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singsational_playwright
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Posted: Mon Feb 18th, 2008 10:37 pm |
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Fellow Dramatists,
I just recently joined a writers' workshop here in my area. They have weekly workshop meetings where the members get together and a few people get to read parts of their work each week. The other members get to critique the readers. It is very exciting for me to be getting to know other area writers.
I am the ONLY playwright in the organization, but the president assured me that this will only work in my favor. He (and others) said that they will be delighted to hear excerpts of my plays in the not too distant future. Several people told me that they had attempted writing a play in the past but gave up because they felt plays were too difficult to write.
Everyone in the writers' workshop are novelists, short story writers and poets. It will be interesting to see what sort of feedback I get about my plays from a group of non-playwrights.
The writers' workshop is holding a conference this coming weekend that I will be attending. They are expecting about 100 people to be there. I am looking forward to it. Are any of you involved in writers' critique groups of the sort I have joined?
The pen is mightier than the sword,
Iris
"If I write a new play, my point of view may be profoundly modified. I may be obliged to contradict myself and I may no longer know whether I still think what I think."
- Eugene Ionesco
"Writing has...been to me like a bath from which I have risen feeling cleaner, healthier and freer." - Tennessee Williams
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in media res
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Posted: Tue Feb 19th, 2008 03:01 pm |
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singsational,
Sounds good.
I have done this before for short periods of time when I have found a good group. People come and go as schedules change. It's success will all depend on the moderator. If the moderator is good and makes it about the writing rather than about personality, and runs it well with good discipline and fairness and promotes astute critiques from the participants, it can be a rewarding joy!
Unlike novelists short story writers and poets, however, we playwrights need actors. Novelists can read their own stuff effectively enough, even if they do not read well. If you have bad actors or bad readers reading your stuff, it can hurt the effectiveness of the play. So, in cases like this, you roll the dice. Or you read your own stuff playing all the characters, if you feel you are capable of doing that with a particular piece.
I have been in some wonderful groups in various cities. They can be highly creative and very educational. And others have sucked.
And it is okay to go to these for brief periods when you need it. From my experience, I have found those who look upon it as a" social club" rather than a "workshop" can destroy the purpose and energy of the group. A good moderator privately and respectfully asks these people to leave.
Let us know how yours goes.
best,
in media resLast edited on Tue Feb 19th, 2008 03:03 pm by in media res
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katoagogo
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Posted: Tue Feb 19th, 2008 03:59 pm |
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Cool. Try it out for a while and learn what works and what would you improve if you were running a group like it for playwrights.
Then figure out a way to meet other playwrights near you.
One way to meet other playwrights in your area is to produce a local playwrights festival of some sort. Even a 10-minute festival by local playwrights will get you involved with finding like-minded and like-working people.
Sure, it's work. But the payoff for both you and your community would be great.
Hook-up with a local community theater and see if they'd be interested in doing this with you on-board as the literary person. Plus, you'll meet lots of local actors, find out how they work, and get them in he habit of seeking new work rather than always depending on established pieces. Actors love to be the originator of a role, but so few who live outside of big theater towns ever get the chance to do this.
I am part of a local playwrights group that I co-manage. Most of the playwrights involved I met because I chaired a local playwrights festival for 10-years.
Nothing gets you involved in playwriting better than producing your work and the work of others. It's a win-win-win situation (to quote Michael from THE OFFICE). Think about it.
--kato
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Edd
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Posted: Tue Feb 19th, 2008 04:15 pm |
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I completely concur with Kato. I would just like to add that while you are thinking about it, think about how much fun you'll have.
~Edd
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singsational_playwright
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Posted: Thu Mar 27th, 2008 06:21 pm |
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Fellow Dramatists,
Well, I've been a member of the local writers' workshop for a little while now. I finally got up the courage to read something to them last week (and again last night.) Last week they misunderstood who the main character was in my play and did not believe that the characters were as young as I stated that they were. They did however think that I write comedy very well. The disappointing part is that the particular bit of play I was reading that night was NOT a comedy. I just happened to have read a bit of the play in which there was some comic relief. They thought that the comic relief character was the main character. So they were totally confused by what I had written. They did LIKE it though. They said I obviously have had a good background in writing plays and they appreciated me sharing part of one of my plays with them.
Last night was a whole other story. Last night I read part of a different play, one that I DID intend to be a comedy. Nobody laughed. Not even once, no chuckle from anyone, nothing. Everyone in the room last night HATED what I read. And they told me that with the feedback they gave me. Not one person said anything postive at all, nor was their feedback helpful or even given in a constructive manner. They did say that they didnt' know anything about writing plays. One person said for a "first time playwright" I had a start of something that might turn into something.
I am NOT a "first time playwright." I have had two plays produced, a staged reading done of one of my plays and a theatre here in the metroplex is going to do a staged reading of one of my newer plays some time in the not too distant future. They know this. I have told them that. Perhaps they did not pay attention. I don't know.
I know I was pretty happy going to the writers' workshop until I dared to read to them. And yes, they made me read all the characters myself as well as stage directions and all. I was not allowed to "act out" any of it either. Their rules are "straight" reading so they are not critiquing your acting ability but only your writing. That does not help the reading of a play.
So what to do? Stay in the workshop (I'm paid up through next Febuary as far as dues go) and dont' read my work at all, but just listen and critique others, or cut my losses (and my brother's $$ that he paid for me to be a part of this thing) and leave the group all together? I feel obligated to keep going because my brother paid a lot of $$ for me to join the workshop. But that doesn't mean I have to read to them.
