Feedback: Friend or Foe?

Last night I hosted a reading of a new and very funny screenplay in my living room. I love being surrounded by talent - actors, writers and comics - and it's wonderful to see a writer's growth on the page, when a draft has actually changed and has gotten better as a result of those changes. I've always believed that rewriting reveals a writer's true talent - do you have the bravery to "kill your babies" and to completely overhaul those first instinctive raw words? Are you able to retain the original intention in the process?


After the reading, a few people stayed behind to offer the writer feedback and it got me thinking about this component of creativity - the "notes sessions" that are part of the creative process. Certainly, we can lose sight of our own work while in the midst of it - we often speak about being "too close" to the material or feeling overwhelmed by the size of the task. Maybe the changes we're making seem to be unraveling every line, the paints we've chosen to "correct" have now "ruined" the original vision or an actor is "grasping" in the middle of a limited rehearsal schedule.

There is that moment, in the middle, when it seems we will never reach the end. It is often when we are feeling the most lost that we reach out and ask for help, ask for notes, ask for feedback -- I'm starting to think that is THE WORST time to ask. The work itself is fragile and the artist behind the work needs nothing but love and passion and support to keep going. If we aren't very careful as artists, we may hear words that STOP our creativity rather than SUPPORT it.

How can you keep this from happening?

HANDPICK THE PEOPLE IN THE ROOM.

If you need to hear something read, work with actors you trust and know. If the song isn't working, schedule a meeting with your mentor. If you're just about to throw the painting through a window, take a breath and track down an old classmate to talk shop.

If you can't handpick the people, is it possible to meet with a cheerleader in advance to boost your confidence? Or perhaps, you can visualize the meeting/notes session in advance and come up with a plan about how you can handle yourself if the going gets tough - ask for a glass of water or step out for a bathroom break to stop the flow if you're feeling overwhelmed.

CONTROL THE CONVERSATION, IF YOU CAN

Limit your audience to three questions you want answered during the feedback session. Write those questions down and have them in front of you. Give each person a limited period of time in which to answer those questions. When the time is up, it's up.

In industry situations, this may not be possible but have you tried? Some wonderful ways I've heard of artists dealing with executive notes sessions is to A. request written notes in advance of the meeting, B. to take a tape recorder to the meeting or C. to request that the notes sessions be broken into "acts" so that there is more frequent feedback but the information becomes very specific.

FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE

Don't ask what is wrong with your piece - ask what works, what moved people, what stuck out as really interesting, what they liked, what draws their eye, what makes them feel. Focus on ways in which those positive aspects can be enhanced.

As they say in the South - you catch more bears with honey...if you know what people love about your work, you'll focus on your strengths and hey, you may even be more motivated to finish!

Last night's screenplay had already been through numerous drafts and the writer was seeking very specific information from her audience. Her readers had read several drafts and were able to reference the changes and speak about the script with the full history of the project in mind. The tone was helpful and friendly and the notes were uber-specific.

But I've certainly witnessed NIGHTMARE situations with other creative projects where an artist is nearly being attacked by a well-meaning friend who actually harbors quiet jealousy or even worse, given notes by a room full of strangers who have no concept of an artists entire body of work and how this piece relates.

Maybe your piece is in an earlier state and needs more protection. Maybe it's ready to be seen and you're feeling super confident. Either way, the most important element is your own awareness of what you NEED from the feedback in order to continue the work.

Before you open yourself to feedback, listen to your gut then choose the format and venue and way that you WANT to receive your notes. We are only at the mercy of others if we allow ourselves to be.

How do you handle feedback?

essential themes

When an artist is studied in the classroom very often the focus of that discussion is about the larger themes of the work. Images that repeat, characters that resemble one another, topics that seemed to be of particular concern to that artist, arguments that are rehashed, ideas that get recycled, presented one more time, a perspective that shifts - a single diamond held to the light in order to see its many interior colors.

What are the themes that have become essential to your work? Try to look at the body of your work in its entirety - to which drumbeat are you marching? Look over your work as if a professor prepping a lecture about you - what would be said?

CREATIVE CHALLENGE:

Make a list of five Essential Themes you tend to explore through your creativity. Here's a possible list to get you started:

Abundance
Courage
Love
Forgiveness
Integrity
Death
Optimism
Beauty
Freedom
Healing
Hope
Synchronicity
Truth
Grace
Jealousy

Feel free to come up with your own list.

