Archive for May, 2008
I was working on a proposal for a new musical (in its preliminary stages) yesterday when it occurred to me that I don’t really know one of my characters all too well… I started wondering why that was, and who he is… And then I went off to take a shower…
Wonderfully, between shampoo and conditioner, I heard him speak. Actually, I heard another character (his ex-wife) talking about him, and then I heard him describe himself.
Naturally, I ran to write it down… I had been waiting months to hear him, and it was an inspired moment.
When a friend called in the middle, I told her that I’d heard him speak and was trying to get it all down. She laughed it off, thinking I was just being Sue, I guess…
But the point is, that while it’s true a lot of my work is crafting… a lot of it is also just LISTENING… being open enough to hear what’s already there…
My other point is, we can all probably find lots of inspiration in every day life by just listening and being open to what’s already there.
–Sue
May 22nd, 2008
Oftentimes, when I’m writing, I cobble together things I’ve imagined, seen, or heard… And though my experience colors what I write, the majority of my manuscripts aren’t my experiences.
I did write a scene that was partially a direct experience, a memory from when I was a very young girl, of not going to the wedding taking place in the backyard of the two family home we rented.
I didn’t realize how much the memory, and the decision a young girl made, had affected my life, and didn’t realize how good it would feel to let go of it. I have Landmark to thank for that revelation.
Well, since I let go of it and moved on in my own life, I thought it would be easy then to incorporate that into this scene, a scene I had written about a year ago… When I read the scene the other day, it just didn’t sit right… and I thought it was a problem with my writing.
The problem was, it was still a little too close to home. I realized that today when talking to a friend and relaying the story to her… When I hung up, I knew the re-write I did today wasn’t necessary. I also knew that I needed to leave in that memory, even if it was still tender to the touch…
Remarkably, or maybe not so remarkably, I soon started doubting if the entire play was any good… I found myself wanting validation that I was doing the right thing, or that the scene (and play) were good. Then I came back to the same revelation: Go for it anyway!
So I did… I’ll let you know how it goes…
–Sue
May 19th, 2008
My cousin sent me a gift… a shimmery, delicate butterfly that I hung above my desk, that hangs behind me as I write this…
I dabble in feng shui a bit, and tried to decide where to put my new winged beauty. It was my husband who suggested the area by my desk…
I did some research first, just to be sure… and found out that butterflies are associated with the “Fame” area of the bagua, given their ability to metamorphose into something so beautiful…
When I sent my cousin an email thanking her, and explaining this, she sent me a You Tube video with the “Fame” theme song… You remember it:
Fame! I’m gonna live forever!
I’m gonna learn how to fly high.
I feel it coming together…
People’ll see me and cry!
…Baby, remember my name!
I remember hearing that as a young girl… I still hear it in my head from time to time… but I know from experience now that you do pay for it…
It doesn’t necessarily happen in the School for the Arts like it does in the show credits… it happens in life. It means getting your heart broken so you can write about it… learning to pick yourself up after hearing “no” over and over again… building the solid foundation and network you need so that fame doesn’t mean that much anymore…
And I think I can honestly say that’s where I am… Playwrights don’t get famous like Tennessee Williams or Arthur Miller did… and I’m kinda glad… The pressure finally got to him in the end, and Tenn killed himself because he was so paranoid that everyone hated him.
I want my work produced now, and long after I’m gone, that’s true… but I want to have a normal life, like the one I’m building with my family and friends now…
Instead of it being the meal, I finally understand that fame is just gravy…
–Sue
May 13th, 2008
