours on home renovations/real estate.

2019: 2,119 total work hours. 1,619 writing hours (394 writing/31 reading/83 play attendance/375 rehearsing/210 marketing/11 New Play Alliance/79 Dramatists Guild/437 Plays in Place. 294 hours in transit. 500 hours on home renovations/real estate.

2018: 1,905 total works hours. 1,905 writing hours (546 writing/30 reading/89 play attendance/553 rehearsing/373 marketing & admin/41 New Play Alliance/110 Dramatists Guild/164 Plays in Place). 282 hours in transit.

2017: 2,018 total work hours. 1,338 writing hours (371 writing/23 reading/468 rehearsing/347 marketing/129 New Play Alliance and Dramatists Guild)+680 hours on house renovations

2016: 2,096 total work hours. 1,223 writing hours (416 writing/28 reading/438 rehearsing/274 marketing-admin/67 New Play Alliance)+873 on house renovations.

2015: 1,596 total work hours. 1,035 writing hours (262 writing/52 reading/295 rehearsing/303 marketing-admin/123 New Play Alliance) + 561 on moving and house renovations

2014: 1,556 total work hours. 1,426 writing hours (452 writing/109 reading/342 rehearsing/396 marketing/127 New Play Alliance) + 130 hours farming.

2013: 1,898 total work hours. 996 writing hours (394 writing/308 rehearsing/294 marketing) + 902 hours farming

2012: 1,630 total work hours. 896 writing hours. (386 writing/278 rehearsing and meeting/231 marketing) + 734 hours farming

2011: 818 writing/work hours. My kids were a lot younger back then.

That's it. I hope these stats are useful or interesting to you.

Thanks for reading. I hope you all have a Happy New Year!

Joshua Robinson, Tim Hoover, and Kevin Paquette in Revolution's Edge, photo by Ben Rose

Here are some links to other end-of-year posts by my playwright friends:

Adam Szymkowicz

Donna Hoke

John Minigan

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Writing by the Numbers 2023

Nathan Johnson in Revolution's Edge, photo by Nile Scott Shots.

Revolution's Edge ran for 14 weeks at Boston's Old North Church

This year was a huge step forward. My work as a writer and producing artistic director of Plays in Place was intensely busy. We worked on projects in various stages of development with the National Parks of Boston, The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Historic Beverly, MassBike, Old North Illuminated, Historic Northampton, Harvard Law School, and Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine (State of CT).

Plays in Place reached more than 2,500 audience members with productions and workshops at five sites. And we were involved with producing and developing more than ten plays of various lengths.

In doing so, we worked with a lot of theater artists:

8 playwrights

5 creative producers

5 directors

51 actors

4 stage managers

2 sound designers

8 musicians

2 photographers

1 costume designer

I wrote two new historical site-specific plays that we produced with Plays in Place. Revolution's Edge ran for 14 weeks (42 performances) at Old North Church in Boston, and will return again next year for 10 weeks (40 performances, June 7-August 10). My play The Optimist's Razor was part of a series of three one-acts we produced at Historic Northampton, Pulling at the Roots, (along with plays by Talya Kingston and Jasmine Goodspeed). The run this summer sold out super fast and the show will return in June 2024.

Plays in Place is engaged with more than half a dozen projects right now, including a series of plays about 19th Century cyclist Kittie Knox (which will include real bikes). Our big news is that my play, A Light Under the Dome, got permission and funding to be produced in the Senate Chamber of the Massachusetts' State House, August 13-16, 2024! This is part of the Suffrage in Black & White project for the National Parks of Boston.

I continue to be grateful to have found this creative niche. Our production partners and audience members continue to love what we're making, and I get the privilege of working and having fun with a diverse and energetic creative team.

Outside of PiP, my number of productions was way up from last year, though still not up to pre-pandemic numbers yet.I was super excited that my full-length Drift, finally had a production at the LAB Theater Project in Tampa this fall, and I was able to travel there for some rehearsals and performances.

My short Christmas play, Santa Doesn't Live Here Anymore, had a ton of productions, in English and Spanish, and on stage, streaming, and as an audio play. A production of it directed by Kenneth Castillo won Best Script and Best Play at the Brisk Festival in Los Angeles.

I love this poster for one of the audio versions of Santa Doesn't Live Here Anymore. You can listen to it here.

As always, I share these numbers with the hope that others will do so, too, and aspiring writers (aren't we all) will get some data points about the writing life and business.

The cast, director and SM for Drift at the LAB Theater Project in Tampa

My writing/life stats for 2023:

Performances/Audience.

Number of Productions/Readings: 43 (39 productions, 4 readings).

These were of 26 different plays, including 3 full-length scripts, in 18 US states (double last year's states) and 3 countries (US, Korea, England, plus my first show in Guam!). Several productions were audio versions of plays on radio and streaming.

Number of Performances: 141. This includes published plays.

Previous Years' productions and performances:

2022: 18 productions and readings, 33 performances

2021: 26 productions and readings, 60 performances

2020: 14 productions and readings, 21 performances

2019: 46 productions and readings, 310 performances

2018: 42 productions and readings. 259 performances.
2017: 48 total. 227 performances.

2016: 40 total. 106 performances.

2015: 49 total. 151 performances.

2014: 44 total. 123 performances.

Gabe Levey and Myka Plunkett in The Optimist's Razor, directed by Brianna Sloane. Photo by Frank Aronson.

Estimated Audience for 2023: 7,293 total.

These numbers are way up from last year, which is very exciting. I'm still pretty far from where I was pre-pandemic.

