In his later years when he ran out of things to say aboutdrinking, the sad state of the world, women, and brawling, Charles (Hank) Bukowski wrote some really good stuff about his cats. He always had one or two or five hanging around and his love and admiration for them shines through his words.
He inspired me to write an ‘ode’ to my most recent cats. We have a lot in common, Hank and I. Nowadays, I try to have only one cat at a time but in the past I’ve had up to five. My downfall was that I decided to breed Persian cats….but, damn! When the kittens were born, I couldn’t bear to give them up. That ended my breeding days.
Here is an ode to Hank’s mean, old, junk-yard dog of a Cat.
bad fix by Charles Bukowski
old Butch, they fixed him
the girls don’t look like much
anymore.
In this two part post, I write about the love of cats. I know, I know! You either hate ’em or love ’em. Both camps are die-hards. You can’t live with one or you can’t live without one, or two, or three! For all of Charles Bukowski’s hard living, boozing, philandering, drunken brawls and genius writing, he was a complete softie when it came to cats….even cats that weren’t his own. He inspired me to write this ode to my dear old Shadow who died and to my new cat, ‘Wild Thang’. In part two I feature his poetry about his cats.
Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing and for how long?
A. Writing a first draft is the most intense part of the process for me. When I’m doing research, kicking around or fleshing out plot ideas, or revising, I can interact with other people, run my household, etc. etc. But drafting is another story altogether. I have a daily word count goal when I’m drafting and will not stop until I have reached it. I get very focused on what I’m doing and am barely functional in other capacities. When I was in this mode last year, my son asked me to make him pancakes for lunch. I did. Unfortunately, however, instead of using the recipe I have made thousands of times, I randomly followed one on the opposite page of the cookbook, not realizing what I had done until I noticed the batter seemed weird. My head was completely in the book. We ordered pizza. Which just goes to prove that sometimes it’s better to let pizza boxes pile up than to try to cook.
The third in the Fabled Forest Series, “Bertie, the Bookworm and the Bully Boys” is now available as an AUDIO BOOK at www.audible.com and www.amazon.com as well as www.iTunes. com
Bertie, the bookworm is the fabled forest’s elder and teacher. Every week he has a spelling and reading circle where everyone is welcomed. Slam and his gang of bully boys are forever teasing, disrupting, and bullying Bertie and the group of faeries and woodland creatures. Pansy, the pixie is a new character in this third of the Fabled Forest series. She is a defender of reading, truth, and Bertie. Cheets, our beloved elf from past books gets in with the wrong crowd and his friends are worried that he will become the newest member of the Bully Boys. Best friends with Cheets, Pansy is determined to save her friend. The story teaches gentle lessons about literacy, bullying and ageism.
In an October post I’ll tell you more about the adventures of producing AUDIO books…..meeting new people, choosing a narrator, (a young opera singer from Switzerland)….the character voices she was able to create. Listen to Sample
Let’s peek into Tasha’s writing world…. “any delay opens the door to the possibility of not writing at all.”
INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR, TASHA ALEXANDER
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?
A. Before I started to write, I had this idea—an idea many of us have at the beginning—that I would need the right sort of space in which to work. I had visions of lovely bookshelf-lined rooms with big windows and a large antique table. Reality was that I lived in an attic apartment in New Haven, where the only think that might be construed as an office or study was an unfinished section of the attic (no windows) where we had draped canvas to form a ceiling that would keep the bats from dive-bombing whoever was sitting at the computer. Not being a fan of bats, I learned quickly to be adaptable. It turns out where you write isn’t so important as it might seem. I can write in an airport lounge, a coffee shop, on a bench waiting for my son to come out of his drawing class. My preferred spot at home is my bedroom. For some reason, sitting in bed is the one place I can work without ever getting wrist or shoulder pain (you’d think it would be an ergonomic nightmare, but it’s not). Continue reading “Lady Emily sails into the Salon to Find a Dead Body! Interview with Author, Tasha Alexander (1 of 3)”
Ideas have come to me in the visiting area of a state prison, a haunted lighthouse, my days in Hollywood, or listening to stories of my mother, growing up with 13 siblings ….. the ideas come to me in a little kernel of truth and I am inspired to write.
