On Writing

If writing was so easy, then everyone would do it. Writing is hard, life is busy, but it is possible to finish that story.

So finished, I could eat it!

January 23, 2019 marks the day that I officially became a playwright. I registered my script to WGA West. This was a big step for me and it was a goal that I never knew that I would ever quite accomplish. Some have asked me how I had been able to do this while going through grad school, teaching full-time and consistently training for aerial arts. The only thing I can say is that I was really busy, but I managed by dedicating a certain amount of time every week just for writing, even when I was tired, stressed, or unmotivated.

"The only thing I can say is that I was really busy, but I managed by dedicating a certain amount of time every week just for writing, even when I was tired, stressed, or unmotivated."

Accountability

I also armored myself with accountability partners. My friends and fellow Second City peers, Tianna and Christy, agreed to start meeting each week just to make sure we at least attempted to write. Overtime, it's amazing how much we accomplished and we are still meeting weekly to this day. Creating that writer's routine definitely helped. Writing doesn’t always feel perfect or inspired but it is important to trust that your vision will get there one day even on the hard days when it feels so impossible. Remember that The David started with a simple chisel in a huge block of marble.

Conceptualizing

So how long did it take me to write a musical? It's hard to say. Technically, I wrote the physical script in 6 months. However, I am rewriting it again. A writer's work is never finished. Also, I had been creating the world of this story for many years before that. There is evidence of my dreams for this musical dating back to 2010. It is all there in my beloved journal.

I have been writing my greatest hopes, dreams, plans, and hair-brain ideas in this journal since 2010. The 500+ pages are nearly filled. Starting last year, these ideas and creations had started coming to fruition. All of the years of planning, creating, and dreaming had arrived and started to take action.

It’s funny that I haven’t always identified as a writer when I have literally been writing all of my life. The earliest journal I found was from second grade. It was mostly unfinished recaps of my day. This journal that I have been using for the past 10 years holds the treasures, theories, mishaps of my journey from youth to adulthood; college years, moments of firsts, songs that I have written, drawings, rants, and moments of elation. While I didn't end up using most of these entries in my script, all of these journaling sessions were the springboard to creating this musical.

Make Personal Goals and Deadlines

So journaling has always been my thing. Now I was going to travail into the world of script writing. For years, I was stuck on getting the world of my story out of my head and onto the page. It was huge! I didn't feel I could possibly capture it all or even the essence to it. Plus, I was writing everything analog. I needed to start typing these things on a digital document but I didn't really know where to start. I decided to do something about that. I began taking sketch writing classes from Second City Hollywood. There is nothing more motivating to me than deadlines. I can't for the life of me get myself to sit down and write for myself but if someone expects something from me, I do it. Classes definitely allowed me to amass a small collection of pieces. Nowadays, I schedule my own deadlines to motivate myself to complete projects. Along with my accountability partners, it has started to get easier to actually get things done.

"There is nothing more motivating to me than deadlines. I can't for the life of me get myself to sit down and write for myself, but if someone expects something from me, I do it."

Stephen Schwartz says, "I think the job of a professional writer is to learn how to harness his or her creativity in service of deadlines, specific problems to be solved, and deliberate goals. Each individual has to develop his or her own process to be able to be creative on demand." Deadlines and goals are really important. They get you farther than just creating that amazing world of the story stuck inside of your head.

Use Outlines and Storyboards

My first rookie mistake was starting a script without writing down the important beats first. Don't get me wrong sometimes a good old free-writing session gets those creative juices flowing, however, your story is going to go nowhere if you don't know where you are heading next. It is important to understand the important plot points. Blake Snyder's beat sheet is great and Save the Cat is always mentioned at least once in any writing class.

Another thing I have found is that I needed a visual storyboard when a written outline just wasn't cutting it for me. I am a very visual person so creating some visuals to go with my plan helped tremendously. Sketching out the story at first seemed to help get me to the next plot point.

No One Says You Have to Write Your Story in Order!

Movies are not filmed in order so don't feel like your story has to be written in order either. A huge part of writer's block for me has come from writing a part of the story I didn't feel like writing but I felt obligated in order to get to the next exciting part. Write the parts that you are excited to write! Then go back and fill in the blanks later. Plus, less is more. If you are not excited to write a scene from your story, then is it necessary to begin with? Maybe but also, maybe not. Scott Myers, on writing a scene, says "Enter late, exit early!" Start getting to the point and saving yourself from all the trouble of cutting out unimportant parts later. If it is important, it will be written.

Get Inspired

Lastly, do your research! Read scripts of your favorite movies and plays. Watch movies. Read books on screenwriting and movie analysis. This may seem like procrastination but it's not. It may spark something in you to keep going! It is hard to finish projects, especially if they seem like daunting tasks, but little by little you can get there! Believe in yourself and believe in that great story idea!