On Writing and Dancing

Tonight I've been working on choreography for a children's production of BUGSY MALONE. While it is frustrating to have to exchange my playwright's hat for my dancing shoes, I often find it productive to flex a different creative muscle. Interviewed on the very cool "Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast" blog, children's author/screenwriter/playwright Brent Hartinger noted the value of playwriting for the novelist in terms of understanding dramatic structure, etc. I think the reverse is also true. In drafting novels I began to find my true ear for dialogue and to more deeply understand the importance of words that SHOW and don't simply TELL. Beyond this notion I'd even dare to suggest that musical theatre choreography--relating movement to music, words and story--informs the cadences of my literary dramatic works. So, I put forth that all creative efforts add spice to the literary pot even if they sometimes force one to be a writer on the side!

My blog begins! It is Monday night. In three short days my plays will receive their first professional staged reading. I have made quite an effort getting the word out to friends and colleagues and perhaps this is what finally motivated me to create the oft-considered blog, Writer on the Side. It's a blog for people who write--plays, poems, stories--in the stolen moments between earning money, driving kids' carpools, and generally managing a busy life. What drives us to the keyboard when others go to sleep or reach for the remote? Why do we dare to dream of publication and production? If you've made it happen, or if you're still just dreaming, share your stories of writing on-the-side.