I am frequently asked ‘how can you be so prolific?’, and ‘how do you write so many plays?’ ‘where do you get your ideas?’
So I thought what a perfect time to give my readers nine tips about writing their first stage play. After all, 45 play scripts ago and seventeen years earlier I began writing my first play script. And that led me to create the Creative Writers’ Journals and Handbooks which include ‘how to write a play’ and ‘how to create exciting characters.’ I went on to create a book of writing tips.
NINE TIPS TO GET YOU STARTED … and more
all journals & plays available at amazon.com
1. Format is very important. If you submit your new play to anyone they will not read it if it is not in the proper format. There is software out there that offers auto-format but I found them lacking. The character’s name is centered. Blocking (action) is indented and placed in parentheses. Setting (indent once), Rise
(indent once) the Dialogue is far left. Double space between the character’s name and the first line of dialogue. Blocking (action): is placed below the character’s name in parentheses. (indent x 3). A ‘beat’ is a dramatic pause to enhance the pace of the speech and is placed in the dialogue where you wish the actor to pause for a beat or two. Or you might want to buy a play script from a publisher. Concord Theatricals used to be Samuel French and is still the best. It seems little has changed except the name.
2. Each page represents approximately one minute of time on stage. So if you have a play that is 200 pages long, that won’t work. Audiences aren’t going to sit for more than one and a half hours unless you are providing a circus, a fire drill, sex, and an earthquake. Audiences are even reluctant to sit through “The Iceman for Cometh” a classic by Eugene O’Neill. full-length to 3 hours. You should keep your full-length script to about 100 pages which equals 1.6 hours of stage time. For a one-act divide that by 2. For a ten minute play your script should be from 10-15 pages. These times and figures are debated by others but this has been my experience as an actor/director/writer.
3. Leave lots of white space on the page. 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. The actor usually ‘highlights’ their lines and writes the director’s blocking in the margins. (in pencil, as blocking frequently changes)
4. The blocking is indented, in parentheses, and directly below the character’s name. This is where the playwright gives the characters instructions onwhen and where to move. But, keep it short and sweet. Remember there will be a director who has their ideas of where he/she wants the actors to be. Be aware of costume changes in your writing. An actor can’t exit stage left and enter stage right, seconds later, if you haven’t written in the time it will take for them 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 set changes. 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. Some wonderful ‘envelope’ set designs 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. Dialogue:Now here’s the sometimes 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 demonstrating how to move the story forward.
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 are created via plot and character development.
Simpler Examples: In Parkland Requiem the ‘arc’ of my story is when the teacher leaves the safety of his classroom to reconnoiter the position of the shooter.
In My Planet, Your Planet, Our Planet the ‘arc’ is when the activist students march in a worldwide March defying all the rules of the school.
8. How To Know When to Change Scenes. When there is a date/time or character/scene change is a good guide. But be careful, if the time/day changes and there is a costume change needed, always remember the audience isn’t a patient creature and they will not sit and wait for very long. A director can and will set up an area backstage for those quick changes and often the costume mistress will be there to help with shoes, zippers, etc. To save time, you should write the actor entering from the same side as they exited (when possible) to save the time it would take for them to hurry to the other side of the stage.
9. Your play should have a conflict. Your main character should have a conflict that he or she must solve quickly. No conflict = no play. Say you want to write your first play about you and your siblings growing up. That’s easy; have them argue about something. Be certain there is a resolution before your play ends. Imagine you want to write a love story between two people. There must be a conflict somewhere in the love story.
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Instruction on: How To Begin How to Write a Play
Formatting your Play on the Page
How to write Dialogue
How to Create Rich, Exciting Characters Stage Terminology
‘How To’ Journals and Handbooks for all of your Creative Writing, including how to write a stage Play! 275 blank, lined pages for your writing.Tips and famous quotes from authors, playwrights, directors, actors, writers, and poets to help inspire you. Look Inside
WANT TO LEARN MORE?? … These new Journals/Handbooks offer a total of 14 points of ‘how to’.
Available on Amazon.com B&N, and all fine book stores.
