Why I Write

I enjoy writing for money, it’s everything Noah Berlatsky describes in his October 9, 2013 Salon article, "Why Unsuccessful Writers Give the Best Advice".  In it, he contrasts himself with Ta-Nehisi Coates, a celebrated writer who'd recently been profiled in The Atlantic, quoted as saying that in his writing Coates never achieved "that perfect thing that was in my head, so I always consider the entire process about failure."

Aside from those times I write to be paid, I am far more often compelled—best word to describe it—to write great quantities of made-up stuff that, having a life of its own, strongly resists shaping itself for any other audience but me.  It’s embarrassing, but enormously satisfying.  I certainly rewrite my creations as necessary, but I’m not preoccupied with perfection, really, only clarity.  Nor even in my compulsion do I experience the existential struggle Coates describes.  I just need to write.  It would be nice to be paid, but fulfilling my needs is welcome compensation.

I will say that if I only wrote for money, I could say I write because it’s expedient to do so.  The writing for myself, out of compulsion, is what makes me a writer.

The Play's the Thing

I’ve had some excellent successes since I last made an entry here, though they are on the periphery of my freelance writing career. Writing is writing, I’m proud of my work. (I’m also working freelance as a Marketing Consultant these days, and Marketing is writing, too. Isn’t it?)



My one-man show, STUPENDOUS, COLOSSAL FAILURE! premiered at Chicago Dramatists on Saturday, April 11th. It was well received and I want to do a full-length version sometime, and have a venue in mind.




More recently, a short play of mine, THE WORST THING, also premiered at Chicago Dramatists (as a staged reading), and was directed by Kathy Scambiatterra, Artistic Director of The Artistic Home, a wonderful coup for me.

What’s next?

A Gratuitous Blog Entry

"Gratuitous" means "unnecessary, without cause, unwarranted," and there are many ways to achieve gratuitousness. Any aspect of a piece of writing is gratuitous if it doesn't do the work it should.

I recently wrote a draft of a play with situations and language that those who heard a reading of it judged gratuitous, and their reasons were sound. I had not convinced them of the point, use, function of those situations and my use of language in the service of the work. Among other insights I gained from the experience was an idea that, while it likely isn't original, has novelty and may help me in my continuing development of the play.

I have decided to write a synopsis of the play to clarify the story I am attempting to tell. Writing a synopsis should help a great deal in sloughing off any gratuitous elements. I intend then to build out from the synopsis and basically re-write the play.

Reduced to even simpler terms, I suppose I will be outlining the play's plot.

Let me know if you've had any comparable experience in your own work.