Category Archives: Creativity Exercises

So You Want to Write a One Person Show? Part 1 of 7

So You Want to Write a One Person Show? Part 1 of 7

So you want to write a one person show? Not everybody does. It used to be most people felt they had one good novel in them. One good album. Five minutes of good standup. Maybe one good screenplay. You take the particulars of your life and assemble them in a funny or touching or absurd or poignant way and they become universally understood as human. And after that, you have to actually get good a the craft and technical know-how.  There's charisma, and there's skill.  Possessing charisma might bring you to the stage, but building skill is what can keep you there. 

Today, especially in the San Francisco theater and standup comedy scene, solo shows or monologues are becoming a great venue to speak your life.  And many people are taking the form to the level of mastery.  You've heard Eric Bogosian on CD, you've seen Spading Gray on DVD, maybe you went to the theater and saw your first solo show in person.  And now you're Inspired.  "This is it!" you realize.  This is how I want to tell my story!  (I'm chomping at the bit to go see two shows at the Marsh in San Francisco: Ann Randolph's Loveland, and Dan Hoyle's The Real Americans.  I'm on my way in the next week to see Dan Hoyle!)

So if this is your first foray into the world of possibility in creating your first solo show, where do you start?  Well, you start where only you can.  You already know in your heart why you're reading this.  Something incredibly important, intense, and powerful occurred in your life.  It may even be connected to some issue out in the world that is equally important, intense, and powerful.  That's where you start. 

Begin by allowing yourself to speak what that is.  But keep it to yourself for the moment.  This is a precious moment, when you acknowledge to yourself what it is you know you have to tell the world.  Take 30 minutes and sit.  Let yourself write the it down.  Write in whatever form: bullet points, a poem, short pieces of prose…  Write what comes about the CENTRAL MOMENT of this powerful event or truth in your life.  During this central moment, where are you?  What time of year is it?  What are you wearing?  What does the air smell like?  Who is with you?  What music do you hear?  What did you eat that day?  What are the sensations in your belly?  Write with a pen and paper if you can…  let those images and emotions wash over you and spill onto the paper directly from your heart through your hand to the page, and make Natalie Goldberg proud.

When you finish, don't yet show it to anyone.  It's a tender and sweet piece of work you're doing, and you deserve to have it held with your own utmost compassion before opening it to others. 

Ready for Part 2 of 7 on "So You Want to Write a One Person Show?"  Stay tuned!  I'll be writing it in the next few days.

Creating Every Moment

Creating Every Moment

Creative_woman
People come to me for creativity coaching and say, "I should do more creative work.  If I spent an hour a day making art, that would be great."

But creativity doesn't only have to happen when we sit down to write or paint.  It can be part of every moment!  Have you spent time with those people who seem to make magic out of every moment?  People who invent a game out of jumping into their car, dance their way through the supermarket, belt out their favorite song at work, and create entire theater pieces with inanimate objects.  Your creativity is a muscle, and it wants to be pumped!  Try the following creativity exercises and incorporate them into your day to get your creative juice flowing.

  • turn your socks into sock puppets while you're getting dressed
  • think of a song you don't like, and write new lyrics that express the opposite sentiment of the song
  • write down all the excuses you make for not making your art in bullet points.  in a second column, write what you did instead of making art.  then, choose a silly accent, and read each of them aloud to yourself. 
  • take one day and invent life stories for each stranger you see on the street
  • wear a unique piece of clothing that people will comment on, and then make up a different story for each of them about where it came from

For added synergy, fill your well with stories of others' art and life to inspire you even more.

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"The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to
leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your
intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover
is yourself."

-Alan Alda

Creating What You Really Want

Creating What You Really Want

Woman_standing_at_sea
Do you find yourself repeating behaviors that sabotage your creative work or your enjoyment of life?  Self-sabotage started as a coping mechanism that helped us get through something difficult when we were younger.  When the situation we were protecting ourselves from chages, we no longer need that coping mechanism.  But it can be difficult to see how to let it go. 

