Last year, I wrote about the fickle nature of streaming, and I’m reminded of that tonight as I’m in my living room watching Glass Onion when, really, I want to be watching the first Knives Out. However, it’s not available on Netflix for some reason. (A quick Google search tells me that Netflix owns the sequels, but not the original. Still. Annoying.)

I am exhausted today. I don’t know if it’s the stress of the week catching up with me or what, but I could barely get started and then I took a three-hour nap. To be fair, last night I had a blast because I went to see Babyface perform (10/10, would pay to see again).

Okay, that’s not fair. I did a lot this week, much of it good. But the one good thing I promised my friend I would write about is my experience doing Theater Camp for Writers.

A few months ago, my friend/colleague K told me about Theater Camp for Writers available through SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). Here’s the description in case it disappears from the website:

Have you ever wanted to see your scene come to life? Get ready to look at your writing in a whole new way…and have some fun in the process! No acting skills required. Theater Camp For Writers responds to the question: What do the disciplines of directing, acting, and improv have to teach us as writers? Sessions will include lecture, writing exercises, and most distinctly, scene work for your stories in progress, with volunteer actors from the group taking part in live readings (for our initial online meeting) and “play rehearsal” style staging (for our in-person workshop), all while individual authors watch, direct, and receive feedback on character, action, dialogue, voice, narration, pacing, and more. Get ready to look at your writing in a whole new way…and have some fun in the process! Part 1: Jan. 14, 6:30-8:30 PM on zoom. Part 2: Jan. 25, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM.

Part I was, indeed, on Zoom. The way it worked is that people submitted a scene and then the coordinator (Chris) turned them into scripts, which, for the first session, meant highlighting the dialogue and/or narration but also sometimes cutting things down or adding notes. Then, when we got to the Zoom other people in the group volunteered to be actors (aka read certain parts). It was a lot of fun, and everyone’s stories were so creative and amazing, and we all learned a lot, of course, by hearing other people read our stories out loud. The stories were a mix of picture books, middle grade, and YA.

Then, for part 2…the fires happened. So. We did not meet in person, but we did meet on Zoom again. This time we could submit a second scene if we wanted or rework the first scene again. I submitted a new scene and then Chris asked me “as an exercise” to rewrite it in first person. i told him later that this ruined my entire life because the first person version is so much better that now I need to rewrite my whole book to be in first person. Rude.

Part 2 had the added bonus of Andrea Loney who worked as a comedian and actress to give us some other tips for revision. One was to read your story out loud while standing up and/or walking around. Another, was to read a scene with the character doing something. Another was a rant the character would go on, etc. I think there were one or two more, but I can’t remember what they are.

So we did that. At the end, Chris told us that he still planned to come to LA and he would let us all know once he knew when he was coming and maybe perhaps if we found a space we could all meet up and do the live workshop but more as a meetup than as a class since, technically, we had finished the workshop. So he sent the email saying he was coming, asked people for spaces we might be able to meet, sent around the best/day time poll, etc. Then, huzzah! One of the women in the group had a space we could use at the school where she teaches.

On Tuesday (March 11), my friend/colleague K and I left at 3:15ish to make it to the workshop that started at 6. According to Google Maps, the trip could take anywhere from one hour to two and a half (the joys of driving in LA), so we wanted to try to beat rush hour as much as possible and also have time to grab food first. We drove down, not hitting that much traffic (bless up to being able to use HOV), so got down there around 4:45ish, found a hole in the wall spot to eat at, and the food was SO GOOD. Sooooo good. Fresh guac, excellent pinto beans, and rice, Just good all around. K got tacos and I got a steak plate and ????.

Then, it was time for the workshop. We had to be let in through some big iron gate and then were able to use what can only be described as a rec room space. (Also: the high school is in Orange County and is definitely fancy pants.) We set up, and I just have to say it’s always so fun seeing how people teach off of Zoom because Chris was clearly in his element as a drama teacher, He brought props (including puppets for one of the picture books) and rearranged the space, etc. (I keep using “etc,” which is lazy writing but it’s 11:17 p.m., so we just have to go with it.)

It was also fun seeing everyone in 3D because there was so much physicality. We talked a lot about what as characters we wanted to know about our body language or what we were seeing or how we occupied the space. And some people (like K) got really into their roles. K was a dog in more than one scene and FULLY committed, which kept cracking us up. One person’s story is about a middle school girl who is in drama club, so the woman playing that part dialed the drama WAY up. (She said the story was basically her life as a middle schooler, so she was just playing what she knew. As a mom of a theater kid, can confirm that she was spot on.)

Slice of Life is a writing challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers.

It was also interesting to see what difference the props made. In my scene, one of the characters is drinking and the first time we ran it, there weren’t any cups on the table, but the next time we did, the actor had a water bottle to sub as the wine bottle so kept pouring her wine and proceeded to act drunker.

Anyway, it was awesome, and I would 100% do it again. It also made me wish I did more with plays in my class. A colleague of mine used to have her students do scene work for the plays they read, and I observed her class once while they were doing it, and it was fascinating. I also used to have an assignment where students wrote and acted in their own one-act plays, and that was always a lot of fun.

Someone smartly asked if we could record our scenes so we could have the opportunity to watch them back. I haven’t watched mine back yet, but I’m sure it will be a hoot.

If you’re a writer and get a chance to participate in something similar, I highly recommend.