This new, exciting, instructional book is a sharing of over twenty+ years of experience. This writer has honed her craft of creative writing and ‘is still learning.’
Thirty-five writing tips that include:
That first, all-important, sentence
How to develop rich characters
Writer’s Block
Procrastination
Writing process
What Not to Do (when receiving a critique)
DON’T MISS my with weekly posts. Also featuringINTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS! with me once a month. We shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
This past Tuesday I started the story about where the idea came, from to write this play. Here is the rest of the excerpt…..if you like it, write to me and I’ll send you the script, FREE! (offer expires 12/1/13)
And Next TUESDAY, I offer twelve TIPS on how to write a stage play!
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(MONTY resumes to paint for a few beats. A door slams down on the street and a woman’s voice is heard.)
VOICE (Off.) Hello, Samantha. Where’re you off to in such a rush?
(MONTY rushes to the window and looks down.)
SAMANTHA. (Voice Off.) Hi, Mrs. Jessup. Just got a call. They want me to audition. Do I look all right?
VOICE (Off.) You’re a blonde now, dear. And so quick!
SAMANTHA. (Voice Off.) It’s a..um…a wig..for the audition.
VOICE (Off.) Well, brunette or blonde, you look lovely, as always.
SAMANTHA. (Voice Off.) Do you need anything from the market? I’m stopping by on my way home.
VOICE (Off.) A quart of milk, if you can, dear. And a half pound of locks if it’s fresh.
SAMANTHA. (Voice Off.) You got it, Mrs. J.
VOICE (Off.) Wait just a moment, I’ll get my pocket book.
SAMANTHA. (Voice Off.) No, it’s okay. You can pay me when I get home. Gotta go…..see you later.
Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?
This is a job. People imagine writers are off on palm tree studded islands writing, or in tree houses, or at their darling cottage at the beach, no distractions except their pinging imagination. This is a false image. Almost all the writers I know have children, responsibilities, people who need them. Some have day jobs. You simply must get your work done as others do in every other profession on the planet.
Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?
A. Don’t procrastinate. Sit your butt down and write and quit dallying around. Do you want to publish or not? Seriously. Ask yourself that question. It’s a good one.
I can procrastinate, too. I’m quite talented at it. But for me, if I don’t meet my goals, I don’t let myself go to bed at night. I have very, very late nights sometimes. Getting books written is about dedication, focus and hard work. Not romantic. Not always fun. You may be in pajamas most of the day. You may not wash your hair when you should. But you do buck up and write. It is what it is.
Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing and for how long?
A. I can get lost in my story, my characters, for hours. I’ll sit down upstairs, lean against the wall, my computer propped on my lap, and the next thing I know it’s three in the morning and the characters have taken me places I didn’t know we were going and done things that would get a normal person arrested.
Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment (i.e. specific creative inspirations)?
A. I don’t have a muse. Can I get one somewhere? Are they on sale?
Q. When did you begin to write seriously?
A. When I was sixteen. Truly. That was when I decided I had to be a writer. There was no other goal, professionally, for me. I couldn’t be anything else. I wrote for the school newspaper, I wrote my first romance at age nineteen at the University of Oregon as a freshman. (It was rejected.) I taught fourth grade from the time I was twenty – two to twenty nine. I became a teacher specifically so I would have time at night and during summers to write.
Q. How long after that were you published?
A. I sold my first book in 2005. My road to publishing took a while. I went to college, then grad school, taught school, got married, had three kids, was a freelance writer for years for The Oregonian writing about homes, décor, people, events, fashion…the usual curvy road. When my kids were little I wrote late at night, too. It was the only time I had. I lived off about five to six hours of sleep a night for sixteen years.
Q. What makes a writer great?
A. A writer is great when they’re able to reach the reader through characters and wrench deep emotions out of them.
If you missed Part I, click here. Return to read Part 3 of this interview August 29th
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! A SERIES, “The Writer’s Corner”
I have had a wonderful response from other authors and will feature an interview with one once a month . These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Sue Grafton is August’s author with a bonus chat with Cathy Lamb. September will feature Tasha Alexander. Jeffrey Deaver is November’s author and slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. RaymondBenson is January’s author. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To receive my posts sign up for my On the right side you can enter your email address. Click on “join my blog”. You need to confirm in an email from ‘Writer at Play’ . Thanks!