For each Essential Theme, create a small piece that demonstrates that theme clearly. If you chose "Jealousy" - write a one-minute monologue for a jealous lover, compose a quick song that sounds jealous, paint or sketch a fast study of jealousy, pull images and turn them into a collage - don't spend hours and hours on this - we're just looking for inspiration, kernels, seeds, starters.

Don't overthink it. Follow your gut.

Creative Goal Setting for 2010

A. Make a list of your CREATIVE GOALS for 2010.

-- Any projects that you've started and want to finish, ideas you've had but never started, projects that pay the bills, projects that seem unrealistic, dream projects and forgotten scripts. Make a comprehensive list.

B. Now, prioritize those goals.

-- Number them starting with 1. Which is most pressing? Which is most urgent? Which is most important to you?

C. Now, starting with Project #1, make a list of the steps you need to take to take that project to completion.

Example:

1. Finish Ghostwriting Novel

-- Ten pages a day for ten days

-- Collect photo images

-- Ask agent about how to insert into manuscript

-- Notes from author

-- Notes from agent

-- Final polish

D. Do this for each project.

E. Now, go back and assign dates for each of these steps. The date by which it will be completed.

F. Now, put the list away and close your eyes. Which project has your heart? Why aren't you working on that one? What can you do to make room for that project?

G. Visualize yourself at the end of your creative journey for that dream project, your heart project. What does it look like? Are you holding an Oscar in your hand? Are you signing books at the Union Square B&N? Are you shooting a film? Are you staring up at the marquee with your name in lights?

DREAM BIG!!!!

Free!!!

Russell Banks, Atom Egoyan and the Scripting of Time
Time: 7:00 P.M.
Location: Bovard Auditorium, USC make reservations »

Visions and Voices: The USC Arts & Humanities Initiative and the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Invite you and a guest to a special evening with

Russell Banks, Atom Egoyan and the Scripting of Time

7:00 P.M. on Monday, November 23rd
Bovard Auditorium, USC Campus
Admission is free.
RSVP online at www.usc.edu/esvp
(code: cc1123)

ABOUT THE EVENT

Russell Banks is a critically acclaimed author whose work has received numerous international prizes and awards. His dazzling novels include The Sweet Hereafter, Affliction, Cloudsplitter, Continental Drift and Rule of the Bone. Atom Egoyan is one of today's most remarkable independent filmmakers. His spectacular films include his stunning adaptation of The Sweet Hereafter as well as Calendar, Exotica and Ararat. Both Banks and Egoyan powerfully explore themes of tragedy, humanity, alienation and memory in their work.

This event will bring these two geniuses together for a provocative conversation about the treachery of memory and how we learn, forget and lie in time.

Organized by the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

Email Address: visionsandvoices@usc.edu

call for submissions

Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre

PO Box 1720

Mars Hill, NC 28754-1720

828-689-1384

fax 828-689-1272

sart@mhc.edu

www.sartplays.org

Thank you for your interest in ScriptFEST 2010, the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre’s 29th

Annual Playwrights’ Conference. We welcome your submission and hope the following information will

answer your questions. If you need more information, please call the SART business office at 828-689-1384.

AN OVERVIEW

SCRIPTFEST, the Playwrights’ Conference typically receives 100-200 scripts each year. A small army of

SART volunteers read each submitted script; those recommended for further review are read again by a

committee of theatre professionals. Once all scripts have been reviewed, SART invites up to six playwrights to the annual conference to hear their plays read by SART actors and Mars Hill College Theatre Arts students. Playwrights join the directors, actors, and audiences in discussions and critiques following each reading. One script may be considered by SART to be included and fully produced in a following SART summer season.

The 2010 Conference will be held in October over one weekend in the historic Owen Theatre on the

campus of Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, North Carolina. The Conference is free and open to the public; all are welcome to attend. Playwrights invited to participate in the conference are selected by late-August and receive room and board while attending the conference. If a play is chosen for production to be included in SART’s regular summer season, it will be scheduled for a one to three week run in Owen Theatre during June, July or August of one of the subsequent years, earliest being the 2011 season. The author of a script selected for production in a regular SART season will receive a $1,000 honorarium plus room and board.

