My Favorite Dream: Writing With Love and Zest

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Theater is a Sport, back after spring break.  My name is Bobby Keniston, and this is my own little piece of the internet where I talk about whatever's on my mind in the realm of theater.

Recently, I've been re-reading a great deal of Ray Bradbury and watching old interviews with him on YouTube.  What stands out most about this prolific writer (who not only wrote novels and short stories, but many plays and screenplays as well) is his incredible zest for writing and for life, and how he constantly used one to fuel the other.  To him, writing was inspired play, and he kept the words "Don't Think" taped above his typewriter to remind himself the importance of trusting his intuition and subconscious.

For those who are not familiar with Ray Bradbury, he was the great mind behind such books as Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine, The Halloween Tree, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and over 300 published short stories.  He wrote a number of plays, one of my favorites being The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, and wrote the screenplay for John Huston's classic film adaptation of Moby Dick.

Here's the man himself, Mr. Ray Bradbury

I have been trying to write like Mr. Bradbury lately.  No, I don't mean by copying his style or his themes or plot ideas--- I mean, I have been trying to reconnect with the youthful sense of play in an attempt to write with zest again.

It's not always easy.  Writing can be difficult.  It's frustrating when the words won't come, when a sentence or a line of dialogue doesn't read the way you want it to, when you simply can't seem to communicate your thoughts, or when the tank seems completely empty, devoid of any ideas one could possibly care about.  

When this happens, one could do worse than to follow those two words of advice taped up on Mr. Bradbury's desk:  DON'T THINK.

While writing certainly flexes intellectual muscles, it is truly at its most rewarding when it is an emotionally engaging experience.  When the play or story you want to write comes flying out, and you laugh, love, and cry along with it.  If you have this investment, it is a safe bet that an audience may as well.  

When you're deep in the act of creation on a first draft, it is often beneficial to surf the tidal waves of inspiration and intuition, even if they seem dangerous.  Especially if they seem dangerous.  Too much thinking can kill a project before it has started to live.  Don't let that happen.  Remember, your brain is always there to switch back on for the act of rewriting.  

I can't tell you how many times I have to tell my mind to shut up (even now, writing this blog post, I've had to shush it more than once).  Every now and then, I close my eyes, take some deep breaths, and invite my characters to talk to me.  I visualize them, ask them questions.  They don't often steer me wrong.  Ray Bradbury once said that there is no need for writer's block, so long as you are willing to listen to your characters and your subconscious mind.  The more I read his work, the more I believe he is right.

So each day, for a few weeks now, I approach my notebook or computer, not with a sense of worry about what may come out today, but with a joyful anticipation of what I am going to create.  I am recapturing the "play" in "playwright".  

And I thank you, Ray Bradbury, for the inspiration.  

REMEMBER:  WHEN IN DOUBT, JUST STOP THINKING!  Breath, relax, and tell the story that needs to be told.

To learn more about my plays, CLICK HERE,  OR HERE, OR HERE, OR FINALLY HERE.

I've started a new blog!  I am writing a story a day for a year!  Each story will be between 100-250 words!  If you would like to read and follow, you can do so by CLICKING HERE.  

The Absolute BEST Advice For Anyone Pursuing a Life in the Theater: or, Why I Do What I Do



Take a Look into One of These

 Hello everyone and welcome to Theater is a Sport.  My name is Bobby Keniston.  I am a published playwright, and actor, director, and a part-time theater teacher.  I do what I do because I love what I do. 

But that's not the only reason.

No, I do what I do not only because I love it, but because it is what I am wired to do.  I am wired to either be onstage or writing works that are meant to be performed on stage.  Even my teaching is an off-shoot of this, and not the other way around. 

In a way, I sometimes feel like I don't have a choice.  I do, of course, I am consciously aware that I could start a new direction tomorrow, perhaps become an accountant, or at least find a steady job with good benefits, a retirement plan, all of that good stuff that I do not have, and somehow feel I should (at least if I want to be considered an adult). 

But then again--- what's so great about being an adult?

I digress.  Tonight, I am going to give the best advice possible for any young person looking to pursue a life in theater, whether it be as a performer or as a writer.  Are you ready?  I assure you, this is honestly the best advice I can give you.  It is also the same advice I would give most people looking to become a professional athlete... the same applies. 

Ready?

Here it is:

If you can imagine yourself, even slightly imagine yourself being happy pursuing another occupation, a safter one, then I highly recommend you pursue that other occupation. 

There it is.  The best advice, I promise.

This is not meant to discourage anyone from pursuing a life in the arts.  Far from it.  I would never discourage anyone from taking the path that feels right to them. 

In all honesty, though, it is important to take a look in the mirror, if you will, take stock of everything that is inside of you, and decide--- is this what would make me happiest?  Can I picture myself being just as happy in another line of work? 

If you can, do that other thing.  Please.  No, I'm not trying to limit my future competition, I'm just trying to help. 

While you are looking in that mirror, it might behoove you to try another exercise:  look at yourself, and pretend to be other people, voices of doubt.   "You don't really think you can make a go of this, do you?"   "There's, like, 99% unemployment for actors!"  "You're not good enough"   "You've got to be better"

Does this fill you with feelings of doubt?  Or, does this fill you with a certain drive to prove yourself?

Are you a thick-skinned person?  Do you deal well with rejection?  These are all things to look at. 

Actors and writers get rejected a lot.  Also, students in a theater program at respectable college are most likely going to have situations with a professor that make them feel worthless or, at the very least, not good enough.  It's just how it is.  Thos who never have that experience are the truly lucky ones. 

So, you're looking in the mirror.  No doubt has set in.  Those comments are no big deal.  Rejection--- hey, it's a part of life, there are always other opportunities.  Sounds like you're in a good place to give it a go. 

For me, I have never felt a doubt.  Never.  I've known what I was supposed to do for most of my life.  And, yes, I say supposed to do, because I do believe it is what I am supposed to do.  I honestly feel that living a theatrical life is how I best serve the world.  Maybe that sounds silly, but it is how I feel.  Of all the doubts I've had in my life (and I've had many), this has never been one of them.

You will struggle, emotionally and financially.  That's just how it is. 

You will try and try, and probably not get much for it.  Again, that's just how it is.

But the moments when you push through will give you an unbelievable joy.  You will have to work for these moments, but they will come.  You will find that standards of success in the arts are very different than standards of success in say, oh, being a stock broker.  You need to love the process and not just the performance.  You need to fall in love with what you do all over again on practically a daily basis.  You will learn there are levels between being a star and being out of work.  You will get day jobs just to support pursuing your art, and will have to learn not to complain about being tired or broke because of it. 

Because success is there.  It is possible.  I am not living a financially stable life from my playwriting, but I am leading a rewarding one, and, year by year, my career and royalty checks begin to grow.  It is a process that sometimes feels like one step forward and one step back, but you start stepping faster and farther. 

But before you can, you have to make sure this is the journey you want.  And if it isn't, that's okay. 

If it is, then you are like me--- a poor, damn fool who can't help yourself. 

After all, speaking for myself, I'm not good at much else. 

Thanks for reading Theater is a Sport today.  Tomorrow.... well, we'll just see, won't we?

Until then:  the mirror is your friend, always be honest with yourself, and remember that theater is not only a craft and an artform.  Theater is a sport.