Cranking 'Em Out

I've always admired those creative types that consistently turn out new work at a rapid rate. Folks like Woody Allen, Steven Soderbergh, Stephen King, Louis CK, Dave Sim. People like these—and several others—who produce new works in their respective field at least once or twice a year (or in Sim's case, once a month). Prolificacy is something I've always looked up to. Hell, even with creative types whose work I hate, I've still been impressed with their productivity.

Some of it's motivated by compulsion. No matter how many times he's announced his "retirement," King clearly just can't stop—or slow down—writing. Woody Allen has said in interviews he makes a movie every year because it takes his mind off his life and feels restless when on vacation for too long (he also comes from a background in television, where you don't have the luxury of waiting for inspiration to strike before creating—you have to produce content week in, week out, no matter what). Some of it's dictated by the rules of the field. Monthly comics, like television, have to produce on a fixed schedule. And some of it's motivated by good old-fashioned work ethic. Louis CK announced that he's going to start from scratch with material every year, and come up with an hour's worth of new material annually. (Even amongst other professional stand-ups, this is unheard of.)

Whatever the reasons—and look, I don't know these people personally, so I'm not interested in engaging in too much mind-reading armchair psychology—there are creative types that are known for being unusually prolific in their medium, and it's something I've found incredibly inspiring and compelling.

This is not to say that the output of these people is always gold (there are many films by Woody Allen that I've found seriously rushed and underdeveloped), or that I don't appreciate, admire or enjoy the work of those artists who meticulously take their time with seemingly forever to complete their projects (the Kubricks, the Malicks, the Flauberts, the Brian Wilsons and Lauryn Hills). It's just that when contemplating my own work, I've always wanted to be in the former camp in terms of creative output.

I'd rather write and stage 20 plays or more in 10 years that are hit-or-miss than two in the same timeframe that are considered (by either myself, the audience, critics, or some combination of all three) masterworks.

Although I'd like to consider myself prolific in the playwriting field, it really seems I'm just on par with the scene (my buds and colleagues Qui Nguyen, Derek Ahonen, Joshua Conkel, and Jeff Lewonczyk among many, many others, are all staging one new play a year or more). I guess for folks like us, it's inconceivable to do less. I mean, we love doing this, we can do this, and we're fortunately in a position where we can get our work staged the way we want it staged. So what's the alternative? Just not write?

Lately, however, I've wondered about the advantages of taking considerably more time to work on a new script or project. Now that Nosedive is over 11 years old, we no longer have Something To Prove (we've done over 20 shows in 10 years and have two new shows lined up for the summer; I think we can be seen as an actual theatre company at this point). We can afford to take time between productions.

Also, at this stage of the game, I don't want to just be producing solely for the sake of producing: writing a play simply because we've got an open slot in the upcoming season that needs filling.

In other words, I don't want to just be marking time.

And again, hey: I'm still a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick. Maybe there's something to taking a substantial amount of time in creating something. So maybe, after 11 years of writing and producing theatre at a steady clip, it'd be worth looking into being more meticulous with the next project.

Besides, wouldn't it be fun to spend over a decade producing two to three new works a year, then go into hiding for a year or two (or three), then unveil some new long-in-the-works secret project?

(This isn't to say that I'm against revising or rewriting, but just that the revision process is still part of the fast turnaround—a month writing the rough, a month putting it away and working on something else, then a month revising.)

Well, it doesn't seem to be sticking. I've quickly found that "taking my time" rapidly devolves into "procrastinating writing," which in turn rapidly devolves into "not writing at all."

It's not that I've run out of or am having a tough time coming up with ideas. Quite the contrary. I've currently got a number of ideas I'm contemplating. But I'm really only doing just that: contemplating. I've been procrastinating, dragging my feet, waiting for one of these ideas to grow on its own before making a decision to cultivate (translate: write) one.

Yeah, clearly this method of creating just isn't for me. In some ways, at this stage in the game, I wish it were. But I don't think I have it in me.

So, although this season—Blood Brothers, Captain Moonbeam & Lynchpin, and possibly Infectious Opportunity—has already been written (not counting if we're invited back to the Vampire Cowboys' Saturday Night Saloon), there's currently nothing yet written for 2012. Which means that needs to change. And soon.

This also means I need to make sure this isn't just a case of me marking time: it means I need to follow Louis CK's philosophy of keep working, keep producing new material, but make sure every new work is better than the last.

