While posting some of my poetry on line I came across this one that I had written awhile back. And I wondered….do other people smell life like I do? Or is it just me and my nose running wild? Anyway, I love the smells of life!
Fragrance of Life ©
Cool rain drums on blistering
asphalt, the scent streams into
the nostrils–hot, grassy smell of
summer, freshly cut-smoky
cedar lingers on the air Continue reading “Can You Smell Life!?!…..Time to Share more Poetry!”
Strange habits of very successful writers. Courtesy: Kelton Reid, Copyblogger Media writer.
1.Try writing horizontally.
George Orwell, Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, 
Winston Churchill, and Marcel Proust
were all famous for churning out pages while lying in bed. Novelist Truman Capote also wrote everything in longhand in the horizontal position. Don’t forget, proper rest is crucial to creativity, so if you’re already there, why not grab the laptop and give it a try?
2.Take a walk or bike ride without a destination in mind.
Charles Dickens and Henry Miller both used to wander around Europe trying to get lost, a technique that psychologists say can foster creativity. Continue reading “Do You have Strange Rituals when Writing?”
In case you haven’t noticed…I’m a word junkie! I’ve been collecting more words ……… these are obscure and have no relation to any message I am sending out….I was just fascinated by how they sound...and not like anything in their meaning.
Asynchronous: sending data in one direction. Relating to or using an electronic communication method that sends data in one direction.
We know this as IM or instant messaging.
Continue reading “‘My momma always said, ‘Life is Like a Box of Chocolates’….or words (part 6)”
In Japan the Samurai/poets would frequently write Haiku before battle. Death poems were considered a necessity, 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
Samurai Song © T.Sugarek
delicate blossom
rests in the still gnarled hand
bruised petals weep tears
weary eyes open
tiny cuts, the body bleeds
peace still years away
sun rise breaks the hill
heralds another battle
draw your sword and charge
( Three sets, three lines each. First line = 5 syllable, second line = 7 syllables, third line = 5 syllables) Traditionally, some reference to nature should be included. Continue reading “Haiku Poetry and How to Write it! (part 2)”
Lee Goldberg: ‘ I am an ex-Navy SEAL, freelance Sexual Surrogate and a professional Pierce Brosnan impersonator. Okay, that’s not true. But I want this biography to be really exciting, so pay attention. If things bog down, I’ve been instructed to add a car chase or some explicit sex.Here’s the real story. I writes books and television shows. My mother wanted me to be a doctor, and my grandfather wanted me to go into the family furniture business. Instead, I put himself through UCLA as a freelance journalist.’
The Interview with Lee (part 2)
Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?
A. That’s such a broad question, it would take a book to answer it. But in simple terms for me, it looks like a 400 page manuscript printed out on my desk…and lots of empty diet coke cans in my recycle bin. Continue reading “Interview with Lee Goldberg, best selling author (Part two)”
I first met Lee while publishing my interview with Janet Evanovich. He recently co-wrote The Chase with Janet. His two careers, novelist and TV writer, merged when he wrote the eight books in the Diagnosis Murder series of original novels, based on the hit CBS TV mystery that he also wrote and produced. He followed that up by writing fifteen bestselling novels based on Monk, another TV show that he worked on. So I was delighted when Lee agreed to be interviewed.
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? (please upload a photo/s of your shed, room, closet, barn….)
A. I have an office in my house where I write surrounded by books and James Bond posters (I alternate the posters every month or so). But I can, and do, write just about anywhere.
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.) Continue reading “Interview with best selling Author, Lee Goldberg (part 1)”
Tuesday, April 8th I will post my interview with Author/TV Producer Lee Goldberg. He is the author of the wildly popular television series “Monk” . In addition he has written dozens of novels.
‘Goldberg broke into television with a freelance script sale to Spenser: For Hire. Since then, his TV writing & producing credits have covered a wide variety of genres, including sci-fi (seaQuest), cop shows (Hunter, The Glades), martial arts (Martial Law), whodunits (Diagnosis Murder, Nero Wolfe), the occult (She-Wolf of London), kid’s shows (R.L. Stine’s The Nightmare Room), T&A (Baywatch, She Spies), comedy (Monk) clip shows (The Best TV Shows That Never Were) and total crap (The Highwayman, The New Adventures of Flipper).’ (excerpt from his bio)
This is a funny and talented guy. Don’t Miss this two part Interview!
Continue reading “Don’t Miss my Interview with Lee Goldberg, Author/TV Producer”
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!”
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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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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