Previous years' audiences:

2022: 1,760

2021: 3,300

2020: 1,607

2019: 12,077

2018: 11,424

2017: 13,092

2016: 6,000

2015: 11,578

2014: 13,411

(For published plays I estimate low--40 people/performance. I don't track plays used by students in competition, so the actual number is higher. )

Distant Neighbors is being published by Original Works

My novels have all been out for a while now, so sales are tiny (the smallest yet.)

Books sold: 8
Previous Years' book sales:

2022: 22

2021: 15

2020: 76

2019: 35
2018: 77
2017: 40+
2016: 60+
2015: 350+
2014: 78

Marketing:

Most of my marketing time is spent securing new Plays in Place projects, which leaves little time for other submissions. The Playwright Submission Binge remains an important support that helps make sure I take some time to market my non-PiP work.

Submissions:
Total: 45 (down from 105 last year)

queries for plays: 2
play scripts submitted: 43

Carpentry projects provide a good break from writing and theater work. This year my wife and I built a murphy bed!

Writing output:

This was a good year for new scripts, writing three pieces on commission.

Wrote Revolution's Edge, a new historical site-specific play for Old North Church (Plays in Place commission).
Wrote The Optimist's Razor, a new historical site-specific play for Historic Northampton (Plays in Place commission).
Wrote The Great Disappointment Part 1, a new historical ten-minute play.
Wrote the first draft of Kittie Knox play, for a series of bicycle historical site-specific plays (Plays in Place commission)
LOTS of research on new historical projects.

I expect 2024 to be mostly about research and revisions, though I am working on a new short magic play with Evan Northrup for the Boston Theater Marathon. I have a LOT of historical reading to do for potential commission projects that I'm hoping will materialize in 2024/2025 leading to 2026 productions.

Inputs:
Plays watched: 26 (saw 27 in 2022)
Movies/TV series watched: 51 (48 in 2022)
Plays read: 10 (12 in 2022)
Books read: 25 (29 in 2022)

The team that workshopped A Light Under the Dome at the MA State House in August. In 2024, we'll stage a full production there.

Patrick's writing $$ for 2023

Gross Income: $22,765
published plays performance royalties: $391
play production royalties: $2,195
film projects: $0
play commissions: $12,535
teaching/coaching/consulting: $740
my books: $14
Prizes/fellowships: $0
Producer work for Plays in Place: $6,890
misc. (essays, panels, editing, other): $0

Expenses: about $13,000 (includes mileage expenses)

Net Income: $9,765 (before taxes)

Past years:

2022: Gross income: $22,025 Expenses: $7,095 Net: $14,930

2021: Gross income: $11,394 Expenses: $5,866 Net: $5,582

2020: Gross income: $14,162 Expenses: $5,822 Net: $8,340

2019: Gross income: $19,511 Expenses: $7,500 Net: $11,761

2018: Gross Income: $23,192 Expenses: $14,227 net: $8,965

2017: Gross Income: $31,343 Expenses: $9,715 net: $21,628

2016: Gross Income: $25,857 Expenses: $11,472 net: $14,385

2015: Gross income: $8,662 Expenses: $4,979 net: $3,682

2014: Gross income: $7,974 Expenses $5,580 net: $2,494

2013: Gross income: $7,767 Expenses: 5,758 net: $2,029

2012: Gross Income: $3,844 Expenses: $2,808 net: $1,063

2011: Gross Income: $2,638 Expenses: $4,665 net: $-2,027

My income stayed steady from last year. My commission income was up by 50%, which is excellent. I took in a lot less for teaching and consulting (down $3K, which is fine). I make money from my Plays in Place work with a combo of commissions, royalties, and producer fees. This year, I've got four co-producers helping me manage projects, which is essential, but it also means that the pool of producer dollars has be split into more shares. (We're learning that we need to charge more, so that we can all be paid more fairly for the many hours we spend.) I spent a LOT of time on the road, which is why my expenses were super high this year.

I think I have a shot at staying steady, income-wise, in 2024, but it won't be easy. I will have MUCH less commission money, but I should do okay from royalty and producer money.

Plays in Place Boston Co-producers Katherine Shaver, Jess Meyer, Jazzmin Bonner and me,

Such a great team!

My time stats for 2023:

Total working time: 1,904 hours total transit time: 260 hours

Time spent on writing stuff: 1,597 hours

actual writing and research: 421 hours

reading for work (not project research): 12 hours

play attendance: 56 hours

rehearsals/meetings/consulting/teaching: 108 hours

marketing and admin: 96 hours

Seven Devils New Play Foundry Board Work: 60 hours

Plays in Place: 844 hours

Transit time for projects: 260 hours

Time spent on Home Renovations/Projects : 307 hours

The playwright team on Pulling at the Roots: me, Jasmine Goodspeed, and Talya Kingston (who is also our Western MA co-producer).

I put in an extra 200 hours of work over last year and traveled a lot more (100 extra hours) to do it. I spent 55 days on the road for Plays in Place, plus 8 days in Florida for Drift rehearsals and performances. (63 days on the road is also why my expenses were so high this year.) I spent an additional 250 hours on Plays in Place work (not counting writing/researching/revising plays).

My travel time might decrease a little bit this year (maybe). I hope to keep finding ways to share the workload with my co-producers so that I can stay sane and have time with my family and fix up our barn.

It was a big deal for me to surpass my annual writing hours goal of 400 hours, despite all the producer work and travel. It's important that I keep finding the time to write, read, and think.

How I spent my time in past years:

2022: 1,700 total work hours. 1,340 writing hours (409 writing/18 reading/44 play attendance/130 rehearsing & meetings/127 admin & marketing/27 Seven Devils/Plays in Place 585. 167 in transit. 365 hours on home renovations & real estate.