Since its opening season in 1975, SART has produced fifty-seven new plays, many supported by a New

Works grant from the North Carolina Arts Council. World premieres at SART include Ark of Safety by

Howard Richardson and Francis Goforth in 1975; Wednesday’s Children by C. Robert Jones (1980); Ed

Simpson’s The Battle of Shallowford (1990); My Castle’s Rockin’ by Larry Parr (1993); William Doswell’s Full Moon Over Montmartre (2001); Finding Clara by June Guralnick (2003), Mountain of Hope by William Gregg and Perry Deane Young (2004); Finding The Absent Crescent by Gina Pauratore (2005); Taking A Chance On Love by C. Robert Jones (2006); The Memory Collection: The Legend of Bascom Lamar Lunsford by Randy Noojin (2007); Miracle in Bedford Falls by Mark Cabaniss & Lowell Alexander (2008); Home Again by William Gregg & Perry Deane Young (2009). Recent ScriptFEST winners are Ruthie by David Wright (2008), and Big Criminals by Steve Wisniewski (2009).

SART recognizes that developing new scripts is neither an easy nor a short process. The testing and

development of new material at the conference allows the playwright to refine and build the work toward

possible production. SART’s commitment to developing and producing new plays has distinguished the

company from other regional summer theatres and earned a Professional Division Award from the N.C.

Theatre Conference (NCTC).

SART MISSION STATEMENT

A professional theatre dedicated to proven favorites, heritage of the Southern Appalachians, new works development, and opportunities for students and playwrights.

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION

• New scripts of full-length plays and musicals in English that are unpublished and previously

unproduced. No One-Acts. (Scripts that have gone through a developmental process or other readings

are eligible. Scripts produced by amateur community theatres and/or educational theatres are eligible.

Scripts produced by professional theatres are not eligible.)

• TWO “hard” copies of scripts are required. And one author resume.

Author’s name and other author information should not appear in the scripts.

• Playwrights may submit up to two different titles each submission period.

• Excerpts and summaries will not be accepted without the FULL script.

• No One Acts.

• No film or television scripts, translations or adaptations.

• Adaptations of novels and short stories are acceptable. Adaptations of movies and stage scripts are not

acceptable.

• If you have submitted a particular title of yours in a previous year, it may be submitted again IF and

ONLY IF you have made significant revisions to the script since it was last submitted to us.

• Provide a LARGE self-addressed, stamped envelope if you would like for SART to mail back your

script. The size of the envelope should be appropriate for the size of the script, and postage should be

the required postage necessary to deliver your script from Mars Hill NC to your address.

• Preferred submission: ALL pages at least standard 3-ring hole-punched, if not in a binder.

1. Title Page: with no other information on it but the title

2. Synopsis Page(s) (optional) inserted directly behind the Title Page: containing play synopsis,

character descriptions, and other notes. (Do not include synopsis, notes, or other important

information in your cover letter. It will not be read by the adjudicators.)

3. Script

*DO NOT have the author’s name anywhere on the Title Page, Synopsis Page or the pages of

the manuscript. If you do, your submission MAY NOT be accepted!

4. Provide ONE additional and separate Title Page including author’s name, date, etc.

5. Author’s resume or some given background including thorough information.

6. If you include a cover letter, do not include synopsis, notes or other important information in the

letter. Anything you want the adjudicators to read, include on the inserted synopsis page(s) of the

manuscripts.

• White paper. Two-sided or one-sided pages is author’s choice.

• Musicals should be submitted with the above materials, and in addition a score and/or a recording of at

least four songs on cassette or CD. (Only ONE recording is necessary for each title.)

• SART will not notify you of receipt of your submissions, unless with your submission you provide a

reply-postcard for us to send you, including postage. (optional)

• SART will contact you by email if your submissions are not chosen in the final twenty. If you would

prefer postal-mail notification, you must provide a SASE with your submission. (optional)

The deadline for submission for the 2010 ScriptFEST Conference is a postmark of no later than October 31, 2009.

Submit to: SART ScriptFEST ‘10, PO Box 1720, Mars Hill NC 28754-1720.

(We suggest you mail by the US Postal Service. UPS will not deliver to PO boxes.)

writing intensive in nyc

PLEASURE AND RISK: Testing the Limits
a weekend writing intensive with Brooke Berman and Karen Hartman

Explore pleasure and risk-taking (and the pleasure of risk-taking) in this two day exploration of what lives at the edges of your own writing.