Try this meditation: 

  • sit with your back straight, feel your feet on the floor, close your eyes
  • take several deep breaths, sending your breath down through your feet and into the earth
  • when you feel held and supported by the earth, call the part of you who seems to "sabotage" your best efforts, imagine him or her standing in front of you
  • ask gently what their role has been in your life
  • thank them deeply for taking on that role, and let them know you're choosing to respond to stressors in a new way
  • give them a new job: perhaps they are now a witness or an observer for you
  • ask if there's anything else they'd like to tell you, and then send them home
  • notice if you sense any shift in your body, and allow whatever is occuring
  • take several deep breaths, feel yourself connected to the earth, slowly open your eyes

Integrating all parts of our being and overcoming self-sabotage is sometimes a slow, meandering process, sometimes it happens in an instant.  Each of us unfolds in our own unique way, always moving toward freedom and openness, even when it seems the opposite is true.  Be gentle with yourself in this unfolding.

    "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."

    -His Holiness, The Dalai Lama

Want to write a one-person-show? Do it now!

Want to write a one-person-show? Do it now!

Longnow
I've been working on my one-woman-show for the last year, and I'm
really excited to let you know it's going to be featured in the 2008 San Francisco Fringe Festival in September!  It's called The Punchline,
and it's all about my dream of being a famous comedian and the things
that get in my way…  I've had lots of help from some really talented
and generous people, and I'd like to share with you some simple ways to
get started.

So, here are five easy steps to get started now on your one-man-show, a one-woman-show, a solo-transgender show, or a
very long monologue from someone of unspecified gender… 

Step one:  Decide
to tell your life story.  (This is what all first works are
about–first albums, first books, first drinks…  You can write about
politics and stuff when you've gotten yourself out of the way.)

Step two:  Write your truth, and tell it from the point of view of all the characters in your life (or all the characters in your head.)

Step three: Book
a show two months from now, and tell everyone you know to come see
you.  Publicize!  (This ensures that you'll really do it.)

Step four:  Get
some studio time and a director to give you feedback and incorporate
it.  Then, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.  (Don't ask your wife or your
boyfriend or your dog what they think of your work.  They won't be able
to give you helpful criticism until they see the show on opening night.)

Step five:  Perform! 
Take your due on stage, strut your stuff, and tell your story for
real–be the most you-est you you've ever been, share your story in a
way that lets the audience fully see who you really are.  (Hint: the
less you care how good you are, the better you'll be.)

In another blog, I'll let you know about some good teachers, directors, and other resources for solo shows.

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So, do it now!  "Yesterday is rarely too early but tomorrow is frequently too late." 

What is success for you?

What is success for you?

Business_kid
How many times has your concept, your idea of "success" actually gotten in the way feeling fulfilled?

Often, at a young age, we have a peak experience of freedom, aliveness, love, or fulfillment that occurs during an activity we’re doing.  And our young, child mind develops the concept that this feeling, plus this situation, plus the people around me who confirm this story, equal success. 

The truth is that the activity is the portal, the context through which we experience that expansive feeling.  And yet, as humans often do, we associate that feeling with the activity we’re doing.  Suddenly and unconsciously, it’s not, "I surrendered my body and mind to my activity, and I felt alive!" it’s, "I hit the winning home run, the entire crowd cheered, and I felt alive!"  We begin to form a concept about succeeding at baseball as the source of our aliveness.

Perhaps, years later, you "awaken" feeling unfulfilled (hopefully not, but if so, keep reading!)  Perhaps you have had a successful baseball career and yet never touched the heart of your original peak experience.  Or, you may have struggled for both success and fulfillment.  I often speak with comedians who are talented, funny, and accomplished (who also make lots of money at comedy and perform frequently), yet there is a lingering emptiness.  Often in America, we shy away from looking at this emptiness and want to leave it as soon as possible.  And yet, if we are willing to dive into the center of the "hole" in a safe context, we can come out the other side with our heart’s treasure.*

One way you can begin to release of your concept of success is to invite yourself to play again.  Set aside an hour with no interruptions and set out an open-ended activity that brings you joy.  You could play guitar, paint, make a collage, sing, roll down a grassy hill, skip rocks…  Find a way to re-create the joy, even for a few minutes, of a time when the activity was more important than the outcome.  And before you go back to your day, write about what happened during your experience and what thoughts or voices arose for you.   

        "Success is getting what you want.  Happiness is wanting what you get."

        –Dale Carnegie

*For further reading: A. H. Almaas, The Diamond Approach