When it's not working...

Let it cook.

Some plays just need to simmer longer.

What?

What the heck does that mean?

Sometimes you are just not ready to complete it.

It hasn't perked enough in your creative unconscious.

The story is somehow incomplete in you.

So you just need to leave it alone and start work on something else.

Then, maybe in a week, or two, the idea or inspiration will hit you like lightning, and wham, bam, boom, you will get back to your play in a whirlwind of creativity and it will be awesome! 

Like a fine wine, you let it ferment, grow richer, fuller, layered.

You let it cook.

The creative spark is moody, unpredictable and hard to tame. (There are ways to set up a “context” for creativity to blossom - I talk about that in my How to Write a Fantastic Play in 28 Days Seminar Home Study Edition - see below.) And when creativity ignites, you need to stay with it, let it channel it's magic, and write, write, write, and when it REALLY dries up, acknowledge what is, leave it alone, put it under a hot rock somewhere, and let it cook. 

Let it simmer.

Trust it will ripen with time without your attention.

This is one of the hardest things for most writers to do, but from working with a myriad of playwrights, this is such an important skill for every writer to learn!

It is ok to stop work on a project for a while if it isn't happening. (Just don’t make it too long.)

When I work with my Playwriting Coaching clients, setting the play aside to let it cook is absolutely unfathonable. But sometimes, after brainstorming, mindstorming, playing with the concept of the play, rewriting scenes and more, a writer sometimes needs a break to allow their unconscious mind time to find the answer. My clients are paying me to help them craft their story, and they go bonkers when I suggest that they leave it alone for a week and we will go from there.

"Help me make this happen!" they cry, and I reply,

"I am. Just let it cook for a bit."

You see, you can't make a flower blossom. 

You can't make gravy before the Turkey is done. 

You can't squeeze inspiration out of a blank sheet of paper or a blank computer screen.

If the well is dry, don't try to drink. 

Find another well to hydrate your imagination for a bit while your creative unconscious does its magic.

Let it cook.

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Technique vs. Passion

There are certain principles and techniques to writing a great play, and if you put these principles and techniques to use, you have a good head start on creating something pretty special.

But the bad news is, if you are not passionate about your story idea, it is just not going to happen.

Having a great story idea that you are passionate about bringing to life is the single most important element in manifesting a great play. Your story idea needs to keep you up at night, be on your mind all day long, and consistently inspire you to sit down and write.

When I wrote my play Mr. Cupcake, I was obsessed with writing it. I actually wrote my first draft - 91 pages in 3 days, over the course of a three day Columbus Day weekend. I was having inner turmoil about my sister, and her less than supportive boyfriend, and I felt helpless to do anything about.

So I decide to write a play.

Boom! Within 30 minutes of deciding to write about this, I came up with an incredible plan for the play. It was about a young woman named Maggie, who was very much like my sister, who was having issues with her boyfriend and with her mother.

At the top of the play, Maggie has a huge fight with her mother who lives in a brownstone on the upper west side of Manhattan, and Maggie runs out of her mother’s apartment and sits on the stairs looking out over 88th street, and cries her heart out.

Suddenly, a very strange elderly homeless man sits at the bottom of the stairs. He is dressed in colorful clothes with a multi-colored cape. He attempts to talk with her, and she is definitely not interested. So after a very long pause, he sings a little song, and Maggie freezes, and then asks him why he is singing that song. He replies:

Homeless man:

“It’s a happy song. And if you sing a happy song, you get happy.”

Maggie:

My father used to sing that song.

Homeless man:

Used to? He has stopped singing it? Why would he do that?

Maggie:

He passed away 20 years ago.

(Long pause.)

Homeless man:

Do you miss him?

Maggie:

Yes, very much. He was my best friend.

And they start to talk, and he introduces himself as Mr. Cupcake, and then he pulls out a Hostess Cupcake, and shows her his “Cupcake Proclamation,” and he performs a little ritual holding the cupcake over his head, circling it as he recites an upbeat prayer, and then he takes the cupcakes and eats it in one bite. It is very funny, and strange too.

Maggie:

My father used to bring cupcakes for the employees at his office on Valentine’s day. He was a big fan of the cupcake.

Mr. Cupcake:

Smart guy. Smart guy.

And as they continue to talk, Maggie gets it in her head that Mr. Cupcake is somehow the spirit or ghost of her deceased father.

And then as the play progresses, through her relationship with this strange homeless man, she heals her relationship with her mother, and she breaks up with her less than supportive boyfriend.

At the end of the play, for the play is bookended with Maggie’s narration, we discover that she is a motivational speaker now, and in performance we handed out Hostess cupcakes to the entire audience, and together with Maggie, the entire audience did the “Cupcake Proclamation” to end the play.

It was great great fun, and this super fun story idea, propelled me to write this play, faster than I had ever written a play before!

Yes, you need to know about playwriting principles but most importantly, you need a great story idea.

So when you build your play, make sure the foundation is your passionate, obsessive story idea, and write like you have never written before!

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