Saturday August 8th and Sunday August 9th
1-6 pm both days
Art New York - 520 8th Avenue b/w 36th and 37th

What is more delicious, safety or breaking boundaries? This workshop will help you figure out what is SAFE, how to make a haven for yourself as an artist. We will also approach what is UNSAFE, how to move beyond individual boundaries and "limits" to create work at a new level.

Both instructors will be present the entire time, with lots of writing ideas and exercises, and opportunity to share work as well.

$250 for the weekend.

Limited space, write to Brooke and Karen at karensworkshop@gmail.com
with questions or to reserve.

Who We Are:

BROOKE BERMAN's plays have been produced and workshopped across the US and in London. She is a two-time recipient of both the Francesca Primus and Lecompte du Nouy awards; she is a recipient of a Berilla Kerr Award, a Helen Merrill Award, and a commissioning grant from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture for the play Until We Find Each Other, which was produced at Steppenwolf in 2002, directed by Anna D. Shapiro. Brooke’s play Hunting and Gathering premiered at Primary Stages, directed by Leigh Silverman, and was named one of the Ten Best of 2008 by New York Magazine. Her memoir, NO PLACE LIKE HOME, will be published by Random House in July, 2010. Brooke is also a screenwriter whose credits include the short ALL SAINTS DAY (directed by Will Frears), MAJOR MINOR DETAILS (the Mark Gordon Company), DISOBEDIENCE (Vox films), and an adaptation of her play SMASHING. Brooke has taught playwriting and creative writing as a guest artist in the New York City public school system, at assorted colleges, as well as privately to adults and through the “24 With 5 Teaching Collective” which she co-created at New Dramatists with Karen Hartman, Lynn Nottage, Jorge Cortinas and Dominick Taylor.

KAREN HARTMAN has taught playwriting for years at the Yale School of Drama, Yale University, Bennington College, and other universities and New York companies. She is the author of Gum, Leah’s Train, Goliath (Dorothy Silver New Play Prize), Going Gone (N.E.A. New Play Grant); Anatomy 1968; Girl Under Grain (Best Drama in NY Fringe; ALICE: Tales of a Curious Girl (Music by Gina Leishman, AT&T Onstage Award); Troy Women; Donna Wants, Goldie, Max, and Milk; Sea Change, a musical with AnnMarie Milazzo, and MotherBone, an opera with Graham Reynolds. Her plays have been performed in New York at the Women’s Project, NAATCO, P73, the NY Fringe, and Summer Play Festival, and at regional theaters including Center Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, the Magic Theater, Dallas Theater Center, and elsewhere. She was awarded new play commissions from ACT in San Francisco, McCarter Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, and others. Her work is published by Theater Communications Group, Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts, Backstage Books, and NoPassport Press. An alumna of New Dramatists and Yale (B.A., M.F.A.), Karen has received playwriting support from Rockefeller Foundation at Bellagio, the N.E.A., the Helen Merrill Foundation, a Daryl Roth "Creative Spirit" Award, a Hodder Fellowship, a Jerome Fellowship, a Fulbright Scholarship to Jerusalem, and Core Membership at the Playwrights Center.

life and food coaching by susan marque

New Day - New Built For Your Budget Class

http://www.susanmarque.com/4weeksforyou

Join the fun now on Tuesday nights! (or Wednesday morning if you are in Australia's time zone.) Built For Your Budget gets you 4 times as much time for your money with inspirational coaching to get you where you want to be.

Sign up now at http://www.susanmarque.com/4weeksforyou
the new session starts April 7th at 6pm (Pacific time)

You might even want to let me know ahead of time what you would like to work on in particular.

Would you like to let go of that last 10lbs.?
Would you like to know what foods will give you incredible energy or what foods can unknowingly drain you?
Would you like to find ways to make cooking go quicker?
Do you need travel food tips to stay slender, well and happy?
Would you like to improve the quality of your relationships?
How would a happier work situation be for you?
What is your current environment that you are living in and what might be better?

You can be living a higher quality of life no matter what your economic status.

Let's begin and start creating magic and miracles in every day!

Join us http://www.susanmarque.com/4weeksforyou and tell your friends!!

Enrollment is very limited so please sign up right now! I look forward to talking with you soon!!!

Susan
Food & Life Coach Susan Marque
www.susanmarque.com

GOAL SETTING FOR 2009

This is Part Two of our Personal Inventory as artists as we move into 2009. You can use the information you discovered in Part One to help you set goals for 2009 and beyond.

