Scripthealer Workshop Tip: A Career

 I'm doing a TV writer SCRIPTHEALER workshop this weekend with Francine Volpe. So I decided to look back. 

SCRIPTHEALER WORKSHOP TIP: A career. At my first Buddhist lecture, I met a very fun, 'life of the party' woman I'm going to call Susan. Susan had been going to Buddhist teachings for years and helped me get situated. When I asked her about her practice, she enthusiastically said, 'I'm going to do it...once I get my business up' and I nodded along. I kept running into Susan at other teachings, and she offered -without prompt or questioning- 'once I get my business started, I'm all in.' I would nod like 'ok, didn't really ask you about that, but cool.' I kept studying, took years of courses, found a teacher, went on meditation retreats, taught meditation. Time passed. Several years later, I was at a Buddhist teaching, and I ran into Susan again. She was still the life of the party, but a bit more tired-looking and worn down. When I introduced myself, she remembered me and -once again- offered without prompt that she was 'going to dive in...once she got her business up and running.' And a chill of recognition went through me: Susan was NEVER going to start on the path, and she was never going to start her business. Susan was a 'perpetual hostess': someone to greet you at the door when you first arrive but who would never advance past that front door. And then I thought about all the Susans in my life. And where I started and where I am.

A career in the arts is the same. When you enter the front door, you go to the meet-and-greets, aka the events to network and know your community. People will say "I'm an emerging so-and-so' or 'I just finished my first work,' and there's also the 'I'm going to be a writer... once I finish my blah blah blah.' Once I save enough money, I'm going to really write that script. Once I get enough PTO saved up, I'm going to crank out THE GREAT GATSBY. Once all the situations and financials are perfect, I'm going to be an artist. Thank those ppl. They are the hosts. They're great and essential to the creative life. But they're not going to be with you any more than the Walmart Greeter is going to put groceries in your cart. Their job is to man the front door.

The perfect situation will never arise. For most ppl, art starts when it's inconvenient. We live in a capitalist society that values money over everything else. So making art involves navigating a wild, rushing river of capitalism. There will be people on the shores shouting, 'Oh, I'm going to dive in...once the waters calm down. And I should probably check my life jacket...and see if my sunscreen is waterproof.' These people may never enter the water and -if they do- they go in for a minute and then quickly take themselves out 'no no...too rough. I'll wait till things die down.' Now that's not to say you don't try to enter the easiest river. But you need discernment to separate the cautious planners from the perpetually procrastinating hosts.

Since perfection never comes, find other people who start imperfectly, off-balance, on the wrong foot. Find the ppl who are like 'fuck it, I'm going into the water' while others stand on the shore waiting for their stars to align. And follow the 'fuck it, I'm in' ppl into the water. This is your community of 'doers.' Some of them will be rude, rough, completely anti-social...but if you keep working they will become your colleagues. And you'll continually run into them on this journey. The 'hosts' are too busy on the shores welcoming the new artists to actually dive in. And don't shame them. That's their job. They're good at it. Let them give the newcomers a tour.

When I was in grad school, I wrote a two-hander play called TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. I was reading THE DIAMOND CUTTER at the time and decided to try this as an experiment in how willing I could be. I had no money, no idea, but I was willing. I had a junior agent at Gersh advising me to wait until they found the right producer, and I could tell in her voice that this was never going to happen. So I would produce it myself. People in my writers' group gave some very rough criticism that bordered on rudeness...and I took it. It made the play better. Some other writers criticized my grammar and punctuation, which I am really bad at, but whatever. I met a skeptical director at a Christmas party and handed him the completed script and said, 'This is going to happen. I don't know how I'm going to do this, but here are my goals.'

I got into the Fresh Fruit Festival and had a premiere date. I cast it, and the first actor I gave the script to called me up over the weekend to cuss me out. He wouldn't be in a play this offensive. He yelled at me and hung up. Ok, moving on...I recast it and needed rehearsal space, so I housesat for different writers and used their houses for rehearsal, along with NYU rehearsal space from one of the actors who was a student there. I tagged along when people were renting a U-Haul to move some stuff into the theatre. I made my own ads, coached by other writers who were doing the same.

The play opened...imperfectly. An artist friend said she didn't like it: it was too offensive, too lewd, too many curse words. I didn't apologize, nor did I defend myself. I listened and nodded along, 'Well, it is what it is.' The play sold out. It got some very good reviews. It won awards for Best Play, Best Playwriting, and Best Actor. I got a little check and these nice plaques. My first theatre awards ever. After the awards ceremony, my artist friend who hated the play apologized, 'Well, I guess I was wrong.' I quickly corrected her: you were not wrong. You had a strong opinion, and I respect that. Don't ever apologize b/c something wins an award. This play went on to be remounted off-Broadway, then done in other cities, and got published. It generated thousands of dollars from....nothing. This was the first full-length play I wrote...and produced...and marketed and I said 'fuck it, let me try to get this done.' At every single point I had ppl doubting me, AND I had ppl helping me. I had ppl who literally cussed me out and people who supported me. I had ppl who were diving into the river, and I had ppl who were standing on the shores saying 'not right now...maybe I'll join you later.' Each one served a purpose. Thank you to all of those people. Years later my plays were getting done in London and around the country. And then years later I was working on TV shows, and A WONDERFUL WORLD went from Miami New Drama to Broadway, got a nom for Best Actor for JMI, and now I have multiple commissions for musicals. But it all started with that first imperfect dive into the waters.

So we're doing this Scripthealer workshop this weekend on tv writing. We're flowing and going down the rivers. Some will sit on the shores, some will dive in imperfectly, on the wrong foot, rushed and flustered. These are my peeps. This is the new wave of the community of ppl making art.

If you want to join, email scripthealer@yahoo.com

DIVE IN!! The water is terrible and rough. The financials are fucked. There's not enough time. And it's always going to be that way. But if you keep swimming, you might get a production, a tv show, some awards. But you will definitely have a community

Scripthealer@yahoo.com. And we out!!