Why Writing a Play is like Building a Bookcase

A few weeks ago, I finished building a built-in book case in my office. I was struck by how the activity of writing a new play and building a carpentry project are similar (and a few ways they're different), at least for me.

1. I really like making stuff. It doesn't matter whether it's with wood or words, there's a process and a result. In the case of the bookcase, the result feels a little more concrete.
2. I don't always need a big complicated outline. In this case, I was able to draw a sketch on an index card and that was enough to build. The case is simple and strong, built in solid maple that has a certain glow. Just like the tone of language affects the perception of a play, the choice of wood makes a big difference.
3. Sometimes I'm not ready to build yet. I bought the boards and they sat on our basement floor for a month or two until the moment was right. The same thing often happens with plays--I'll have an idea, maybe do some research, but I don't have the right space in my life to write it yet. Rushing ahead doesn't work.
4. I'm not formally trained. I've seen some of the work by the students at the North Bennett Street School in Boston's North End, and I'm blown away. They are true craftsmen and artists, who know their tools intimately. I'm not at that level in my carpentry, not by a long shot. In terms of writing plays, I do a lot by instinct and from experience of 20 years of writing scripts. Sometimes wonder how my work would turn out if I had gone to graduate school. In the end, though, my book case serves me quite well, it looks good and hold books, and I enjoyed making it. That might be mostly what I need from the plays I create, too.
5. The project needs to come together in a certain sequence. All the boards need to be cut to the proper length, assembled dry, adjusted, glued, nailed or screwed, then patience is required for each step of finishing--sanding, sealing, and over and over again until the surface is just right. Plays work much the same--from outline, to rough draft, to big cuts, to polishes after each reading and production.
6. I never build the same piece twice. I'm always looking for a new challenge or to fill a new need in what I build from wood. I enjoy solving problems as they arise.
7. I tend not to get paid for my work. (Actually, this isn't totally true either of playwriting or of carpentry.) For the carpentry, this feels natural. For the playwriting, it's a struggle.
   
8. Though I have an audience (my wife and family and anyone who visits), ultimately, the piece needs to be done such that I'm satisfied with it. I will know every flaw, even if they're not readily visible to others. And I will learn to live with those flaws, because they're a part of the project. Perfection is not my goal, neither in writing nor in carpentry.
9. Sometimes it's beautiful.
   

First Draft of Constant State of Panic

I finished a first draft of Constant State of Panic this morning. The second act now comes in around 27 pages handwritten, which I think will run about 40 pages typewritten (I’ll find out on Monday, at my Rhombus playwrights group meeting). I have a feeling that there’s a bit of expansion yet to go, and I can’t say that I really understand the ending completely. It could be that the whole thing feels too forced. I’m not sure. It did end up falling within the parameters I set up, at least some of them—four actors, unit set, mostly unit time and place. Maybe that’s too limiting. I’m not sure.

My goal was to complete the second act in May, and it feels awfully satisfying to have gotten there. Sure it’s (very) rough, and it could be that this last ten pages is complete crap and I throw it out. I just can’t know for sure yet, but I needed to get to this point, and plugging away for an hour or two every day did the trick. This is a script that I started four years ago and could never really get together. Now at least I've got something to pick apart and rewrite and attempt to figure out.

(Who knows, maybe I'll get a new version of my new novel done this year after all. What a concept.)

progress report--mini writing binge, back on the wagon

I fell off the wagon for my little writing binge last weekend. Noah was home sick on Friday and Tracy was out of town, so I just didn't have the time or energy to write anything. The good news is that I've done a good job making time for writing all this week. I've got at least a dozen pages written on a new version of Act II. It's coming slowly, but at least I'm making steady progress. I don't know that I'll finish the act by the end of the month, but I might not be that far off.

This play has come much slower than my others, but I've just had to accept that and try not to get too frustrated. In the past, I might write four pages an hour on a first draft, but now I'm lucky to get one or two pages in an hour. I hope that soon something will suddenly click and it'll all come pouring out. But I'll get it written either way.

The last two weeks have been pretty full of other stuff, but I think the rest of May will offer me more writing time. (If I can stay disciplined.)

writing binge: still making progress on Constant State of Panic

I've been doing a good job sticking to my own personal writing binge so far (I only started on May 1st, with a goal of a page a day). By yesterday's Rhombus meeting, I had 11 pages of the second act of Constant State of Panic. When I heard it read by our actors, I could see that I wasn't quite on the right track, but I was very glad to have something to bring to the group and to have made progress.