We'll see how this goes.

Back to work.

Breaking for nobody,

James "Spaceball One" Comtois

Plays and Playwrights 2010 Available

Well, folks. The latest collection of some of the best indie plays that came out in New York last year, Plays and Playwrights 2010, is now available for purchase.

One featured play, Joshua Conkel's MilkMilkLemonade, made my personal Top 10 list for 2009. Another, Gyda Arber & Aaron Baker's Suspicious Package: Rx, has some additional writing from Yours Truly (not much, but some).

I went to the quite fun, well-attended launch party last night and got my copy.

You should get yours, too.

Not much of a reader,

James "Educated Hick" Comtois

I Interview Adam Szymkowicz

After doing a slew of interviews with other playwrights over at his blog, since I was his first interviewee, Adam Szymkowicz asked me to interview him for his 100th entry. So I did.

All about invading other playwright's privacy,

James "Nosey Parker" Comtois

Leonard Jacobs Interviews Crystal Skillman

Over at the Clyde Fitch Report, Leonard Jacobs interviews the lovely and amazing Crystal Skillman here. She talks about playwriting, the Saturday Night Saloon (which features her IT/Wild West serial, Hack) and her upcoming reading of That's Andy, a musical about a young man who wants to play the eponymous Little Orphan Annie for which she has written the book and lyrics.

Always berating chefs when
they don't have their ladles,

James "Cruel Diner" Comtois

Characters That Suck

While working on my rewrites for The Little One (which I'm hoping to finish the latest round of by next week, God willing), I came across this article by Grady Hendrix wrote back in late July over at Slate.com.

Now, obviously, I don't really want to harp on this too much: I've already promised that the vampires in my play don't twinkle or sparkle and that the overabundance of vampire fodder in popular culture made me reluctant to write this (at least, for the time being). And I don't really want to imply that I wrote The Little One to specifically counter the neutered take on what used to be prime nightmare fuel for youngsters.

(I will admit that I thoroughly enjoy watching True Blood, even though it, too, features a lot of vampires acting morose and drinking synthetic blood rather than viciously digging their fangs in frightened and unwilling victims. Perhaps this is why I appreciate Alexander Skarsgard's portrayal of the savage, manipulative, human-hating Eric so much.)

Yes, I got interested in writing this because I think vampires are interesting fodder for fiction, and have been a bit annoyed that vampires have become well-behaved model citizens. So yes, perhaps I wrote this script because I didn't want to wait around indefinitely for someone else to tell this story. But I didn't write this to "take vampires back" from the, "metaphor as teen angst/emo navel-gazing" purgatory they've been recently stuck in (I am, after all, a self-producing playwright; not exactly a driving force in the landscape of popular culture).

I think it'd be a bit of a stretch to classify The Little One as horror. I mean, it could be: there's certainly copious amounts of blood and gore, and there are several scenes designed to be tense and unnerving. For people who are squeamish about violence, then yes, this could be considered horror. But since the story is told from the point of view of the vampires, not the humans, this may mitigate much of the show's scare factor.

My goal was (is) to make the main characters interesting, sympathetic and (in their own way) likable, but periodically remind the readers/viewers that if they were to hypothetically meet any of these characters, they'd be running for their lives, crying and screaming.

Well, enough. I should probably stop blathering too much on a script that's still undergoing rewrites, hasn't been read aloud and won't be staged for at the very least seven months. But hey, it's on my mind (for obvious reasons) and I found that article. So I figured I'd share.

Sucking,

James "Vamping Dandy" Comtois

Vampires That Don't Twinkle

I've begun tweaking and futzing with the rough of The Little One, my vampire play. Although it still needs work, and I'll continue to work on it for the next few months, at least it may not be the horrific embarrassment I had originally convinced myself it was. But then again, who knows? Maybe it still is (and will be). Only time will tell.

I'm certainly aware of this reasonable attitude towards the glut of vampire fare hitting pop culture right now, and am also certainly aware that staging a play about vampires has to overcome a lot of hurdles. "Vampire fatigue," if you will.

I think I've written something that breaks away from the Anne Rice/Twilight/True Blood molds. In other words, The Little One isn't about teenage lust. Nor are the vampires in this play sensitive emo twits. They don't twinkle in the sunlight. They don't romance, date, have sex with, or otherwise have any sort of interaction with humans (apart from using them as a source of sustenance).

