The Vs. Studio Blog

“Years ago, on the phone with Bill Buford, then fiction editor of The New Yorker, enduring a series of painful edits, feeling a little insecure, I went fishing for a compliment: ‘But what do you like about the story?’ I whined. There was a long pause at the other end. And Bill said this: ‘Well, I read a line. And I like it…enough to read the next.” -George Saunders, book A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

As an artistic director of a theatre company, I often get asked some variation of this question: “What do you look for in a script?”

The short answer: “Make me want to keep turning pages.”

George Saunders recently published an excellent book entitled “A Swim In The Pond In The Rain” about what makes for compelling literature. Based on his class at Syracuse University, he dissects several classic Russian short stories and breaks down exactly why we want to keep reading them. I highly recommend it (h/t to my friend Ron for recommending it to me).

“Make it compelling” isn’t just for writing. It’s for all the arts. For example…

If you’re an actor, be so filled up that the audience has to keep watching.

If you’re a musician, make a song and album that’s unpredictable, that the audience has to keep listening to.

If you’re a director, craft a play or film that people are riveted to stay in their seats.

Especially now with so many distractions, so many things competing for our time and attention, whatever you’re trying to do, you must make it compelling for others. (Easier said that done, I know. But it’s still true.)

So how do you do that?

Well….Start with yourself. Be your own toughest critic. Be brutally honest. Are you compelled with your art throughout? If not, where and why? Don’t stop revising until you fully get there. (Saunders book will give lots of useful insight to help). If need be, engage a trusted friend or colleague who will also shoot you straight.

Chances are if you’re compelled, we’ll be too. (And if not, you can rest knowing that at least you compelled yourself.)

A special shout to two friends and artists, Sasha Hawkes and Amy Marcs, who’ve formed Gladiolus Media, “a female owned production company that focuses on true and personal stories.” They met in our Vs. Studio Solo Performing and Writing Workshop taught by Paul Stein. For the last year or so in these workshops, they and other artists have explored their personal stories, journeys and vulnerabilities and courageously shared them on our Tuesday Night Readings.

Desiring to go deeper and share these stories in a live setting, Sasha and Amy have produced “Iron Skirt Stories.”, three live evenings “that feature eight women sharing ten minutes of courageous, funny, brilliant and resilient true stories.” Not surprisingly all three evenings are sold out. But I have a feeling there will be more to come. Make sure to follow them on Instagram Here.

In the meantime, tonight is opening night. Woot! Woot! Let’s wish them well…

Break legs Sasha and Amy and Carole and Madelynn and Martha and Robin and Cara and Karen. We’re all super proud of you and are rooting for you big time!

“Let me tell you this, the older you do get the more rules they’re gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin’ man, L-I-V-I-N.” -Wooderson as played by Matthew McConaghey in Richard Linklater’s film, Dazed And Confused

Speaking of mantra’s, I think the Stoics would dig Wooderson’s “just keep livin’.” Like any great mantra, it says so much without saying so much.

How about this one?…

Just Keep Lovin’. L-O-V-I-N.

I think Aquinas would dig it, don’t you?

P.S. – This scene and this scene.

“The world is violent and mercurial–it will have its way with you. We are saved only by love–love for each other and the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share: being a parent; being a writer; being a painter; being a friend. We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love.” -Tennessee Williams

Sometimes a quote is so damn good that you should just step aside and not write anything else about it. Let it stand alone. That’s how I feel about the above one from Tenn.

What I will write is that the quote is from the book “Follies Of God”, a conversation with Tennesseee Williams and James Grissom.

And the quote was retold beautifully in the magnificent documentary “The Last Movie Stars” which is about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s careers and marriage. Directed by Ethan Hawke. I highly recommend it.

P.S. – This podcast episode.

Well, we all need someone we can lean on
And if you want it, you can lean on me. -“Let It Bleed” song by The Rolling Stones

Mantras are powerful antidotes to suffering and difficult times.

Think of AA’s “One Day At A Time.”

Or…

Abraham Lincoln, who suffered numerous tragedies, struggled with depression, and led our country through its darkest period, had this one: “This Too Shall Pass.”

Or…

My dad, who’s struggling with some fairly serious health issues at the moment (and will probably be pissed at me for writing about him), has this one: “We’ll Get Through It.”

No matter the events of the day, no matter the problem, no matter how bad the news or prognosis, all his life he always says it back to me. “We’ll Get Through It.” And he’s right. We will get through it.

The key word in this phrase?

“We’ll.”

No one does it alone. We all need someone we can lean on. Whether it’s family or friends, if you’re struggling with something right now, don’t be afraid to reach out.

Just want you to know…

You’ll Get Through It.

We’ll Get Through It.

“Among the maxims on Lord Naoshige’s wall there was this one: ‘Matters of great concern should be treated lightly.’ Master Ittei commented, ‘Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.” -Excerpt from Hakagure, The Book Of The Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Translated by William Scott Wilson

“Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” —St. Francis of Assisi.

“Act without doing;
Work without effort.
Think of the small as large
And the few as many.
Confront the difficult
While it is still easy;
Accomplish a great task
By a series of small acts.

