Advice for young writers (from Patrick Rothfuss and me)

I really like this post from Patrick Rothfuss' blog on advice he has for young writers.  Basically, he says, learn to live cheaply.  Which is great advice for anyone who wants to spend his or her life doing something that doesn't pay a lot money.  (But he says it in a really fun way.)

I'd definitely like to second his advice.  When I was just starting out, right after college, Tracy and I lived in the New York/New Jersey area, and it was incredibly expensive.  It was hard to have enough money to have time to write.  When Tracy got the chance to transfer to Denver, it was a great opportunity for her, and for us.  And even though it meant moving away from New York, just as my playwriting career was getting ramped up, it still made sense.  At the time, Denver was super cheap (we could buy four-bedroom house for $72,000)  (Denver's not cheap anymore, by the way).  In NYC, I needed to work about half time, and even then money was tight.  (And our student loans were nothing compared to what kids take out now.)  The move to Denver meant a lot more time to write.  I worked just a small part-time job, but had a huge amount of time to write.  I not only had the time to write, but also time to work on productions, start writers' groups and theatre companies.  The time and flexibility to create gave me just what I needed to grow as a writer


By the way, my main piece of advice to young writers (probably already articulated in this blog, at some point, but worth repeating right before Valentine's Day) is marry well.  The youngsters always laugh when I say this, thinking that I mean "marry rich."   Which isn't what I mean at all.  Not that "marry rich" isn't a bad idea for a writer.  But not nearly so important as marrying/partnering well.  If you're going to partner/marry someone, and you want to do well as a writer, you need to make sure you're hitched to someone who has a full and complete comprehension of what this whole "writer business" means.  Or who can stomach it, once the learn what it means.  That it's unlikely to pay very well, that it will keep you up at night or keep you out at night, that it will mean that you will often be distracted, that you will complain about the same things (rejection, lack of audience, critics, etc.) over and over again.  That despite all the promise that  you show as a budding genius, that you might not be a genius, but just someone who needs to write and tries to get better at it, and sometimes fails, or fails most of the time.  And that giving up isn't really a suitable option, because being a writer isn't necessarily something you do, but part of who you are.  All of which requires a significant amount of patience and forbearance.  You will need someone able to be strong when you are weak, able to boost your spirits when you are tired, which will happen, because for almost all of us, living life as a writer is often hard and tiresome and grinding (and lovely and amazing and thrilling).  All of which will test you and your relationship.

I've leaned on Tracy for almost 22 years of marriage, and know el that I've been especially lucky that I followed my own advice, long before I could have known it's important.

So again, young writers, good luck to you.  And marry well, if you can.

Big News: I'm a Huntington Playwriting Fellow

The news is now official:  I'm one of three writers chosen this year to be Huntington Playwriting Fellows with Boston's Huntington Theatre Company.  I'm paired with Ryan Landry and Martha Jane Kaufman.  Over the next two years, the group of us will meet regularly with the Huntington literary staff, Lisa Timmel (Director of New Plays) and Charles Hoagland (Literary Associate), in a small writing group, as well as sometimes with past Fellows (some of whom are already good friends of mine).

I'm thrilled. (I've known the news for a few weeks and it's been killing me not to be able to shout it out.)    Lisa and Charles both have a wealth of dramaturgical knowledge and experience, and my fellow writers are fun and interesting, and they're writing some exciting scripts--there's a lot I can learn from them.

Plus the residency comes with a bit of money (very helpful) and I get to attend opening night of a bunch of Huntington shows (very cool).  They don't have any formal commitment to producing any of my plays, nor do they have any attachment on anything I write, but it did feel pretty cool to at least sign a small letter of agreement with a theater as well-respected (and huge) as the Huntington.  (And they have produced/are producing a bunch of plays by past Fellows, including their upcoming production Stick Fly by Lydia Diamond.)

The announcement appeared today in the Boston Globe and on the Broadway World web site and will probably pop up in a few more places.

Now I just need to sit myself down and write my ass off, so I can make the most of the opportunity.

Marketing for Playwrights at KACTF in Durham, NH on Friday

Tomorrow I'm off to Durham, New Hampshire, for the day.  I'm going to the Region 1 meeting of the American College Theatre Festival at UNH, which has already been going on for a few days.  I'll co-lead a marketing workshop for young playwrights with fellow playwright, Steven Bergman.  I'm looking forward to it--I love talking about marketing for writers.

While I'm at the festival, I hope to sit in on a directing workshop led by Adam Zahler, and also catch the dramaturg luncheon.

Even though the ACTF is really for college students, it's actually a huge opportunity for local theatre folk to catch some interesting workshops.  You can get a day pass for $30.  There are lots of workshops for playwrights and shows and acting to watch.  If you're a playwright with some free time, it's a great way to learn something and see some rising theatrical talent.

Playwriting in 3D Workshop tonight, 6:30pm--talking to Designers

Tonight I'll help lead the second installment of Playwritiing in 3D, an evening dedicated to expanding the conversation between playwrights and designers.  We'll talk with two set designers and two costumer designers about how they approach design, and especially how they approach new work.  I led a similar workshop with Stagesource last April, where we talked with sound and lighting designers.

Here's the info:

Join us on Monday, January 25, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at The Charlestown Working Theater, 442 Bunker Hill Street, Charlestown, MA, for this discussion, presentation and audience Q&A.  Admission is $15 for StageSource and Rhombus members, $25 for non-members.   Sign-up on-line or by phone by calling 617-720-6066.  Payment is due at time of sign up.