You will 9 blank pages. Write one heading per page:

SPIRITUALITY
HEALTH & BODY
EMOTIONAL WELL BEING
RELATIONSHIPS
INTELLECTUAL STIMULATION
FINANCIAL SECURITY
CAREER (BUSINESS)
CREATIVITY
FUN

Then under each of these headings, write:

10 YEARS
5 YEARS
3 YEARS
1 YEAR

So your layout should look like this:

SPIRITUALITY

10

5

3

1

Do this for each page heading. Once you have your structure set up, it’s time to fill in the blanks. Sometimes, it’s easiest to start with the 10 year mark and work backwards.

Where do you want to be in terms of your spiritual development in 10 years? If that’s your goal, what steps do you need to take this year to head toward that goal? What milestones do you think will mean progress at the 3 year and 5 year mark?

Ask yourself these questions for each subject heading. Feel free to jump around – no need to do them in any special order – and leave things blank if you’re just not sure. Again, there is no judgment in this exercise – this is about seeing where you need to focus new energy or where you are spending all of your time. Also, you can list several goals or you can just identify one goal per year – it’s entirely up to you to use this map in a way that’s helpful to plan your own life. There are no rules.

Also notice that I have separated business from creativity – as artists, we often get caught up in production or business concerns and spend our creative energy in those pursuits. Creating work is not the same as selling work! Look at what happens when you separate the two!

Here’s an example of how you might fill one out:

CAREER (BUSINESS)

10 Year

- MOUNTAIN MAMA Production Company: funding, producing, creating films, tv, books and plays that further the empowerment of women, artists and Appalachians.

- Nominations for Pulitzer, Oscar and Emmy

5 Year

- The Constant Creator series has become new Artist’s Way.
- Ability to produce other artist’s work
- Play on Broadway
- Commercial Xmas movie creates financing for indie projects

3 Year

- Shot feature premieres at Sundance with theatrical release
- TV show on the air
- Mentropy is best seller
- Constant Creator series is completed and sold

1 Year - 2009

- Become WGA member
- Sell TV project
- Constant Creator proposal completed

Susan Marque teaches at SM Farmers Market

Step Up
Saturday
A monthly member-led social networking program

Farmers' Market Tour

Saturday, October 25th 10am-12pm
Santa Monica Farmers' Market
Northwest Corner of 2nd and Arizona Santa Monica, CA 90401
RSVP

Excite your senses as you surround yourself with vibrantly colored vegetables, sweet fruits and the aroma of freshly-cut flowers. Connect with fellow members as Food Coach Susan Marque guides you through Santa Monica's Farmers market and explains how to select the finest produce.

Agenda
10:00-10:15 am: Meet at corner of the farmers' market
10:15-10:45 am: Group introductions and overview of the farmers' market
10:45-11:45am: Farmers' market tour led by Susan Marque
11:45-12:00pm: Socializing and networking

Location Information
10am
Meeting Point - Northwest corner of 2nd and Arizona, Santa Monica, CA 90401

To begin, we will meet at the corner of the farmers' market. Look for Step Up leaders wearing bright orange Step Up tees.

Click here to register for this free event

Members and non-member guests are invited to join us for this engaging and educational social networking event.

Parking Options

There are paid parking structures on 2nd and 4th (first two hours should be free, with a small fee thereafter). Street parking may also be available in the neighborhood.ContactWe welcome you to contact Alene Gabriel, Step Up Member & Volunteer, with any questions on or before event day.

free membership to omebo.com

THIS WAS SENT TO US BY DAILY CREATOR, LUCIA:

There is a really dynamic website that I would like to share: http://omebo.com

This is a web-site that a friend of mine (Blake Roberts), who is an inspiring, loving, thoughtful & generous human being & artist started as an open forum for maintaining & documenting individual dreams. Blake has offered me & any of my friends free membership. So come on board & join Omebo.com!!!