They're Fucking Vampires.

Does that mean it doesn't have flaws or clichés (or will be flawless and free of clichés after I complete my multiple revisions)? Of course not. I've written a story in a sub-genre that's been done to death and that's currently being mined and plundered ad nauseum. Do I think it will be worth an audience's time and attention once we stage it? I think so, because otherwise I wouldn't have written it.

Although The Little One is hardly an "old school" vampire story, I do think I may have written it as an attempt at telling a vampire story where the subjects aren't "namby-pamby wimps," as James Berardinelli succinctly puts it.

Covering himself in glitter,

James "Pretty Vampire Fan" Comtois

The Rough of The Little One

Well, I've finished it. The rough draft of The Little One, my vampire play, is done.

That's the good news.

The less-than-stellar news (for me, anyways) is that in my estimation, it needs a lot of work.

A Lot. Of work.

It will require several revisions before we even get to preproduction. However, for all intents and purposes, the core story is there and the first draft is complete.

I'm looking forward to getting dreading going to seek feedback from the folks at Nosedive Central and spending the next few months figuring out how to shape and polish it. Fortunately, I've given myself as much lead-time as possible before we need to start getting it on its feet as an honest-to-gorsh production so I can work and rework and polish and re-polish it to the point where I'm comfortable.

Yeah, I wanna nail this one because, let's face it: when your main characters are vampires, there's gonna be some pretension and corniness in your dialogue and story. That's pretty much unavoidable. However, I'd like to mitigate and weed out as much pretension and corniness as humanly possible before presenting it to paying audience members. Hell, I'd like to weed out as much in the next couple days, weeks and months before showing the script to friends and family members outside the inner circle.

Now let the revision process begin.

Well, first, onto writing episode three of Entrenched for the Saturday Night Saloon. But then: revising The Little One!

Looking forward to a different kind of fun,

James "Masochist" Comtois

The New Script

Okay, now having written 40 pages (about two-thirds) of the new script, tentatively entitled The Little One, with the remaining scenes mapped out, I can divulge the premise.

Yes. It's a vampire story.

This is a story I've had the germ of the idea for for a little over a year now, but because of the glut of vampire-mania in pop culture right now (True Blood, Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, Thirst and The Last Vampire, to name a few), I decided to shelf the premise until the craze winded down.

Alas, ideas don't often work that way.

I ended up thinking of way too many detailed scenes. I'd try to push them away or temporarily table them, but no dice. They kept coming. And wouldn’t go away.

So, I've gone from, "Fine, I'll just write these down so I can table them," to, "Well, shit. Looks like this is what I’m working on," to, "Holy crap I can't wait to show this to the gang!"

We’ll see if having Nosedive stage a vampire play next year will seem like riding some sort of trend or not. Honestly, at this point, I can’t really worry about that. But for now, I'm having fun writing this...

("Really, James? You’re having fun writing a play about chick vampires?” Yeah, yeah, stop the fucking presses, I know.)

...and am hoping to have a readable draft in the next week or two. We’ll see how it goes.

This is definitely the fun part of the process, when the story is fresh and new and the "second act problems" aren't yet around to burden your mind and when rewrites aren't yet necessary. It's the part of the process when you're telling yourself the story and having fun discovering it.

It's the part of the play creation when it's still fun. And this shit is supposed to be fun, dammit.

I guess I should milk that for as long as possible, since I'm sure I've got some major second act problems awaiting me a couple months down the road.

A carefree idiot writing
about lady vampires,

James "Life Is Good" Comtois

Huzzah! (Sort Of.)

Well, yes. I've actually started writing Nosedive's 2010 mainstage show. Spent the bulk of the weekend working on it, in fact.

I had about three or four vague ideas in embryonic form, but I wanted to put one of them on hold for the time being for various (uninteresting) reasons. But of course, that idea I decided to put on hold is the one I kept having ideas for specific scenes for. Go figure.

We'll see if my reasons for originally wanting to temporarily shelf it (which, again, I won't yet divulge) won't end up making this a bad decision later on down the road (read: production next year). In fact, I suspect once we get into preproduction on this, there will be a great number of blog entries addressing my concerns.

Will it be any good? Who the hell knows? I won't can't worry about that for now. We shall see. As always, we shall see.