On the other hand, I did begin writing a novel a while back. I did not finish a draft of it, but I did get a good 150 pages into it. I am *half* tempted to do some work on that and take that in to read to the novelists at the group. The novel is based on one of my completed plays. But they don't have to know that. What do you guys think? Would you take in part of a novel to read to a group of novelists when you are really a playwright? I seem to write prose as well as I write plays (according to my writer friends who are NOT in this group I joined) so might that be a way to utilize this group? I don't know what to do with this group of writers I've hooked up with.
I am NOT going to stop writing plays. I will probably start posting bits of my plays here instead of reading them (in a scizophrenic fasion) at the writers' workshop. I know all of you will give me better feedback than they will.
Any suggestions on how to approach this writers' workshop situation would be greatly appreciated.
The pen is mightier than the sword...
Singcerely,
Iris
PS: My singing endeavors (hence the name "singsational") have been going swimmingly lately! I have sung more than 10 concerts since December to rave reviews!
"If I write a new play, my point of view may be profoundly modified. I may be obliged to contradict myself and I may no longer know whether I still think what I think."
- Euegne Ionesco
"Sweetest the strain when in the song the singer has been lost."
- Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward
"Writing has...been to me like a bath from which I have risen feeling cleaner, healthier and freer." - Tennessee Williams
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Mary Alice
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Posted: Thu Mar 27th, 2008 06:35 pm |
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Hmmm, sorry this is an unhappy, unhelpful experience. We can read our own plays alone: mine always sound wonderful when I read them! What's needed is to hear someone else read them. A group of people, frineds, who know they are not performers, would be more helpful than having your work filtered through expectations and demands of another form. Maybe at a college or Community College near you, a playwriting, acting or English Class? Or, for something more professional, a group of your own?
"the president assured me that this will only work in my favor-"
Presidents have been considered wrong before. Keep writing, you're doing just fine.
Mary Alice
Last edited on Thu Mar 27th, 2008 06:37 pm by Mary Alice
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singsational_playwright
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Posted: Thu Mar 27th, 2008 06:39 pm |
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Thanks, Mary Alice.
I will keep writing, despite what the novelists said about my work. My friend told me today that in that group, they are the swallows and I am the penguin, and it's no surprise that the swallows don't understand swimming. I will also post something for critique here soon!
The pen is mightier than the sword,
Singcerely,
Iris
"If I write a new play, my point of view may be profoundly modified. I may be obliged to contradict myself and I may no longer know whether I still think what I think."
- Euegne Ionesco
"Sweetest the strain when in the song the singer has been lost."
- Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward
"Writing has...been to me like a bath from which I have risen feeling cleaner, healthier and freer." - Tennessee Williams
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katoagogo
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Posted: Thu Mar 27th, 2008 09:49 pm |
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singsational_playwright wrote:
I know I was pretty happy going to the writers' workshop until I dared to read to them. And yes, they made me read all the characters myself as well as stage directions and all. I was not allowed to "act out" any of it either. Their rules are "straight" reading so they are not critiquing your acting ability but only your writing. That does not help the reading of a play.
"Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds." --Ralph Waldo Emerson
They must bend to the needs of your writing. Your writing, in fact, is not writing -- in a true sense. Your writing requires that your hear it -- out loud -- spoken by multiple voices.
If they cannot accommodate your writing by bending their rules and allowing other voice to contribute in the expression of your work, then they should refund your dues.
--Kato
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singsational_playwright
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Posted: Thu Mar 27th, 2008 10:41 pm |
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Kato,
I agree about the workshop needing to bend their rules. I asked someone last night about the possiblity of doing a REAL reading of a play at that workshop, and they said that they have never done that before, and have no interest in doing something new like that. They said I am welcome to read the way they do and they will continue to not comprehend drama. So, I think I will stay in the workshop and critique their writing but not share mine with anyone but my fellow dramatists HERE. Thanks for your reply.
The pen is mightier than the sword...
Singcerely,
Iris
"If I write a new play, my point of view may be profoundly modified. I may be obliged to contradict myself and I may no longer know whether I still think what I think."
- Euegne Ionesco
"Sweetest the strain when in the song the singer has been lost."
- Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward
"Writing has...been to me like a bath from which I have risen feeling cleaner, healthier and freer." - Tennessee Williams
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singsational_playwright
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Posted: Sat Apr 19th, 2008 01:40 pm |
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Fellow Dramatists,
I have become friends with a poet and a novelist in this writers' workshop I joined. They are nice people. One of them, the poet, i eager to hear me read part of a play at the workhop. She is very curious about my writing. The other, the novelist, is trying to convince me to QUIT writing plays and write novels and short stories instead because they are more "suited" to the writers' workshop format. However, 2 weeks ago when I went to the workshop a new member approached me to tell me that he had once written a play and would like to dust it off and actually complete it. I told him to do that, and bring it to the workshop. U figure that perhaps if TWO of us were wanting to read plays, then perhaps we could get those workshop people to bend their rules about how plays are to be read at the workshop, and then the workshop would be more beneficial to both of us. Unfortunately this past Wednesday when I was supposed to go to the workshop I was sick in bed with pneumonia so I was unable to go and talk again with that new member, or my poet friend who at least is not trying to get me to jump on the poetry bandwagon. The novelist I am trying to ignore, is so much as she keeps going on and on about how "God may intend for you to write novels. That may be why you joined this worskhop" and on and on she goes. I am not a novelist though, nor do I want to be a novelist. So, I don't know if I'll read there again any time soon (or ever) again, but we shall see. I'll keep you posted if the "rules" do change at the workshop.
The pen is migtier than the sword...
Singcerely,
Iris
"If I write a new play my point of view may be profoundly modified. I may be obliged to contradict myself and I may no longer know whether I still think what I think." ~Eugene Ionesco
"Writing has...been to me like a bath from which I have risen feeling cleaner, healthier and freer." ~Tennessee Williams
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