Anyone who has been in the military or has lived with a military man has heard the crude slang, ‘Crapper’ for ‘toilet’. “I gotta use the crapper.” “I’m in the crapper!” “I gotta take a crap”. You might be asking, Okay, Trish, why are you writing about toilets? Because I love the origin of words and the research is so much fun.
Did you know that there was a man named ‘Crapper’ and he was a plumber? Who owned a plumbing company in the 1800’s in England?
I was reading a wonderful mystery 
recently that gave credit to Thomas Crapper for the unique flower-patterned wash basin and the porcelain toilet fixture. I was certain that the slang ‘crapper’ that graces our language, must have originally referred to the inventor of the toilet, Mr. Thomas Crapper, Esq., plumber to kings! But, alas…..I was wrong…
Continue reading “A word Deserving of Its Own Post! ‘Crapper’”
Category: A Writer’s Take……
How to Write a Character Analysis for Writers & Actors!
I sat down with some actors the other day and they asked, ‘how do I write a character analysis?‘ And as I answered them I thought how much this applies to writers as well. If you don’t know your characters (in your story,novel) your readers will never get to know them.
After many years of writing, my characters show up in my head but it’s my job to ‘flesh them out’. Many times I will meet or see a character in real life and they inspire a character for my writing. But, it’s still the writer’s or the actor’s job to give them a story and breathe life into them.
If you’re a new writer take the time to write it down, using some of the tools listed here. If you’re an actor, it is imperative that you write your character analysis. It not the same as a few random thoughts about your character. Some intangible thing happens when you put pen to paper and get to know who your character is. Continue reading “How to Write a Character Analysis for Writers & Actors!”
Charles Bukowski, as He Lay Dying
Throughout the millennium many cultures have had the tradition of writing a death poem or a death song. In Japan the Samurai/poets would recite their death poem as they opened their own bellies with their sword. 
Death poems are typically graceful, natural, and emotionally neutral, in accordance with the teachings of Buddha.
Like a rotten log
half buried in the ground
my life, which has not flowered, comes
to this sad end. Minamoto Yorimasa 1104-1180
Native American warriors would sing their death song as they rushed into battle.
‘When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.’ Unknown
In the collection of Charles Bukowski’s work, Pleasures of the Damned, he wrote poetry about dying as he slowly lost his battle with cancer. Beautiful work. Not sad, just reality, simply Bukowski. I have read and re-read this 500+ page tome and gone from laughing at his cat and the mocking bird to mourning his passing.
(below) I have fallen in love with this wild, derelict genius and profited by him; I am a better writer for having known him.
Sun coming down © Charles Bukowski
no one is sorry I am leaving
not even I;
but there should be a minstrel
or at least a glass of wine.
it bothers the young most, I think:
an unviolent slow death
still it makes any man dream;
you wish for an old sailing ship,
the white salt-crusted sail
and the sea shaking out hints of immortality.
sea in the nose
sea in the hair
sea in the marrow, in the eyes
and yes, there in the chest.
will we miss
the love of a woman or music or food
or the gambol of the great mad muscled
horse, kicking clods and destinies
high and away
in just one moment of the sun coming down?
but now it’s my turn
and there’s no majesty in it
because there was no majesty
before it
and each of us, like worms bitten
out of apples,
deserves no reprieve
death enters my mouth
and snakes along my teeth
and I wonder if I am frightened of
this voiceless, unsorrowful dying that is
like the drying of a rose?
And I close with my own simple offering.
death comes © Haiku by t. sugarek
death comes silently
death comes with a loud screaming
death at his own hand
death comes suddenly
detroit’s bright twisted metal
steam, fire, cold asphalt
boring death, sweet death
slow trip down a lonely road
lines drip, machines beep
History, stories, poets…they all contribute to this writer’s imagination and creativity.
Interview with Charles Bukowski (posthumous)
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How to Write a Short Play…7 tips
When writing a short play, you will have no time to ‘set up’ the story. It’s only ten to twelve minutes long, remember? Rather, think of it as walking into the middle of the story; more like a scene…but in this case it must have a beginning, middle, and end, all in roughly ten-twelve minutes.
A ten minute play (or one act) is 10-15 pages written in a proper format. It can have costumes and sets, certainly, but ten minute plays are most popular because of their simplicity. It’s more attractive to the director or educator, for economic reasons, if there are no sets, no costumes, and minimal props needed.
