Springfield College Writing Class

Aug 2006

Mrs. Smith.. Perry 5th grade.. “Whatever you do….”

I write plays & musicals. About 100 published. Newspaper column ..14 newspapers every week. Four books. TV commercials. Been Writing for 35 years. Took teaching job.. saw scripts, thought they were terrible. First play.. didn’t know where to find them. Wrote one. Published.

My specialty.. much like your writing assignment for this course.. the 10 minute scene.

I would rather write than anything I know. Nothing more satisfying. . Audience response is nice, but…….Private shouts of joy which only my computer can hear are far better. Journal.. every day since 1969. Many shouts of joy in it. Best way to become a playwright.. Sit in the audience and cringe. After a bit, you’ll learn to cringe at your keyboard and the bad stuff won’t make it onto the stage.

Rewriting: Sunday.. closed 8th season of Abraham. 82 performance. Still changing things.. this year we added a whole new song.. an 8 min scene without music.

I think the creative process is the most enjoyable experience in the world. More than once I’ve sat enjoying the Alps or the Louvre or St. Basil’s cathedral, thinking…I can’t wait to get back to the hotel to write about this.

I’ve nearly stopped speaking on how to write. My answers are often unsatisfying. Spoke to writers’ conference at U of I. Introduced me: I’d written over a hundred plays.. most produced author of school scripts in the US and my answer to “How do I write?” I don’t know. I pray and sweat and it comes.. Not satisfying for the PhD’s congregated there.

Undertaker Me: IC prayer.. next day, call. Write plays. This doesn’t make a good how-to seminar on how to write.

The idea is the hardest part. Writing is easy. The Idea is hard.

A gift from God.. pure and simple.

Chillocothe.. dead probably..

Publishing is a funny business. Iowa publishing company called: Banned in Indiana.. winning too many contests… Bob & I found the answer: Our answer… compiled into a play.

Being published is dangerous. A Sermon Diary.

But…I often use Improv as a jumping off point for a play. I teach Improv and get to see probably 300 scenes a year… I steal freely.

I find myself calling my father to get details of a story he told me years ago. _______ Walker. “Shall we gather at the river.”

I had to return to my family after 30 years to find out why I’m a writer. Recent family reunion… all telling stories of Perry 60 years ago. Storytellers. That’s why I believe we’re all writers. Some of you just haven’t begun yet.

Newspaper column… My own hate fan-club in Peoria… Militia members.. Don’t like my remarks about equality of the races. Springfield African-American lady.

Formed a publishing company. Now the largest supplier to schools in a few years.

It’s good to have a writing partner. Writing is a lonely life. Not sad. Not depressing.. just solitary. Never write together. He has the time and ambition to push my work and our work. Bob is a good promoter. I am a recluse. Bob enjoys public performances. I usually dread them.

Roger Ebert.

New writing venture… TV commercials.. An entire story in 27 seconds. Good practice for a playwright. Last week: septic tank company.. “Try to make it funny.”

I’ve always wanted to write full-time…to try it. I retired from teaching in the public school two months ago..now teach only a few college classes and I do write full-time. Interesting.. I’m still finding out whether I like this or not. I know I walk funny.

Sometimes I think I write too much. Newspaper interview this week. My new Lincoln play. I couldn’t remember.

Current projects: 4 right now. I need to work on more than one at once.

---Most recent project: Faith on Wry. Trying a new method of play writing…. short scenes that seem to have no connection, then they come together in Act II.

---New musical… Roger sent script.. awful. Tough to write around someone else’s work, but it’s good for me. ---A show for the U of I…bullying.

---A Vaudeville review…finished it this morning.. again.

Probably why you asked me here: How do you write a play? Actually…I’m not sure. I don’t think much about the process. A good description I once heard.. Put a loaded gun onstage at the opening of the play then don’t fire it.

---Know your audience… different writing styles for high school contest, and a tourist crowd at New Salem. ---Plays aren’t written as much as they are re-written. ---If your audience doesn’t care about your characters, the play won’t work. ---Some character has to change. That’s more important than action and more important than plot. A character must grow and change. Otherwise you’ve written a skit and not a play. ---Number one rule: Do not bore.

Questions?

Ken,

Let me first say, "Thank you!" for your generous agreement to sit in with my Adult Accelerated Fundamentals of Theatre Arts class on August 7. Class begins at 6:00 pm, but what with the students rushing from work, getting settled, taking attendance, and collecting assignments, you are welcome to come @ 6:15 or so.

And by the way, my last two guests were initially a little freaked about what they were going to say or do for that amount of time. Let me reassure you that if we're all sitting around staring mutely at each other, I will let you run away as quickly as your legs will take you!!! But, trust me, that won't happen. The students will have questions ready to ask you -- your only "requirement" is to show up and share some of your experiences with us.

Each of my previous guests and my students have said how much they enjoyed the experience when we did it before, (I honestly think the students were just glad NOT to have me yammering at them for a couple of hours).

The students are all working adults with a degree requirement to fulfill. So, although they have indicated an interest in theatre, this is truly an introduction to the "nuts and bolts" of the process. For them to have the opportunity to meet and exchange information with someone having your various skill sets and vast talent is truly a blessing.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with the SCI campus, but our class meets in Becker Library on the lower level in the Presidents Room. If you need more specific directions, I'll be glad to provide them.

Thank you, again. Let me know if I can give you any additional information or assistance.

~ Kerry

Good day, Ken --

This may seem like a "bass-ackwards" way of getting to SCI, but what with rush hour traffic, downtown street closings, and funky one-way streets, if you are entering into Springfield from I-72, I recommend you take this route:

EXIT 91 (WABASH AVE)
Turn LEFT onto IL-54 E. (WABASH AVE)
Turn LEFT onto IL-4 N. (VETERAN'S PKWY)
Go about 6-1/2 miles north on Veteran's to BROWNING ROAD. You will cross Bruns Lane and J. David Jones, and will see a brown "State Fair Entrances and Exits" sign on your right-hand side just before you get to BROWNING ROAD.
Turn RIGHT onto BROWNING ROAD. (The overhead street sign is on a bit of an angle.)
When you get to the T-intersection, turn RIGHT onto 5TH STREET and drive about 9/10th of a mile. (You will be driving past the Nelson Center and Lincoln Park.)
At the south end of Lincoln Park, just as 5th Street starts to go uphill, 5th Street turns into a one-way street south.
GET OVER TO YOUR LEFT. SCI IS IMMEDIATELY AT THE TOP OF THE RISE ON YOUR LEFT, (EAST SIDE OF THE STREET).
You will see an old mansion with a sign reading "BRINKERHOFF HOUSE" and another for "BENEDICTINE UNIVERSITY/SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE IN ILLINOIS".
Park on the street.
BECKER LIBRARY is located off the street in between the Brinkerhoff and Dawson Hall.
Go in the glass doors located on the WEST side of the building. Aim towards the identical doors across the small lobby.
Before you get to the far side, you will see ACCESS TO STAIRS to the lower level.
GO DOWNSTAIRS. We will be in ROOM L15, (aka THE PRESIDENT'S ROOM).

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