Here is a little info about Omebo.com:

Omebo is an online magazine dedicated solely to promoting, inspiring and helping people to live their dreams. Each month we do features on members of Omebo from all around the world who are want to share their story, their dreams and their world with us. We have a collection of some the most amazing and inspiring stories, told by individuals in their own words. Since the beginning of Omebo, we have three of our members who have already had their dreams come true, shortly having others read them and come to their aid. We also just gave out our first $1000.00 Ombeo members scholarship to a member to aid in helping them fulfill an immediate need. In addition to our popular Expressions section we have articles and entertainment and lots more to come!!!! Take a tour at www.omebo.com

Here is how to sign up for free membership:

Go to www.omebo.com click on the Sign UP and go directly to the sign up page. Then click on the drop down where it says type of membership, put in promo, then complete the rest of the information requested...in the bottom box it will ask for promotional code. type in friends1825 and you will have a free membership. Please feel free to give the promo code to anyone and everyone that you think might be interested in Omebo. For the next 90 days we are offering free memberships to anyone who wants to join the site. We don't allow anyone under the age of 14 years old however.

poetry for character development 6

Your characters have points of view about specific issues in their lives, in their larger community, their family and in the world. Everyone argues - no matter how saintly - even if they won't have that argument aloud, they have it in their head. Everyone has their idea of how to solve a problem - sometimes the solution benefits them personally, sometimes it benefits everyone.

How does character approach problem solving? How do they argue? Do they always have to win? Do they think of others or just themself?

DAILY CREATIVE EXERCISE:

WRITE A BOP

The Bop is a form of poetic argument consisting of three stanzas, each stanza followed by a repeated line, or refrain, and each undertaking a different purpose in the overall argument of the poem.

The first stanza (six lines long) states the problem, and the second stanza (eight lines long) explores or expands upon the problem. If there is a resolution to the problem, the third stanza (six lines long) finds it. If a substantive resolution cannot be made, then this final stanza documents the attempt and failure to succeed.

Have your lead character use this form to explain a current problem in their life and how they plan to resolve it. Then write another poem from the perspective of the person creating that problem for your lead.

Steal the form from the poem below for structure.

Bop: Haunting
By Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon

In the evening she comes, her same unsatisfied self,
with the hard, smug look of salvation. Mama,
stop bothering me. When we argue, she says
what you’re saying is not scriptural.
You need to get back in your Bible.

In one dream, I slap her. I’m tired of her mouth.

I hate to see the evening
Sun go down

Yesterday, I dreamed a vampire
held my wrist, dared me to wake
to her, corporeal, stolid. Mama,
was that you? I refused to touch
her body in the casket.
At the gravesite I refused everything
but dry-eyed silence,
her picture in my hand.

I hate to see the evening
Sun go down

This is what I get for conjuring—
Mama, after me all night,
fussing about the holy ghost
when what I need is sleep.
But last night I lay dreamless.
I didn’t sleep sound.

I hate to see the evening
Sun go down

poetry for character development 4

I find it is unusually helpful to have a character of the play tell me the entire story of the play from their perspective. They only see the plot elements that directly impact their lives. They don't know the underlying motivations of the other characters or they may have STRONG opinions about how things SHOULD be happening.

A great way to get this information out of your characters is a story poem.

DAILY CREATIVE EXERCISE:

WRITE A STORY POEM

To get started on a story poem, begin by quickly writing down a sequence of events that happens to one of your supporting characters, from beginning to end. USE THEIR VOICE - NOT YOURS! You might be surprised how a peripheral character knows so much about your structure and plot!

You may want to write this out first as prose, then add line breaks and stanza breaks when you complete your first draft. Or you may choose to mimic the structure and form of the poem below to give yourself a road map.

Whatever you do, just write.

TOMATOES
- by Stephen Dobyns -

A woman travels to Brazil for plastic
surgery and a face-lift. She is sixty
and has the usual desire to stay pretty.
Once she is healed, she takes her new face
out on the streets of Rio. A young man
with a gun wants her money. Bang, she’s dead.
The body is shipped back to New York,
but in the morgue there is a mix-up. The son
is sent for. He is told that his mother
is one of these ten different women.
Each has been shot. Such is modern life.
He studies them all but can’t find her.
With her new face, she has become a stranger.
Maybe it’s this one, maybe it’s that one.
He looks at their breasts. Which ones nursed him?
He presses their hands to his cheek.
Which ones consoled him? He even tries
climbing onto their laps to see which
feels most familiar but the coroner stops him.
Well, says the coroner, which is your mother?
They all are, says the young man, let me
take them as a package. The coroner hesitates,
then agrees. Actually, it solved a lot of problems.
The young man has the ten women shipped home,
then cremates them all together. You’ve seen
how some people have a little urn on the mantel?
This man has a huge silver garbage can.
In the spring, he drags the garbage can
out to the garden and begins working the teeth,
the ash, the bits of bone into the soil.
Then he plants tomatoes. His mother loved tomatoes.
They grow straight from seed, so fast and big
that the young man is amazed. He takes the first
ten into the kitchen. In their roundness,
he sees his mother’s breasts. In their smoothness
he finds the consoling touch of her hands.
Mother, mother, he cries, and flings himself
on the tomatoes. Forget about the knife, the fork,
the pinch of salt. Try to imagine the filial
starvation, think of his ravenous kisses.

poetry for character development 3

Your characters have a way that they do things that may be a very different approach than you would take as a person yourself or as a writer trying to fix script issues. Sometimes, it's best to get out of the way and let them fix the problems themselves.