The ten minute play does not sacrifice excellent writing and content for brevity. Less is more. And it is a great exercise for the writer to hone and edit their writing skills.
The ideas for my plays come to me in a little kernel of truth and I am inspired. A state prison, a haunted lighthouse, my days in Hollywood, the news of the day or remembering the stories of my childhood.
I am frequently asked ‘how can you be so prolific?’, ‘how do you write so many plays?’ ‘where do you get your ideas?’
So I thought what a perfect time to give my readers six tips on writing their first stage play. After all, 45 play scripts ago and seventeen years earlier I began writing my first script. And that led me to create five, custom Journals and Handbooks which include how to write a play and how to create exciting characters.
SEVEN TIPS TO GET YOU STARTED
1. Format is very important. If you submit your new play to anyone they will not read it if it is not in a proper format. There is software out there that offer auto-format but I have found them lacking. sample.playwrite.format (here is a format sample)
Notice character name is in CAPS and centered. Blocking (action) is indented and always lower case and double-spaced. If only one word, it is placed next to the character’s name and in parentheses. A ‘beat’ is a dramatic pause or to enhance the pace of the speech.
2. Each page represents approximately one minute of time on stage depending on how complex you make the blocking. For a ten minute play your script should be from 10-15 pages. Each line (dialog) should move the story along…you’ve only got 10 minutes. So chose what your characters have to say very carefully.
3. Leave lots of white space. One day when your play is being produced, actors will need a place to make notes in the script during rehearsal. This is a sample of an actor’s (mine) working script. 
An actor usually ‘highlights’ their lines and writes the director’s blocking in the margins.
4. The blocking (in italics) is where you give the actors instructions on when and where to move. But, keep it short and sweet. Remember there will be a director who has their own ideas of where they will want their actors to be. Be aware of costume changes in your writing. An actor can’t exit stage left and enter stage right, seconds later in a different costume, if you haven’t written in the time it will take to give them the time to accomplish a costume change.
5. Your script has to work on a stage. If your story takes place in more than one locale, you have to be aware of the logistics of a ‘set’ change. So keep it simple to start. If you are ambitious in your setting buy a book on set design to research if your set is feasible. There are some wonderful ‘envelope’ sets that unfold when you need to change the scene. But you have to consider the budget; would a theatre have the money to build it? Always a worry.
6. 7. The ‘Arc’ of your story: The Oxford English Dictionary defines a story arc as ‘(in a novel, play, or movie) the development or resolution of the narrative or principal theme’. Story arcs are the overall shape of rising and falling tension or emotion in a story. This rise and fall is created via plot and character development.
7. Dialogue: Now here’s the hard part: everything you want the audience to know, about the story and the characters, is conveyed in the
dialogue. Unlike a short story or a novel, where you can write as much description as you’d like, a play script has none of that. NO description. Here is a Sample.Dialogue.Sugarek of dialogue moving the story forward. You will notice that the format differs from the sample I provide. This example is from a published play so it looks different.
Check out my series of Journals/Handbooks.
To Purchase Playwright’s Journal
Choose from five custom, unique Covers.
Instruction on: How To Begin
How to Choose the Subject of your Play
Formatting your Play on the Page
How to write Dialogue
How to Create Rich, Exciting Characters
Story Arc
Stage Terminology
Sending out Your Script
How to write a ten minute play? Click here
How To Format a Screenplay
How to Format Your Novel
How to Format a Stage Play
PS. My web site is dedicated to helping new and experienced writers hone their craft. If you have questions, drop me a line. I always love to hear from readers and promise to answer you. T.S.
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On Sale NOW! Custom Journals/Handbooks for the Creative Writer
BOOKS BY TRISHA SUGAREK
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Part 2 of Interview with author, Sherryl Woods
Part 2 of my time with Sherryl Woods. COMING SOON!! August, 2014 Swan Point, A Sweet Magnolia Novel
Q. What makes a writer great?
A. For me what makes any writer great is the ability to tell a story that resonates with readers and touches them in some way. A book that can make a reader laugh or cry or even close the book with a deep sigh of satisfaction is the absolute best. I always aim for that. If I hit the mark even sometimes, it’s a wonderful feeling.
Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?