The Master never reaches for the great;
Thus she achieves greatness.
When she runs into a difficulty, she stops and gives herself to it.
She doesn’t cling to her own comfort;
Thus problems are no problems for her.” -Verse 63 of The Teo Te Ching by Lao-Tzu, Translated by Stephen Mitchell

The greatest tool is your producer toolkit is the work plan. It reduces any production, no matter how ambitious, to a series of small, actionable steps with a set deadline. You can actually use this tool for any goal or most problems. Before fear and procrastination set in, get out a pen and paper (or spreadsheet) and start listing all the things you could and should do. Be very granular. Break tasks into micro tasks. Set realistic deadlines. And then do one, small thing.

You’ll feel great and have momentum on your side.

And then do it again.

And again.

And again.

Before you know it, you’ll be doing the “impossible.”

Oh, and if the thought of doing this is too much work, then you should ask yourself if the goal or problem is really that big or important after all.

“Character is fate.” -Heraclitus

“Man looks in the abyss, there’s nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.” -Lou Mannheim played by Hal Holbrook in the film, Wall Street

“We kept our rep, bro.” -Sue played by Alex Van Horn in the film, Swingers

Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Because I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) -“Who Are You?”, song by The Who

Reputation is what people say about you.

Character is who you really are.

So, who are you? Do you truly know?

“If the mind is disciplined, the heart turns quickly from fear to love.” -John Cage

“Stillness is what aims the archer’s arrow. It inspires new ideas. It sharpens perspective and illuminates connections. It slows the ball down so that we might hit it. It generates a vision, helps us resist the passions of the mob, makes space for gratitude and wonder.” -Ryan Holiday, book Stillness Is The Key

“All of humanity’s problems stem from a person’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” -Blaise Pascal

Stillness

leads to…

Loving Thoughts

which lead to…

Loving Actions

which lead to…

Peace.

An imperfect acronym to remember this would be “Stillap.”

Or for you visual learners (“Stillap! Hey Stillap!!)…

P.S. – This scene.

“A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” -Tim Ferriss

“I say this is how we must act. I do those things which seem correct to me today. I trust myself. And if security concerns me, I do that which today I think will make me secure. And every day I do that, when that day arrives that I need a reserve, (a) odds are that I have it, and (b) the true reserve that I have is the strength that I have of acting each day without fear. (Pause.) According to the dictates of my mind.” -Ricky Roma from David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross

“My whole life, people have been telling me what I could do and couldn’t do. I’ve always listed to ’em, believed in what they said. I don’t wanna do that anymore.” – Rudy, character played by Sean Astin, from the film Rudy

Rudy is one of my all-time favorite sports movies (that and Hoosiers and The Natural are in the pantheon). I’ve seen it well over twenty times. And that doesn’t include the partial views when I get sucked in to watch if it happens to be on cable. For those of you who don’t know the film, it’s based on the true life story of Rudy Ruettiger, a “too short, 5-foot nothing”, “too slow”, “too poor”, “not too bright”, “no business-being-here kid” who dreams to play football someday for the University Of Notre Dame. I won’t reveal anything more. If you haven’t already seen Rudy, please do so now. If you’ve already seen it, see it again. Either way, you’ll be glad you did.

I just recently watched it end to end again with my younger son Truman. (When he casually mentioned over ice cream that he “kinda forgot the plot”, we immediately rushed home and I put in the Blu-ray.) Like any of your favorite films, every re-watch brings a new insight and different perspective.

This time out I was struck by the sheer number of uncomfortable, one could say cringe-worthy, conversations Rudy engaged in towards achieving his goal. Sure he busted his ass and outworked everybody, but what also stands out is he had no problem asking for help and telling people his plans and dreams. All the time. At every turn. He would then spring into action with no reliable outcome in sight. He said and did the things most of us are unwilling to do.

And why is that? Why exactly are we unwilling?

Like most things in life, it boils down to fear. The fear of being judged. Mocked. Of looking stupid. Worrying what others might think about us.

If you want to overcome this fear, here are some things that might help….

One. Consistently remind yourself of your goal/vision and your “why”. If it’s truly important and meaningful enough to you, you’ll do what you need to. You’ll break through the discomfort to get to the other side.

Two. Realize that most people are too busy worrying about their own needs and wants and dreams to have time judging you. They’re focused on themselves. Not you. That’s just your ego and fear talking.

Three. If you have the courage to follow your passion, you also have the potential to lift up others around you. They directly benefit because of your creation (think of an entrepreneur who starts a great company or a producer who makes a great film or play) and also, you can inspire them to follow their passion. That’s kinda cool. right?

(Spolier Alert: Don’t read any further.)

In short, can you have a ton of uncomfortable conversations in support of what you want? If so, maybe, just maybe, this could be you…

First I read this blog post from Seth Godin.

Then a couple days later, I came across this NYT article about Jason M. Allen (headline: “An A.I.-Generated Picture Won an Art Prize. Artists Aren’t Happy”) who took first prize with a picture completely generated by A.I. (image above).

The last paragraph/quote from Mr. Allen is particularly alarming. (Or is it trolling?)

“This isn’t going to stop. Art is dead, dude. It’s over. A.I. won. Humans lost.”

How to fight back and win?

You don’t. You play a different game. Make art from your heart. Art for art’s sake.

When you do that…A.I. and anything else….can’t touch this.