Wednesday, November 27, 2013

This Novel Is Just Another Play

This is going to be a shortie but sweetie in honor of the holiday (i.e. in honor of the fact that I'm hosting Thanksgiving tomorrow and must give long, careful thought to important things like how long I should cook my sweet potatoes. Obviously.).

I've posted before about the value of having good friends, not just for life, but for writing. For me, these are the two people in my life who will listen to me fumble my way through a new idea, offer thoughts and encouragement, help me climb out of a self-induced plot hole, and read the towering pile of over-writing that I like to call a first draft.

The particular tidbit I want to talk about today involves one of these amazing women: my good friend who we'll call the Don (which can be interpreted in many different ways. Take your pick.) The other woman, the New Messiah, has made her debut on this blog already.

I've known the Don for a long, long time. We met our freshman year of college, which (just to age myself here) puts our friendship at the ripe old age of 15 years. Funny enough, we didn't like each other at all when we first met, but that's another story for another time. At this point, the Don is more like my sister than my friend. She was there when I wrote my first play, encouraging and helping and calling me out on my copious amounts of writing-related (and, ok, life-related) crap. She starred in that play, actually. She's read so much of my writing over the years that she could probably pick it out of a line-up while blindfolded. She's also one of those people who needs books like she needs air; she never, ever goes anywhere without one. It's a common sight to meet her at a restaurant and find her engrossed in a book while she waits, glasses perched on her nose, trendy scarf tossed artfully around her shoulders as she pores over the pages. She's also funny, honest, and too damn smart for her own good.

All of this makes her an invaluable critic.

Last week, I met the Don at one of our favorite haunts. Sure enough, she was reading while waiting for me, knee-deep in a book, sipping on a cocktail. We did what we usually do when we meet: we ordered a large amount of smoked and/or salted pork, drank a little too much, caught up on our lives, and probably cried. And, we talked about the idea I'm working on. The Don is familiar with this idea, of course. I've been telling her about it, bit by bit, for months now, and already her input and ideas have been priceless.

That night, I confessed my fears and struggles with writing in the first person, much like I did on this blog not too long ago. She let me go on for a while about my new strain of insanity, patiently listening as I laid out my concerns, and then when I was finished she looked me straight in the eye and said, "Why are you worrying about this? You're a playwright."

I stopped, and blinked, and said, "What does that have to do with anything?"

She gave me her patented eyebrow lift, and answered, "You write monologues." The "dumbass" at the end was, of course, inferred.

Well. DUH, right? I felt both very relieved and very, very stupid. The Don had an excellent point: a monologue is nothing if not a long piece of text written in the first person. How had I not realized this?

It's amazing how much this has eased my mind. Instead of being worried about my ability to pull off a first person POV, I've been imagining that this piece of the book is really just one really really long monologue. And that's not even unheard of, for a play: Tony Kushner has done it brilliantly (readers of this blog will already know that he's one of my writing heroes, but seriously, if you've never read or seen Homebody/Kabul, go grab a copy and read the first act. It's a phenomenal, inspiring, daring piece of writing.)

So that's what I'm doing: I'm writing a monologue. This, I know how to do. This is fun. This can even be easy. With one simple sentence, the Don was able to ease my fears, make me feel dumb, and change my perspective. Not bad for one night's work. I'll take it - and her - with a great deal of gratitude.

(As a postscript/side note... did I say this was going to be short??? Why do I even bother pretending??)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

24 comments:

  1. Don't you just love those duhhh moments of life. :P

    Happy Thanksgiving. :)

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  2. Friends that believe in you and encourage you are so important in this writing journey. Yay for the Don! =) Have fun w/the sweet potatoes and Happy Thanksgiving!

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  3. LOL! Well it wasn't short, but it was great. What would we do without our amazing writing buddies? My 13 yr old is quickly becoming one of my favorite brainstorm pals, and it so great!

    Happy Thanksgiving.

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    1. Ha, thanks, Crystal! I love that you have a 13 yo brainstorm pal. That's so awesome :)

      Happy Thanksgiving!

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  4. It's kind of true -- about the monologue, not the short post. Yeah, I don't think you know the meaning of this word. :PPP

    Happy Thanksgiving, Liz. :)

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    1. LOL. No way, I totally know what 'short' means! It's 'something I am unable to do' ;)

      Have a great holiday!

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  5. "The dumbass at the end was inferred…" LOL What would we do without those reality check friends? Especially in writing!

    First person will come to you and you'll do great with it. It took me time to learn not to filter myself so much (to write more by feel than by thought--which wasn't my natural writing disposition), but once I did, I truly fell in love with FP. So much so that I'm not sure I want to write in anything else.

    You've got a great sense of humor, and that's one thing about me that wasn't coming through in my third person stories. First really let me go crazy. :D

    Hope you have a great Thanksgiving, too, Liz!

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    1. I know, right? Thank goodness for honest friends :)

      Thanks, EJ, that's encouraging! I don't know how I feel about FP for the future, but I'm kind of enjoying it right now.

      Have a great holiday!

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  6. I have a lot of duhhh moments! It's nice you have a friend to help you out of them. Have a great Thanksgiving!

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  7. The light bulb came on! We need friends like that to prompt us to see the obvious sometimes.

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  8. I'm still jealous. I need friends I can talk to about my writing who can give me a mental kick to the head! Buy The Don an extra round the next time you see her!

    Happy Thanksgiving!

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    1. "A mental kick to the head" - yep, exactly! LOL. I definitely will. Have a great Thanksgiving!

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  9. Hahahaha! As I read, I thought to self, "I thought Liz said this was going to be a shortie but sweetie." Then you end with that sentence. Easier said than done, and I've quit trying to preface my posts with that ridiculous nonsense. :)

    Sometimes we just can't see the forest for the trees. Have a great Thanksgiving, Liz.

    M.L. Swift, Writer

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    1. I know, I know! Brevity is not my strong suit! You're right, I should just stop saying it, and that'll help. Have a great Thanksgiving!

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  10. It would be great to have a real person (other than a beta reader/CP) to hash things through with. But either way, as long as we keep it up, we do eventually learn what we've been missing along the way.

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    1. You're probably right, but sometimes I feel like I can't get perspective on my own work. It's great to have other eyes to help!

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  11. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Critique partners are invaluable -- Mrs. Fowler always helps me to see my projects in a different way, and they always end up tighter because of her insights.

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    1. You're a lucky guy :) Mrs. Fowler sounds like an excellent CP!

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  12. Nothing quite like the metaphorical kick in the ass from someone who knows what they're talking about. ^_^ And I'm impressed that you can write something as one long monologue. I *need* dialogue in my work, else the whole thing feels terribly boring. Oi!

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  13. Hahaha sometimes, all it takes is for someone to state the obvious. :-)

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