Writing by the Numbers 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