A. Once I know which series a book will be in and which character will “star”, I always start out mulling for a few days, jotting down a few notes about key plot points, motivations, conflicts and so on. I am mostly a right-brain writer, so I don’t make a list of details about character descriptions or history. Once I understand the basics of the story I want to tell, I start writing scenes for a synopsis.
Continue reading “Part 2 of Interview with author, Sherryl Woods”
Interview with best selling author, Sherryl Woods
I think I have read every book Sherryl has written…. 
spanning two or three decades. It is such a pleasure to have this opportunity to interview her; hearing about her rituals, her work space and what keeps her writing over the years.
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?
A. I have two spaces for writing, since I split my life between two states. In Florida, I have an official office in a condo separate from the one in which I live. I actually walk to work…across a parking garage, which isn’t exactly scenic, but gets me there under the “shortest distance” theory. My view includes a tiny glimpse of the ocean, a slightly better view of Biscayne Bay and a snippet of the Miami skyline. That said, I rarely look up from my computer long enough to see any of it!
Continue reading “Interview with best selling author, Sherryl Woods”
Coming Tuesday! My Interview with author, Sherryl Woods
After decades of enjoying Sherryl’s writing, Pinch me!...I’m interviewing her. Don’t miss this coming week (Tues. and Thurs.) and my two part chat with this prolific author.
About Sherryl Woods: With her roots firmly planted in the South, Sherryl Woods has written many of her more than 100 books in that distinctive setting, whether her home state of Virginia, her adopted state, Florida, or her much-adored South Carolina. She’s also especially partial to small towns wherever they may be. In Amazing Gracie, as in her later Trinity Harbor series, Woods creates a fictional version of the town where she spends summers on the shores of the Potomac River. “This town just lends itself to fascinating characters and a charming locale,” she says.
A member of Novelists Inc., Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America, Sherryl divides her time between her childhood summer home overlooking the Potomac River in Colonial Beach, Virginia, and her oceanfront home with its lighthouse view, in Key Biscayne, Florida. “Wherever I am, if there’s no water in sight, I get a little antsy,” she says.…
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Dean Koontz just granted me an interview and will be featured here this spring!
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How Do You Know When you’ve Lived Too Long?
I got to thinking….the world is passing me by …I can’t keep up ….my knees are too bad. So when do you start to think ‘maybe I’ve just been around too long?’ Here are some clues:
when you don’t know any of the songs on American Idol
When you don’t recognize anyone on the ‘red carpet’
When you put your cup of coffee/tea in the frig instead of the microwave to warm it up
When you’re very good at opening childproof caps…. with a hammer
When you take a nap at 4 in the afternoon against your will
Continue reading “How Do You Know When you’ve Lived Too Long?”
“Emma and the Lost Unicorn” performing at the Villagers Theatre in New Jersey
NEWS!! The Fabled Forest Series (children’s plays), will be a part of
Villagers Theatre’s 2013-2014 Season! 
NOW RUNNING THROUGH MARCH 16TH.
Located in Somerset, New Jersey this community theatre has two stages and a diverse season.
March 8–16 with Fri., Sat., and Sunday performances
Tickets: $15.
Reservations: 732-873-2710
Visit their web site for more…
http://www.villagerstheatre.com/viewproductions/emma-and-the-lost-unicorn/
Rainey, the unicorn, is a prince who has been banished, for centuries, by the warlock, Hazard. He can never return home unless Emma solves more riddles than Kodak. Hazard’s Lieutenant reveals his secret weakness. The fable ends with a surprise twist Continue reading ““Emma and the Lost Unicorn” performing at the Villagers Theatre in New Jersey”
Being a Serious Writer is Lonely Work!
It struck me this morning (and other mornings) that writing is a lonely job. There’s nobody patting you on the back after you’ve written an exceptional chapter or verse, or sentence. You can’t count the people who love you because they love you and will always tell you, “It’s Great!”
If you look back to my interviews with other authors you’ll see that they too, no matter how famous, are sitting in their space trying to write the next brilliant thing….just them and their tablet or computer or notebook, their faithful dog or bird or cat at their side, ALONE! It’s a daunting experience and hard work. What if you’re not good enough? What if no one wants to read your stuff? What if someone laughs?
Continue reading “Being a Serious Writer is Lonely Work!”