A captivating story about a young boy who teaches us what ‘normal’ really means
COMING TUESDAY! Part II of my Interview with best selling author, Cathy Lamb
Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing and for how long?
A. I can get lost in my story, my characters, for hours. I’ll sit down upstairs, lean against the wall, my computer propped on my lap, and the next thing I know it’s three in the morning and the characters have taken me places I didn’t know we were going and done things that would get a normal person arrested.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! “The Writer’s Corner”
I have had a wonderful response from other authors and will feature an interview once a month . These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Sue Grafton is August’s author with a bonus chat with Cathy Lamb. September will feature Tasha Alexander. Jeffrey Deaver is November’s author and slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. RaymondBenson is January’s author. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To receive my posts sign up for my On the right side you can enter your email address. Click on “join my blog”. You need to confirm in an email from ‘Writer at Play’ . Thanks!
An Interview with best-selling author, Cathy Lamb (Part 1 of 3)
CL: ‘ I became a teacher because I wanted to become a writer. It was difficult for me to become proper and conservative but I threw out my red cowboy boots and persevered. I had no choice. I had to eat and health insurance is expensive. I loved teaching, but I also loved the nights and summers where I could write and try to build a career filled with creativity and my strange imagination.
I met my husband on a blind date. A mutual friend who was an undercover vice cop busting drug dealers set us up. My husband jokes he was being arrested at the time. That is not true. Do not believe him. His sense of humor is treacherous. It was love at third sight. We’ve now been married a long time. I drink too many mochas. I love chocolate. I run. I walk. I love to read. I often cry when I’m writing my books, and I laugh, too. I love walking through the waves at the beach and I believe that daydreaming makes you a better person so I do it a lot.’
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Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?
A. I write everywhere. Upstairs on my bed looking out the window at my maple trees, on my couch staring at my petunias and an
the Deschutes River. my husband fly fishes. I journal.
occasional hummingbird, and at Starbucks. I write best late at night. Ten o’clock to two o’clock in the morning. It’s quiet. My kids are in bed. My brain stops buzzing. I can dive straight into my imagination and hang out there for awhile like a crazy lady.
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, etc.)
A. I look at email and then I feed my small, but mostly healthy addiction to the New York Times. I get ticked off at what I’m reading sometimes and sit back and think what I would do if I was president and which politicians I would immediately get rid of. It entertains me.
Q. What is your mode of writing? (long hand? Pencil? Computer?)
A. Pretty journals. One journal to five journals per book for writing ideas, characters, plots, and working through all sorts of literary problems. I write the story, however, on my computer. I write straight through, 2000 words a day, 10,000 a week, for the first draft. I edit every book eight times before it even goes to my editor. I edit it another four times after that. Yes, twelve edits. I want to bang my own head through the keyboard just thinking about it…
Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?
A. Waiting to “feel creative,” for me, is like waiting for the moon to drop on my head. Or for my flying Porsche to arrive. People who only write when they feel creative rarely get published. I make myself get creative. I give myself goals every day, every week and I meet the goals.
A captivating story about a young boy who teaches us what ‘normal’ means
Don’t Miss Part 2 and 3 of this Interview on August 27th and 28th.
A REVIEW of “If You Could See What I See” Click here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! “The Writer’s Corner”
I have had a wonderful response from other authors and will feature an interview once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Cathy Lamb, Raymond Benson, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Sue Grafton is August’s author with a bonus chat with Cathy Lamb. September will feature Tasha Alexander. Jeffrey Deaver is November’s author and slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. RaymondBenson is January’s author. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page. Enter your email address. Click on “join my blog”. You need to confirm in an email from ‘Writer at Play’ . Thanks!
Ideas have come to me in the visiting area of a state prison, a haunted lighthouse, my days in Hollywood, or listening to stories of my mother, growing up with 13 siblings ….. the ideas come to me in a little kernel of truth and I am inspired to write.