Anyway, the working title is The Little One, and the two lead roles will be for women. And that's about as much as I'm ready to divulge on it right now.

Already having said too much,

James "Cryptic Chatty Kathy" Comtois

Friday Roundup

Well, it's Friday. I'm quite relieved. Aren't you?

It looks as though I'll be attending The Potomac Theatre Project's production of Howard Barker's The Europeans tonight. The New York Times just gave it a glowing review, so perhaps this means I'm in for a good evening. Perhaps. I've been known to disagree with the Newspaper of Record's assessment before.

I'm gunning to have the second draft for the book of the metal musical, Anton Craven's Ghastly Scheme, finished by the end of the day. Will I be successful in achieving this goal? We shall see. I'm dancing as fast as I can.

If I am successful in this (and all coy douchebaggery aside I'm pretty confident I will be), this gives me the rest of July to write my installments for this year's Blood Brothers Present show (about which I'll speak more later) and the first episode of Entrenched, my World War I/Time Travel serial for this year's Saturday Night Saloon series.

Anyway, that's it for me (for now, anyway). Have a good weekend, folks, and if you haven't already, you should get your tickets for one of the two new performances for Infectious Opportunity.

Getting writer's cramp,

James "Compulsive Masturbator" Comtois

Interviewed by Adam Szymkowicz

Fellow blogger, playwright and bud Adam Szymkowicz invited me to kick off his new series where he interviews playwrights. He asks me a very little bit about Infectious Opportunity but more about playwriting in general and the pros and cons of self-producing. You can read the interview here.

Can I plug this show more?

I think I can. We open Sunday. Buy your tickets.

A shy little wallflower,

James "Filthy Media Whore" Comtois

Dragging

As you've no doubt noticed, I've had very little to blog about of late. I don't really have much of an excuse or a reason, although I explained in my last post that since I haven't sat in on rehearsals for Infectious Opportunity yet, I can't really speak at length about how it’s going (aside from relaying Pete's nightly testimonies).

Also, the rewrites for the musical I’m working on, Anton Craven’s Ghastly Scheme, have been going slower than I had previously hoped. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they're going, but I’m unfortunately having a tough time with the dialogue, since (this being the first musical for which I've written the book) I'm trying to find that delicate balance of making the dialogue short and breezy to transition to the next song without making said dialogue cheesy. Since the non-singing dialogue in a musical is pretty much secondary, it's really not the place to have the characters ramble and stammer through their thoughts. But at the same time, I don't want their dialogue to be outright shitty, if that makes sense.

It's a tough balancing act that I’m (very) slowly figuring out as I go along.

And in terms of new scripts, I'll be honest: I've been dragging my feet on starting real work on the stuff I put on my "Writing To-Do" list earlier this year. Why? Because fuck you, that's why.

No, seriously, I really don't know.

Maybe it's just simple old-fashioned procrastination. Maybe I just want to have Infectious up and running and the rewrites for Anton Craven done with before working on new projects. Maybe I just need to recharge my batteries.

Again, I really don’t know.

I suppose once I start sitting in on rehearsals for Infectious (which I plan to start doing this weekend or early next week) and quit being a lazy piece of shit about my other writing assignments, I'll start blogging about what's happening in my little world with more regularity.

Jacking off into the office photocopier,

James "Eccentric Procrastinator" Comtois

Writin' All Damn Weekend

With the exception of seeing the very fun and satisfying final chapter of Penny Dreadful at the Brick Theater on Sunday afternoon and watching the atrocious-but-hilarious Wicker Man remake with the folks at Nosedive Central on Friday night, I spent the bulk of this past weekend working on finishing and polishing the rough draft of Anton Craven's Ghastly Scheme and working on my entry for this with Flux.

Seth from Gods of Fire gave me some very helpful feedback on the pages of Anton Craven that I sent him on Friday. Fortunately, we both appear to very much be on the same page with this project. I gotta say, even though this is the first musical I've ever worked on (which means I'm way, way, WAY out of my comfort zone), I'm having a blast with this. Let's hope the band members like the improved version when I send it out.

With a little bit of luck, I can finish both projects this week. Well, luck doesn't factor into the Flux project: I need to send them my script by Wednesday. It shall be done. It shall be done.

