Reflections on Equality and Writing Updates
Look Out, Here Comes My Book
I am back on the southeastern coast of the United States, and it is lovely here. We’ve opened the windows of the condo, allowing fresh cool air to filter through. It’s been mostly sunny, with a few rainy days to wash away the pollen.
This past week I wrote a poem about a troubling moment in a friendship. The incident, which involved her laughing at me because I mispronounced a word, stuck with me for a long time. I felt shame over it, especially when she corrected me. What’s funny is that I know how to pronounce the word, I just made a mistake.
Nevertheless, it’s in these small moments you can get a clear view of someone’s character. After that, I noticed a pattern where she would be patronizing or point out a flaw she perceived in me. She started to behave in a way that indicated she felt I was less than her: Not as wise, not as knowledgeable, not as progressive, and not as rich. I could’ve brought this up to her, but would it be worth the trouble? I didn’t think so. If someone is so heavily invested in thinking they’re superior, I’m not going to fight her on it. There’s no point because I know we’re equal. Have a nice ego trip!
I think this is one of the great things that life in Alabama has given me. I am acutely aware that all people are equal, no matter who they are or where they are from. I am no better or worse than anyone else. I think I was too caught in that game earlier in life. My career in theater was based on the idea that perception was more important than reality. Degrees, productions, who I was, who I knew, where I lived, grants, and agents all totaled up into a kind of credit score for status. People on that path were perceived to be better writers than people who opted out.
I’ve thought a lot about this because we’re in an age where all the places I was supposed to be perceived as “successful” or “good” turned out to be abusive or wrong. I went to NYU and I remember how proud they were to offer internships at The Weinstein Company. Coming up as a playwright, the most respected theaters took subsidiary rights from plays they accepted. I had many friends who worked in TV and told me stories of how they were treated. Maureen Ryan’s book, “Burn It Down” describes toxic environments.
I held all of these people and places up in high esteem, judging my progress based on what people in these environments thought. I will never get back the years I judged myself a failure – even though I never really wanted to be a writer-for-hire to begin with. And if you know me personally, you know that given my history, I wouldn’t function well in abusive situations anyway.
So, here’s one of my core principles: No one is better or worse than anyone else. Period. Easy to say, hard to live.
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I’ve decided to sign up for the Dramatists Guild End of Play event. It’s my first year of participation. From what I can gather, it will be like NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month. We start in a few days, and I have a TON of stories to tackle. I am thinking of doing something completely new.
Aside from the kick-ass poem I wrote, I redesigned my website. It’s not up… Yet. It’s coming. Almost there.
I also took part in a Historical Drama class from the London Playwrights. It was an amazing class. The energy from the UK theater is so different from the US. I felt quite comfortable there. I found it on Eventbrite. There are so many writing, theater, and novel resources there.
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Finally, I would be remiss not to promote my soon-to-be-published (again) play, Everybody In This House: A Play & An Essay. I’ll be writing more about this next time, not just for promotion but also because some interesting things came up from this particular work.
The play takes place on Good Friday. It’s 60 minutes without intermission. The play has 3 women and 3 men.
After Father O’Donnell dismisses Mary Turner’s pleas about her marriage, he must grapple with his culpability as he uncovers a web of secrets about domestic violence that shake his faith in God and humanity. Follow along as his quest for answers leads to stunning revelations and a race against time to prevent further devastation.
Unravel the mystery surrounding Mary Turner's tragic demise and the dark secrets lurking within her family.
On sale starting April 16th. I’ll post links shortly.