I had a 2nd reading of my play WAVES with the above group of actors.  My 1st reading took place in January and following that reading, I tweaked the play, subtracted about six pages and added more comedic elements.  I also fleshed out some of the motivations behind the characters and streamlined scenes so that they flowed better.

A big thank you to Diana Dimauro, Bren Somers, Erin Mackie, Tufford Kennedy and Rob Walker for lending their time and talents for this 2nd reading.   And to Liz Best for leading the group and helping shape the play.  The reading was very formative, but more than anything, for me personally, it was a time to sit back and let other voices read the dialogue and inform the characters.  As a writer, you end up reading all the characters and you get tired of hearing your own voice.  In fact, after awhile, you spend so much time re-writing, re-reading, re-thinking, you begin questioning the quality of the entire work.  Doubt is a crippling emotion that all writers must keep in check.

I love this quote by novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs:

Doesn’t it come down to that?  Does your play, film script, novel, capture people’s attention?  Does it make them, laugh, cry, get angry, or question a character’s sense of morality.  Does it provoke thought, disagreement…in other words, does it give a reader, an audience, something to talk about.

Here’s something else Edgar Rice Burroughs did:  he wrote a ton.  Just take a look at his Wikipedia page and you’ll see what I mean.  A writer must write…and keep writing…and keep putting it out into the world. The rejections will come, but if you write enough, some doors will open, maybe only a crack, but enough to give you the hope to write something new and try it again.  And keep trying.  And never stop learning.

I’ve written most of my life and I still don’t know what I’m doing.   But I keep trying.

Speaking of trying, my script WHO IS MOLLY STEELE made the Semi-finals  in the Family Category of the StoryPros Awards Screenplay Contest, but did not make the finalists cut.  Move on.  Next!

Here’s some good news:

My screenplay THE GREAT SURRENDER just made the quarter-finals of Emerging Screenwriters.  They run several genre competitions and I entered THE GREAT SURRENDER under the Family Category.  You can see the full list of the quarters HERE.

THE GREAT SURRENDER is about Zachary Foley – a disillusioned former high school football star whose life is left in ruins after a tornado puts his mother in a coma, leaving him to raise his disabled brother. This chain of events unexpectedly brings life to a hurting community and awakens a dynamic purpose in Zachary, but it may not be enough to overcome a tragic past he’s lied about.

Think Friday Night Lights meets the wonder and magic of Field of Dreams.

There is a line in Field of Dreams that is the impetus of the entire movie.  The protagonist hears a whispered voice say to him:  “If you build it, he will come”.   I have dreams.  And so do you.  We all have dreams.  What are you building in your life to make that dream come true?  Keep trying. We all need something to believe in.