As playwrights strive to create work that takes full advantage of the three-dimensional world of the theatre, they need to understand how designers think and how they use design to shape the environment and impact of a production. What are the possibilities? What confuses designers in a script and what delights them? Are there ways to start the interaction between playwrights and designers sooner? What vocabulary will allow playwrights and designers to work more effectively together? 

These are just some of the questions that we'll address in an extended conversation (and show and tell) with costume designers, Gail Buckley and Greg Maraio, and set designers, Richard Chambers and Christina Todesco. Moderated by the Rhombus playwrights' group's Patrick Gabridge.   This is an evening for anyone interested in new work, design, and the collaborative process.  Last year's panel of sound and lighting designers was a resounding success, and now we're back with set and costume designers to help fill in the rest of the picture.

The Charlestown Working Theater is located in a brick Victorian-era firehouse at:

   442 Bunker Hill Street
   Charlestown, MA 02129

the work goes on and a contest from kidlit.com

Constant State of Panic is continuing to run in DC, and I keep receiving good reports.  I already miss being able to see the show every night.  I'm still digesting my notes from the show, trying to figure what sorts of rewrites I want to do on the script as I look forward.

And Recognition is still running in Pick of the Vine in San Pedro, California.  I've had some nice feedback from them, too.  (We've made people cry, which is always a good sign.)

Lots and lots going on here this week.  On Monday, I'm leading another Playwriting in 3D workshop here in Boston, at the Charlestown Working Theatres, from 6-9pm.  If you're around, don't miss it.  We'll have a lively discussion with costume and set designers about new plays.


I'm still hard at work on my new novels (among other things).  Today, I'm sending off the start of my new middle grade novel to a fun contest at kidlit.com, where agent Mary Cole at the Andrea Brown Agency looks at the first 500 words of a whole bunch of manuscripts.  (I'll be she'll get hundreds and hundreds.)  Hers is a blog definitely worth reading if you're writing for kids.

Constant State of Panic now open (and very cool)

I've gotten to see three performances of Constant State of Panic, and will go see the 2pm Sunday matinee in a couple hours.  They've done a great job with the show.  We're getting very strong performances from all the actors, and the set is amazing.  This is a show with some tricky technical demands, and they've really wowed me and pulled off some very fun stage magic.  (I don't want to give away too much, because it's fun to be surprised.  Even when I got there Friday night, I said, don't show me all the mechanics of how this stuff works--I want to be surprised with the audience.)

We had two good panels yesterday.  After the 2pm show, we had a discussion on Methods and Models of New Play Development, with six artistic directors and directors from around the DC area.  They all had different experiences with new plays and we had some good spirited discussion about how much a writer should keep practicality in mind while writing a script.  There were about a dozen people who stayed for the talkback, which was fine.  It's tricky to get people out to a Saturday afternoon sometimes.

Last night, we had a very warm audience, including a group of 22 MIT alumni (my alma mater) who stayed afterwards for a talk with me and the director and the cast (who were very kind to stay, despite have a super long day).  We had a lovely talk, and it was nice to learn that some of the people there had never been to a small theatre like ours before, usually attending the Kennedy Center and the like, and they were very impressed with the quality and intimacy.  That was especially rewarding,

On opening night, I had a good chat with several young audience members about how the issue of race is handled in the show.  The audience members were a mixed-race group, and they really enjoyed seeing a mixed-race couple on stage, for whom race affected their lives, but the play didn't necessarily have to be "about" race.

It's these kinds of conversations that stick with me as a writer and help make all of this worthwhile (in addition to the free brownies and champagne on opening night).

Now when I'm watching the show, I'm sitting there with my notebook, trying to make sure I understand what I see as the strengths and weaknesses in the show.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to see four performances of the play, but that's all I get, and in a few weeks, it'll be closed, and it'll be up to me to figure out what changes to make that will help the play continue to move forward in its life.  So as much as I'd like to just sit back and watch, I need to be paying close attention and make sure I'm soaking it all in.

I'll very much miss the Madcap folks when I leave.  They've been tremendous to work with--extremely thoughtful and dedicated.

Off to DC for Constant State of Panic

Tomorrow I head off to Washington, DC, to see the opening of my newest full-length, Constant State of Panic, which is being staged by the Madcap Players at the H Street Playhouse.  I've been getting great feedback from my director and producer, and have been working hard to sell tickets as best I can from Boston.  But this weekend, I'll finally get to see the play under full sail and see how it works.  No matter how well things go in rehearsal, you never really know how a play is going to turn out until you bring up the lights and perform it in front of an actual audience.  That's both the really interesting part about theatre, as well as the really scary part.

I'm especially grateful that I'll get to see the show four times this weekend, which means in front of different audiences.  Each one is different, and for some plays (like Pieces of Whitey) their responses can vary drastically.  I'm guessing CSP won't be quite so volatile, but we'll see.

In addition to the show itself, I'm looking forward to seeing all the folks I had a chance to work with when we workshopped the show this fall, as well as some old friends who are coming to see the play.  We're also putting together a panel on new play development,  after the Saturday matinee with six artistic directors from around the area--I'm hoping to learn a lot from them and have a chance to meet a lot of DC-area playwrights.

Here I go.