DAILY CREATIVE EXERCISE

WRITE A "HOW TO" POEM
In the voice of your lead character, address an obstacle blocking your lead from getting what they want. Maybe your lead wants to seduce his/her lover. Write a "how to seduce" poem in their voice. Maybe your lead wants to kill his/her enemy. Write a "how to get rid of so-and-so" poem.

Use the form and structure of the below poem as your guide.

How to See Deer
by Philip Booth

Forget roadside crossings.
Go nowhere with guns.
Go elsewhere your own way,

lonely and wanting. Or
stay and be early:
next to deep woods

Inhabit old orchards.
All clearings promise.
Sunrise is good,

and fog before sun.
Expect nothing always;
find your luck slowly.

Wait out the windfall.
Take your good time
to learn to read ferns;

make like a turtle:
downhill toward slow water.
Instructed by heron,

drink the pure silence.
Be compassed by wind.
If you quiver like aspen

trust your quick nature:
let your ear teach you
which way to listen.

You've come to assume
protective color; now
colors reform to

new shapes in your eye.
You've learned by now
to wait without waiting;

as if it were dusk
look into light falling:
in deep relief

things even out. Be
careless of nothing. See
what you see.

TOUR THE SANTA MONICA MARKET WITH A FOOD COACH – FREE!

SUSAN MARQUE IS AN EXTREMELY KNOWLEDGEABLE FOOD COACH - THIS IS A GREAT OPP TO MEET HER AND GET TO KNOW HER STYLE FOR FREE!

Hi there,

I just wanted to tell you all that I'll be leading a free market tour Saturday, March 29th for Step Up Women's network. Anyone can come and it's a fun interactive couple of hours and the women of Step UP are absolutely wonderful. I would love to see you there.

Date: Saturday, March 29th

Time: 10am-12pm (we are doing it a little earlier as this will help avoid the busiest time of the market)

Location: Santa Monica Farmer's Market, Northwest corner of 2nd and Arizona, Santa Monica, CA 90401

Food & Life Coach Susan Marque
"Love Your Body, Love Your Life"
www.SusanMarque.com
310.453.7525

story fund grant in ca

California Council for the Humanities Announces Guidelines for Story Fund
Deadline: February 4, 2008

The California Story Fund is an ongoing grant program of the California Council for the Humanities ( http://www.calhum.org/ ). The council will award competitive grants to public humanities programs that bring to light compelling stories from California's diverse communities and provide opportunities for collective reflection and public discussion.

The Story Fund is intended to encourage Californians from many communities to share their stories, thus promoting greater understanding and appreciation of the richness and complexity of the state. The council is especially interested in projects that will engage California youth in interpreting and reflecting on their experience through humanities-based programming. Organizations serving youth are strongly encouraged to apply.

Projects should use grant funds to identify or collect stories from community members, present and communicate the stories to the general public, and foster public discussion of the meaning and significance of the stories. One or more of the following formats may be used to present and communicate these stories: photography and interpretive exhibit; radio documentary; digital media; dramatic presentation; inter- pretive artwork; poetry readings; storytelling events; film festivals; and community conferences. Other formats may also be eligible.

Projects must host a face-to-face community discussion component that engages people in discussion of the stories and their relevance to the community, and must involve at least one humanities expert (in addition to the project director) in the design and implementation of the project.

Program guidelines and descriptions of previously funded CSF projects are available at the CCH Web site. The online application will be available on the Web site beginning January 2, 2008. RFP Link: http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/pnd/10009977/calhum

For additional RFPs in Arts and Culture, visit: http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/cat_arts.jhtml

cause & effect - plot exercise

I admit it, I'm swamped and as a result, I totally stink about keeping the Creativity exercises coming. I hope everyone can forgive me. The book is due mid-December and I promise, after that, I'll be a good little blogger.

