Tag: create

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. samurai 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

death songsNative 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.poet, wisdom, Charles Bukowski (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 turnbukow.typwriter
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.  how to write a play, Trisha Sugaek, inspiration, 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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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!
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Coming Tuesday! My Interview with author, Sherryl Woods

Author, Sherryl Woods
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!

To receive my posts sign up for my blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  On the home page, enter your email address.  Thanks!

How Do You Know When you’ve Lived Too Long?

senior3I  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?”

Being a Serious Writer is Lonely Work!

writersIt 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!”

‘The Act of Murder’ in Audio-books now Available!

Act.Murder.Cover.Book3  Just Released in Audio-books!  My third in the series, The World of Murder

Give a listen:  Act.Sample.ActoM–RAS

 

http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/The-Act-of-Murder-Audiobook/B00IEIDX9A/ref=a_search_c4_1_4_srTtl?qid=1392728753&sr=1-4

In Book 3 of The World of Murder series, O’Roarke and Garcia are called when a famous Broadway director dies. It appears that everyone hated this man, making the murder cops’ job just that much harder. They have their pick of suspects as everyone within a five mile radius of Broadway had a reason to want this guy dead. From the jealous stage manager, to the resentful actors, to a disappointed and hurt lover. From a scorned understudy, to his ex-wives, any one of them could have done it. This mystery takes the reader back stage into the tumultuous, gossip ridden, world of the theatre.

Also available in paperback and e-books.

Suicide by Heroin…A Eulogy

Philip_Seymour_Hoffman_2011[1]Philip Seymour Hoffman died last week by his own hand.  Shoving a needle into his arm, one last time and making our world a little more pale and less interesting.  Why do the brilliant feel the need to destroy themselves?  The heroin was just the ‘fix’ (aptly named) dulling the pain, banishing the demons…for a little while.   ‘An accidental overdose’ you say?  What was accidental about him sticking the bloody needle into his arm?  I ask.

And what does that say about the rest of us; living and struggling on, sometimes in quiet, brave desperation.  His actions were pure selfishness and I am royally pissed off at him!

And I earned the right  to be angry with him….being a survivor of suicide and the horror and  confusion that follows.  This man was an inspiration to all artists, actors, directors, writers, painters, dancers….he made us want to be better at our chosen craft …to aspire to his brilliance.   And now he’s gone.
Continue reading “Suicide by Heroin…A Eulogy”

My Interview with mystery writer, Andrew Grant (Part 2)

Andrew
Art by Lichtenstein

Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment ?

A. For the book I just finished writing it was a bizarre combination of Roy Lichtenstein and Pat Benatar. Lichtenstein’s paintings ended up playing a major role in the book, but sadly Benatar’s music remained trapped on my iPod.

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

A. When I quit my job in June 2006.

Q. How long after that were you published?

A. I finished the manuscript in June 2007, found an agent in December 2007, was offered a contract in February 2008, and my first book was published in May 2009.

Q. What makes a writer great?

A. The ability to create characters that readers care about as much – or more – as they do about real people.

Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like? Continue reading “My Interview with mystery writer, Andrew Grant (Part 2)”

Part 2 …My Interview with Andrew Grant

#2Adrew.writing.AGDon’t Miss part 2 when I sit down again with best selling author, Andrew Grant this Tuesday, February 11th.

Excerpt:

Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?

A. For me, it breaks down into three phases: Percolating, where all the thoughts and ideas and “what ifs” that have built up in my head since finishing the last book coalesce and grow until they’re strong enough to carry a whole story; Writing, where I get the first draft of the book down on paper; and revising……. tune in this coming TUESDAY!

 

An Interview with Author, Andrew Grant

andrew_09newAndrew is a slick, clever mystery writer with tight interesting plots.  I ‘met’ him through his writer/wife, Tasha Alexander.  Can’t wait for his newest release coming out in the fall of 2014.

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? 

A. Whenever possible I write in what was originally the maid’s room in our apartment in Chicago (there was no sign of the maid when we moved in, so I figured someone may as well use it…) but due to the amount of traveling I have to do, I often find myself working on planes or in airport lounges, or any other place where I won’t get either wet or arrested!

Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas)

A. I’m an obsessively tidy person, so I guess that tendency extends itself to my work space. Other than tidiness, all I need to get started in the morning is a giant pot of coffee. Followed by several more giant pots of coffee as the day (and sometimes, the night) progresses.
Continue reading “An Interview with Author, Andrew Grant”