That said, I'm curious to see if I'll get in my page today. I'm doing some thinking and planning for how to attack the second act. So, I did write a full page of notes and questions, so if I want to cheat, I could just say that will do for today. Otherwise, I'll have to do it after the garden tonight (and an episode of Lost), while I'm half asleep. I still might.

new writing binge/plan

I've decided that I really, really, really want to have a first draft of Constant State of Panic sooner rather than later. The first act is written, but there's no second act. So this month, I'm going to try to write some of the second act, at least one page a day, every day. I started yesterday, came up with a page, and wrote another three today. I might not keep any of it, but it's a start. It helps that I need something to bring to my Rhombus playwrights group on Monday, and on the 19th, too. The weekends are the hardest for me, but I just need to write one page, and I just have to allow myself to write it and have it be total crap.

As an added bonus, I think this'll also build up some pent-up desire to work on my new novel. I have a pretty strong urge to work on it right now, but I don't have the time (or energy) to do both, so it'll have to wait until June. Sometimes there's something to be said for suppressed writing energy coming out all at once. We'll see.

In what is probably part of my standard cycle, I'm feeling that I need to start getting better at saying "no" to meetings and other things that take my time, and try to make sure I spend more time focused on writing every day (weekdays, at least). I might just force myself to get out of the house, to the library or cafe, for 2-3 hours a day. (I figure I spend at least 10 hours a week coaching Kira's soccer team right now--it might be smart to spend at least that much a week on actual writing time, too, huh?)

We'll see how it goes. I seem to come up with new plans and strategies all the time. Some really do work for a while. But then again, my life can require a certain amount of flexibility, fluidity, like anyone's, I suppose--so plans have to change. This one will only work for 6-7 weeks, until school is out. Then it'll be time to find a new one.

Six Views roundtable wrap up

The rest of the Rhombus Six Views, Same Shape festival went well. On Saturday morning I moderated our roundtable discussion on methods and models of new play development. We had an experienced panel--Ilana Brownstein (literary manger of the Huntington Theatre Company), Gary Garrison (executive director of the Dramatists Guild), Kate Snodgrass (artistic director of the Boston Playwrights Theatre and Boston Theatre Marathon), Joe Antoun (artistic director of CentaStage), and Jacqui Parker (artistic director of Boston' s African American Theatre Festival).

We had a good turnout, in terms of audience--probably about 33 (not including our six Rhombus writers)--playwrights from all around the area, and they seemed pretty engaged in the discussion. I came prepared with a good list of questions that got people talking. I wished we'd recorded audio of the discussion, so I could post it here. As moderator, I was paying attention to the flow of the discussion and trying to figure out where to steer it next, so I didn't take very good notes (anyone out there who was there with better notes, please do post a comment here).

However, I can list a few of the highlights.

• Several panelists talked about the importance of knowing when to say no to a reading. Not all plays need every different kind of development process all the time. It's up to you, as your play's best advocate to consider seriously what is most needed for your play, now.
• In light of that, Gary Garrison posed three questions that he feels are critical to answer (or have a pretty good idea about) before you start getting into a development process (that isn't run by you). If you don't, you're at risk for easily being led in various different directions, and muddying your play. His questions were (I hope I'm getting this right):

• What is your play about?
• Why did you write it?
• What do you want to see on stage?

• Ilana Brownstein offered up an additional question--What is your nightmare version of this play? It's helpful to know what you don't want to happen to your script.
• We talked a bit about various developmental programs--the Huntington Fellows Program, Actors Theatre of Louisville, the O'Neill, and others, as well as grass roots, do-it-yourself kinds of weekends.
  
• The importance of giving a script time to grow and realizing that the first production does not mark the end of the growth of a script. Jacqui Parker talked about being able to remount or extend the run of a play, to allow her to fully realize changes she wanted to make after seeing the play on its feet.
• We also talked about the limitations of staged readings, and ways in which it's possible to explore plays on their feet before they reach production.
• Money was a topic. The expense of new play development greatly affects how it's put together, and how, because of union rules, it's actually more expensive for large institutions to put on a workshop of a new play than for a smaller group.
• We talked about the other elements in a play besides dialogue--set and lighting and sound design, asking is there a way for playwrights to better understand or communicate with designers. I suggested we put together a panel or workshop in Boston to facilitate this (and I think it could happen sooner rather than later).
• We had good questions from the audience about the history of new play development, and about graduate schools--the consensus was that attending a formal playwriting program was definitely not necessary in order to write good plays or have a playwriting career. This is from people who teach and run such programs. If you want to attend a formal program, it's important that you have a good idea of how you learn, and that you look closely at such programs to know who you'll study with and if they're a good match for your needs.

We covered a lot of ground in 90 minutes, that's for sure.

In addition to learning a lot, I was pleased with how generous and open all the panelists were. And how relatively easy it was to put something like this together. I definitely feel inspired to work on more such events in the future--to find answers to my questions (and share them with the community).