Oct 3, 2007
5 and 4
5 things to hate about being a playwright
1. Rejection letters from people who feel compelled to give a fake reason why they aren’t doing your play when the real reason is they are doing Neil Labute’s play instead.
2. Reviews that have the power to set your career back five years.
3. The impossibility of making a living writing for the theater.
4. The waiting.
5. Other people’s fear.
4 things to love about being a playwright
1. Post show beers with talented actors.
2. The sound of people laughing because of your play.
3. The electric buzz in a darkened theater caused by something breathtaking that inspires you to create something beautiful yourself.
4. The joy of writing down what the voices say.
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8 comments:
Hey Adam --
Any chance you can come up with one more thing to love about playwriting? If there's more to hate than to love, then why do it?
Gary
Hi Gary. They're not 1 to 1 ratios. Sometimes 4 good things overpower 5 bad things.
But also sometimes it's not worth doing but I do it anyway. And I think most playwrights do it because they love it even though it sucks and it's hard and constantly disappointing.
Excellent list. There might very well be more things to hate than to love about playwriting, but the items in the Love side of the column are so intense and singular that it's a difficult habit to break. I love that it's the least lonely form of writing, and you can know your audience's true feelings about your work in an immediate way.
So sorry to miss the reading, but I had to head out to Rome for work...
I wish my work would send me to Rome. Thanks for the note.
My 'hate' list is at least 2x longer than my 'love' list but I write because I HAVE to... no other explanation for it... a compulsion, an addiction, a need to do it...and it's all worth it when the lights go down and the actor walks on-stage and delivers words I wrote... the audience laughs and/or is moved by what I wrote... at that point all the 'hates' disappear.
I hear you Michael. I wish i had a show up now so I could get that buzz. It only works if you can get your stuff in front of that audience.
I hear you on the waiting. I've always thought the best song about writing is "The Waiting" by Tom Petty, and, of course, it's not about writing at all.
Steve
defintely. The waiting IS the hardest part.
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