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Death in Frostburg

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My play, Death and the Psychiatrist, won second place in the 2015 Frostburg One-Act Playwriting Competition.

Death and the Psychiatrist is the story of Mortimer Graves who shows up at Dr. Donna Thompson’s office claiming to be the Grim Reaper. Although Mortimer says he is there to escort Dr. Thompson to the other side Dr. Thompson, believing Mortimer to be under the delusion that he is death, convinces him that he should go into therapy. With the Doctor’s help Mortimer confronts his emotional issues and Doctor Thompson, with Mortimer’s help, re-evaluates her life priorities.

You can download a FREE copy of my Death and the Psychiatrist by following this link.

First place was awarded to Fifty Miles by Jason Tinney and Holly Morse-Ellington. Third place went to Missed Connections Club by Harold Taw and Chris Jeffries.

Fifty Miles will receive a full production. Death and the Psychiatrist and The Missed Connections Club will both receive staged readings during the 2015 One-Act Playwriting Festival at the Palace Theatre in Frostburg, Maryland, on Friday, September 25, and Saturday, September 26, 2015.

The Frostburg Center for Creative Writing serves Western Maryland and the surrounding areas by celebrating the literary arts through a variety of public events and productions, by educating and broadening an interested audience for literature, and by fostering new writers and their work.

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So You Want to be a Writer

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Well, that’s easy all you have to do is write. But then you ask yourself, “What should I write? Should I write novels? And if I do write novels what sort of a novel should I write? Science fiction? Young adult? Romance maybe?”

And what if you discover you don’t really like writing novels – what then?

Do you give up? You could. Because there are those people who give up because it’s too difficult or because it’s not perfect enough or because they’re really, really, really good at giving up. But if you’re not the sort of person that likes to give up then maybe you’re simply the sort of person that needs to try writing something other than a novel. So try poetry. Or advertising copy. Or fortune cookies.

And even though there are plenty of talented writers – many with a great deal more talent and ability than I – that are very good at several different types of writing – I’m not one of them. They can write novels, and speeches, and technical manuals. I tend towards dialogue and a rather casual style of expression. Not the best style for an instruction manual – I think. But now that I think about it most people in most professions gravitate towards a certain level of specialization.

A musician will likely prefer one musical instrument to another. Perhaps they like the tuba or the accordion or the banjo maybe? And in sports athletes show more talent in one type of sport as opposed to another. Tiger Woods is an amazing golfer. I’m not sure, but I’m guessing he’s not much of a tuba player. I know I’m not a good tuba player and I’m certainly not much of a golfer.

I think what I’m trying to say – in a rather convoluted way – is that writers like musicians and athletes must find out what they do best. Just because someone is a great novelist doesn’t mean they know how to write a great movie and just because someone is an amazing screenwriter doesn’t mean they know how to write an amazing novel or a great commercial. Being a writer doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good at every form of writing.

A writer needs to discover what type of story teller she is. And she can only do that by taking quill in hand and writing.

That’s all you have to do – just start writing.

It doesn’t matter what you write – all that matters is you begin because your heart will lead you in the right direction. Be true to yourself and write what you want – not what society or your friends or your mom wants – but what you want. Take a writing class, write in your journal, write short stories, poetry, novels, comic books and blogs. Write fiction and nonfiction. Write a lot and often and soon you’ll discover that one particular form of writing feels more natural for you than others. And once you’ve made that discovery – dive in. You won’t drown. Far from it. You’ll find you love the deep end and how it feels to be in your element.

So, what are you waiting for? Jump in – get writing and discover what you do best.

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Something Bad

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Of course you need to know what your character hungers for in life but in order to make a story you need action. The bigger the hunger the more daring the action. The more daring the action the bigger the risk. And the bigger the risk the bigger the consequences. That’s dramatic. That’s interesting. That’s compelling.

Look at Walter White in Breaking Bad.

He gets cancer – and because he gets cancer – he has to figure out how to make some quick cash in order to provide for his family. Granted, cooking meth and becoming a drug lord wouldn’t be the first choice for most high school science teachers, but it’s exactly because he makes that choice that makes the series so fascinating to watch.

And maybe that’s why we as individuals living our suburban lives sometimes battle to make a decision ourselves – not because we’re thinking of becoming a drug lord but because we know on some fundamental level that if we follow a new path we enter new territory and leave behind the life we knew and become something new ourselves. And if movies and plays and novels are meant to teach us anything – they teach us, at least on the most basic level, that our choices and actions impact not only ourselves but others.

In life, it’s probably a good idea to choose the path of goodness; but when it comes to your fiction, let all hell break loose because we good people like something bad to watch.

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Hungry Characters

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Oh, my God we love food! We love chicken and sardines – and sushi and chocolate – pizza and tofu! But not necessarily in those combinations or in that order.

We write books about food, have special foods for holidays, exchange and talk about recipes, watch television shows about cooking and basting and roasting and eating a wide variety of plants and animals all below us in the food chain.

So, why all this talk about food? Because food is character.

Everybody on this tasty planet has a relationship with food and therefore every character in your story should have a relationship with food. Food forms part of the fabric of our day. Find out about the food your characters eat and how they eat and where they eat and why they eat and who they eat with because it opens up all kinds of insights into their social life, attitudes towards spending money, how they interact with other people, and who they choose to spend time with.

It makes your characters human.

But we don’t just hunger for food – we hunger for love and understanding – power and money – knowledge and happiness. Which means maybe instead of asking what your characters want to eat or want in life you should be asking what your characters hunger to eat and hunger for in life?

Want is weak. Hunger is strong.

Hunger comes from a deeply rooted need. Want is a preference – like gravy with your French fries – or ground pepper on your pasta. I want it but if I don’t get it – I’ll get something else. Macbeth doesn’t want power – he is hungry for power. Hunger drives us – it makes us take action – it makes us take risks – and consequences of our hunger going unsatisfied can be emotional devastation – the feeling of a life wasted – the regret of a lost love…or when our hungers are satisfied we might experience the joy of finding our one true love – if such a thing exists and so long as she lives in the neighbourhood and frequents the pub you go to with your friends for wings on Wednesday.

So, if you want your characters to be human, you need to find out what they hunger for in both food and life. Within the context of your story, as your characters take action to get the girl they want, defeat the bad guy, or come up with a cure for cancer, give them something to drink when the get thirsty – give the something to eat when they get hungry. If you want to know your characters better feed them and discover what they hunger for in life.

Bon Appétit!

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