…a childhood devoid of picture books.
It’s a sad reality for a lot of kids nowadays, with a growing trend of parents pressuring kids as young as four to read chapter books and eschewing picture books completely.
For someone who’s been building a library of picture books for her kids for the last ten years, not to mention writing a few pictures books of her own, the idea of denying a child the joy of interacting with the rich and textured world of imagination that picture books are a portal to is disturbing, and really sad.
There’s enough time for test prep down the road. I’d much rather devote my energy to reading with and sharing a love of reading with my kids than cataloging page counts. After all, isn’t it most important to get kids to actually like, or dare I say, love reading so they become life long readers?
Childhood is fleeting enough as it is, and today’s kids feel a lot more pressure than I did growing up… curling up with a good picture book and escaping into its lush pictures and landscapes is a simple pleasure no child, or parent/teacher/caregiver should be denied.
–Sue
October 8th, 2010
Exactly a year ago today, we had a performance of Disillusioned, for its off-off-Broadway run.
I remember the date specifically because today is also our wedding anniversary. It was a conscious choice to celebrate our anniversary with a show, our show… celebrating as Two From the Aisle.
Since that run, and subsequent reviews, I’ve done a lot of rewriting on a few pieces… and I feel like I’m a better writer for it — taking my writing to a whole other level because of what I learned about getting a play on its feet.
I couldn’t have done it without my partner, in life and love, Scott. Thank you, Honey.
–Sue
October 7th, 2010
One of the best parts about writing is doing research. And though I love a good research session on the internet or even better with a book in my hands at the library, the best is when I get to experience something first hand. It gives the writing so much more depth.
The play I’m currently working on has a lot of reference to the beach… and though I’ve been many times, I’m amazed each time at the power of the water — the sound, the smell, the shells…
Being reminded of that power imbues me and the script with something that much more real and tangible, something I can pass along to audiences.
–Sue
October 6th, 2010
One of the most important assets a person can have is being able to give good feedback. It’s a way to open up possibilities for someone else by showing them the vast open space just waiting to be filled before you (”you” in the group sense of the word).
Some people know how to take feedback. Others don’t. It’s as simple as that.
I used to worry about how my feedback might come across, but these days, I realize it’s a bigger risk to hold back — and there’s much more at stake (all that could have been) by holding back.
–Sue
October 5th, 2010
“No,” she said, “you can have your cake and eat it too!”
The she is my muse and sister, Dina. (If you’re not lucky enough to have a muse in your life, I have a few — though Dina is the original, I highly suggest getting one.)
I was describing where I see this next scene and the play ultimately going, but I was stuck… I saw one character repeating her patterns, and Dina pointed out that the other character was doing the same thing. When she pointed this out, and pointed out the possibility for the drama, tension, and possible ways it could play out… she was showing me that I could have everything I wanted, the obstacles and the ending.
I’m in the gestational stage with this next scene, but I’ll tell you, this cake is tasting pretty darn good!
–Sue
October 4th, 2010
One of the things I love about writing plays, as opposed to TV, is that I get to go back and rewrite until it’s right. Because my time is open ended, I get to craft something over and over again so I know what finally makes it to the page and other creatives is what I had envisioned.
Early this morning, I wrote the end of the scene I started two days ago. I felt like the scene was just dangling, and early this morning I realized why.
One of the characters was saying one thing, but feeling something else. She couldn’t share with her daughter what she was feeling, but the audience needed to know what she was feeling.
In a memory, she was able to get in touch with the best part of her, and the kind of mother she wanted to be for her daughter. This memory was one that she had shared in previous drafts in other incarnations, but it always felt forced… This time, it was organic.
Writing is all about re-writing… and patience.
–Sue
October 1st, 2010
As an artist, one of the toughest parts of my job is filtering through feedback… Considering the source and where the feedback is coming from.
The other tough part is letting the ideas that I have percolating in my heart and mind make their way to the page, without letting those ideas become compromised.
It’s a process… but it’s worth it.
–Sue
September 30th, 2010
I’m high off writing a new scene… I literally just put my pencil down a few minutes ago, and will give myself the night to sit with it before typing it tomorrow.
Immediately when I set the pencil to rest on the paper, I started thinking, “Now where the hell do I go from here?” But I’m trying to pull back and just “be” with this as it is in this moment.
It’s human nature to want to know where one is going and getting there…and I used to make outline after outline as I revised scripts, so I could know where I was going through each revision… but as the years have gone by, I have gotten better at pulling back on the reigns a bit and letting a scene speak to me in its own time and way.
It’s just a matter of patience and time…
–Sue
September 29th, 2010
I’m in the hatching stage… hatching my plan for how I think the rest of this act might go… entertaining ideas and emotions and getting to the heart of things.
It sounds a little pie in the sky… a little bit like my head is in the clouds. That’s because it is. Right now, I’m inhabiting the space of the play and letting it open up before me, like the petals of a rose, blooming and opening one by one.
I haven’t made any final decisions yet, but at least now I’m sitting with it actively again…
–Sue
September 28th, 2010
It’s no secret that Broadway has become obsessed with celebrity buzz and loading marquis with big names (usually in revivals). This practice is nothing new, and there’s nothing revelatory here.
It’s also no epiphany to state the obvious, that when stars leave, box office slides, usually landslides, and shows close, even more quickly than producers would have liked.
I’m just wondering how long producers are willing to keep this up? Or how long they feel they can sustain this cycle? Headliners are a big investment of time and money, as well as audience interest. And while it works for the first year a star is willing to establish and stay on in a certain role, once that star is ready to leave, where is a show supposed to go from there?
I’m no banking or investment genius… But doesn’t it make sense to build a solid long term investment, that might build slowly over time, but returns the greatest dividend (in this case a longer run), than a short term investment with high initial dividends that then fizzle out?
Something in the current equation just doesn’t seem like a good bargain to me.
–Sue
September 27th, 2010
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