FROM THE DESK OF Gary Garrison
The Gift
I’m sending this message out to every writer I know, and by sending it to you, hopefully I’ll hear it myself.
You’ve been given a gift. You’re a Wordsmyth, a Word Warrior, the Brilliant Developer of the Dramatic Idea. You have the ability to create intricate, dimensional worlds and to people them with infinitely interesting, complex beings in such a way that folks here on this tiny planet will smile wide with recognition, burst at their seams with laughter or sink low in their seats from great sadness. You have the glorious ability to make whole groups of people THINK about their lives, their loves, their relationships, their histories, their politics and to take an action – a real action – because of something you question, say, show, demonstrate or illuminate.
That’s a pretty powerful notion, no?
So use it. Use it however you can. Of course we’d all like a big, ol’ shiny brand new production of one of our plays. And for some of us, that’s going to happen. But that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t be highly productive, creative, purposeful writers that leave a sizeable footprint everywhere we step.
I know it’s frustrating sometimes. I know you lose your direction, or passion, or purpose, or drive, or energy sometimes. I know time’s short, money’s tight and life’s hectic. I know the theatre community is fickle and unfair and unkind sometimes. And I know you can write for weeks/months/years with little to no recognition. But that’s the price you pay for being given a gift that few have and so many treasure.
Remember this: most people can’t do what you do. You have a gift. You are the Writer, the Brilliant Developer of the Dramatic Idea. In your mind are all the solutions to the problems I’m trying to solve in my life. Help me out. Write your stories. Show me the way.