Listening to the Darkness and Dragonforce while writing,

James "That Asshole Sporting a Vest Without a Shirt" Comtois

And Hot Fucking Dog...

...I've finished the rough of Speed Demons Episode 5.

Meaning, I've finished Speed Demons.

Who wants to touch me? I said who wants to fucking touch me!

Ahem.

And don't forget to see Episode 4 this Saturday!

Way too impressed with him-
self for so-so accomplishments,

James "Tiny Giant" Comtois

I Have Finished...

...the rough draft of Infectious Opportunity. With 11 days to spare from my (and Dorothy's) deadline!

Now let's find out of this thing's any good.

We shall see, we shall see.

Relieved and anxious,

James "Total Mess" Comtois

Truckin' Away on Infectious Opportunity

Sorry for the radio silence on this page for the past couple of days. This week has been my "Writing In Earnest" week, forcing myself to write at least seven pages a day on the new script, Infectious Opportunity. I say "force myself," though to be honest, it's fortunately been coming along pretty smoothly. My self-imposed seven-page minimum (to accommodate my self-imposed deadline of December 1 for presenting the folks at Nosedive Central a readable rough draft) has not been a struggle so far.

Will that last? Based on past experiences, it's highly doubtful. But I guess it's no good looking a gift horse in the mouth, so for the moment I'll just ride it and enjoy.

Just as long as I keep the second-guessing to a minimum I should be fine. I just need to remind myself (as is the case with any writing project): now's not the time to assess whether or not it's any good. Now's just the time to get it all down on paper.

So far, so good.

Another horror film entry will be posted either tomorrow or early next week, if all things go to plan. And then, it's back to trucking along seven pages a day until this spring play is done.

Needing to write one
more page for today,

James "Middling Achiever" Comtois

Contemplating Writing On A Friday Afternoon

You know, for a four-day week, it sure does seem like this week was interminable. I really am relieved it's finally Friday.

We've begun rehearsals for the final episode of Pinkie, giving ourselves two weeks of rehearsal instead of the usual one. But I guess that makes sense: since this is the final episode, the one that supposedly ties everything together, it's a tad longer, more intricate and more talkative than the previous episodes.

Or, as Marsha says during rehearsals, "Talky-talky-talky-talky..."

Although this was posted a while ago, Mr. Matthew Freeman and Mr. Mark Armstrong brought this to my attention, so I figured I'd indulge on this Friday afternoon.

Marisa Wegrzyn writes this:

For writers and writing, I'm not so interested in learning about the nebulous, intangible stuff of inspiration and creativity. Borrrrrring. I prefer the quantifiable details: Where do you write? When? Pencil or pen? In a spiral notebook or on office legal pads? When you write on the computer, what font do you use? How do you format your stage directions? Where do you go for character names? When you write at Starbucks, what do you drink? Do you snack? How good is your writing after a couple glasses of crummy [yellowtail]? Music? No? If music, what kind, how loud? Do you wear pants? Can you write on a bus? On a train? In bed?

Here are my best attempts at answers:

Where do you write? When?
Often at work (at my day job), during the day. Sometimes at home. Sometimes at bars (though I find I really just write my notes at bars).

Pencil or pen?
Pen.

In a spiral notebook or on office legal pads?
Office legal pads.

When you write on the computer, what font do you use?
I used to use Palatino 12 pt., but now it's Times new Roman (also 12 pt.).

How do you format your stage directions?
If they're short, in parentheses within the dialogue. If they're long, centered (like blockquotes on blogger). Always in italics.

Where do you go for character names?
Sometimes they're names of people I know (or knew). Sometimes I try to think of a common name I haven't used before (or in a long while).

When you write at Starbucks, what do you drink?
I don't.

Do you snack?
Not unless smoking counts as "snacking."

How good is your writing after a couple glasses of Blue Moon beer?
You'd have to ask someone who's read or seen The Awaited Visit (my play written deliberately after getting super-drunk).

Music?
You bet. I really dig it while writing.

If music, what kind, how loud?
Depends on the script or scene.

Do you wear pants?
Yes. Yes, I do.

Can you write on a bus?
No.

On a train?
Yes.

In bed?
No.

Anyway, I hope any of this was at all fun or enlightening. At any rate, have a good weekend, folks. And thanks to Isaac Butler for the very nice shout-out!

Takin' his pants off for rewrites,

James "Unencumbered" Comtois