Today, though, I do have a writing exercise for you. One to help with plot.

DAILY CREATIVITY EXERCISE:

Tear a sheet of paper into 12 even slips. On four of those slips, write the name of your character and an action they are taking such as:

Elizabeth tore up the envelope.
Elizabeth dumped her purse onto the bed.
Elizabeth answered the phone.
Elizabeth shot her sister.

They can be small actions. They can be grand actions. You can do four slips for the same character or you can mix it up and choose four different characters from the same piece.

THESE ARE YOUR "CAUSE" SLIPS. Set them aside.

Now, create your "EFFECT" slips. Take your remaining 8 slips of paper and write on them general things that happened. Don't include a character name. This is a general statement of something that happened such as:

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, flooding her childhood home.
The Bible was lost in the move.
The dinner was a disaster.
Her neighbor knocked on the door asking for milk.
Everything fell apart.
The toilet overflowed.
They reunited.
The camera stopped taking pictures.

Very, very general statements such as these. You can even flip through random books to pull sentences so you're not thinking too much.

Put your Cause slips in a bowl and your Effect slips in a bowl. Pick one from each.

Write for ten minutes and explain how your Characters Action in the Cause slip resulted in What Happened from your Effect slip.

Do this four times. Give yourself 10 minutes for each Cause/Effect. See what you learn.

Brewery Art Walk - Must Go!!!

Reduction Linocut by Dave Lefner - See his work at the art walk.

The Brewery Art Walk is a twice annual open studio weekend at the worlds largest art colony. Each artwalk, over 100 resident artists participate. During this event, you will have the opportunity to see new works, discover new favorites, speak with the artists and purchase artworks directly from the artists at studio prices.

The Brewery Art Walk takes place:
October 6th and 7th, from 11:00 am - 6:00 pm

Admission is free and so is parking. Come support LA's finest artists, take home some great works and and dine at the onsite restaurant. If you have questions or require more information, please contact us via email (click here)

http://www.breweryartwalk.com/generalinfo.html

CHEAP THEATRE SPACE FOR PERFORMANCE IN OCT OR NOV

Theatre/Theater is a two stage complex in the new Pico Redevelopment area capable of holding you and 130 of your closest friends. This year we want to try something a little bit different…

If you have an event you want to do – A short run show, a showcase/ a reading/ a concert/ a screening/ a fundraiser for your favorite theater company/ a fundraiser for yourself!/a taping/an improv night/ a cd release party or any type of party or show – and you could do it in Oct or November, then we should talk. We have a great space, some prime evening slots available and we are motivated to make it easy, fair and fun.

Call 323 422 6361 and lay some creativity on us. Operators are standing by…

sculpture at the moma

DAILY CREATOR L.P. SENDS US THIS WONDERFUL DESCRIPTION OF HER EXPERIENCE WITH RICHARD SERRA'S SCULPTURE:

I didn't expect to be lifted in a caress, but that is exactly what I felt upon entering Richard Serra's sculpture named Intersection II in the garden at MOMA. I stood transfixed, allowing the feeling of weightlessness to both calm and energize me.

The giant steel curves enveloped me in a cocoon like safety while the open sky invited me to live fully, courageously. Then I discovered the acoustics, the tonal center of the piece shifting from one tone to another as I sang long tones, finding the wandering points of resonance between the dynamic steel ribbons.

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=2866&ref=calendar

International Intensive: Practical Methods of Theatre Training

August 27 - September 1, 2007 Donetsk, Ukraine

PARTICIPANTS: actors of dramatic, physical, musical and dance theatres, dancers, choreographers, directors, stage designers, playwrights, script writers.

Participation fee:495 EUR by payment before July 1st, 2007(by payment before August 1st - 595 EUR).

The fee covers attendance of the programme, accommodation (five nights) and the transfer from Donetsk Airport on arrival day.

VENUE: Donetsk Theatre of Opera and Ballet.

To register, please send your CV and a brief letter of motivation to info@iugte.com
For more details, please visit:
http://www.iugte.com/projects/PracticalTheatre.php

"To make difficult habitual, habitual - easy, easy - beautiful", this is the greatest inspiration and the mastery of a performer in self-improvement. Participants will gain hundreds of interesting ideas and effective devices for practical work on the stage, starting from methods of individual training to creation of a performance in creative group. This is an excellent chance to investigate possibilities and to reconsider stereotyped views.