I am only writing one show.
Not 'at a time'. Just now, and also forever (because forever is just made up of lots of now).
All the years I've been bemoaning the frustration of never getting through the whole process. "The show needs a workshop" I'd say, or a production, or a longer rehearsal time, or another production after a rewrite, or...
Something. The show has always needed a something-else in order for me to learn properly. In order for me to succeed.
But that's not true, see. Recently, instead of wishing and waiting for the something-else, I've been trying writing-in-the-now. So if it's a production for young people, and it has two weeks of rehearsals, and then it has three performances, that is what it is. And that is what we will aim for. And that is what it will be.
If there are suddenly no costumes, then it's a show without costumes. If we've had trouble finding a set, then it's a show set in front of whatever is behind it. Whatever happens is the right thing.
So today, just now, I saw Phelim McDermott's Facebook status, which just said 'ship'. In a comment, he expanded:
"Its all about shipping! There are no drafts.. just learn to ship! (Seth Godin)"
So I looked up Seth Godin, to see what this ship thing means, because I suddenly like the idea of there being no drafts. Because 'draft' implies that another draft is on the way, which implies that this draft is imperfect, which implies failure, which is crap.
Seth Godin has a blog.
On his blog, I read this:
"Genius is actually the eventual public recognition of dozens (or hundreds) of failed attempts at solving a problem. Sometimes we fail in public, often we fail in private, but people who are doing creative work are constantly failing."
It made me think, actually, if I'm writing in the now, no draft is a failure. No draft is a draft. Every step along the writing process, something happens: a friend looks it over, or we have a reading, or a workshop, and those are all valid occurrences in and off themselves.
They are also part of journey.
And with each show I write, I learn more about writing. And more about collaboration. And more about stories. And more, and more, and more.
Every show is the only show I am writing in the now, but every show owes something to every show before it, and I owe something to all the Jens who wrote those previous shows, and altogether we keep moving forwards: a big old ship ploughing through the waves.
So here I am, only writing one show, and it will keep developing and changing and growing, and I will keep sailing it forwards... because frankly, the momentum is such now that it would take many years to make it come to a complete stop, and even longer to turn it around.
The joy of this is: I'm not responsible for summoning up the power to create all that forward motion from nothing. It's there. I can't avoid it. It carries me forwards. I can affect it, I can be an active sailor, even the captain, but also a passenger on occasion.
But it's all one journey, isn't it?
I am only one person, I only exist here and now, and I am only writing one show.
(I still don't know what Seth Godin meant by 'ship'. Maybe Phelim will tell me...)
