Author, Theatre Artist, and Educator
Revision is hard. The deeper we dive in, sifting through sentence by sentence, the easier it is for our writerly lens to look at our creative work minutely through a magnifying glass. While details are important, every draft also needs us to look at it through the widest lens possible. A healthy panoramic view helps... Continue Reading →
Happy New Year, writers! This post comes to you from the snowy grounds of Ragdale, where I have the good fortune to be one of twelve artists-in-residence for the month of January. I had grand plans to write a blog post a week while I was here, but the first two weeks of my stay... Continue Reading →
I recently had an amazing time visiting Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens with my Philadelphia Young Playwrights Ed Staff, where we were inspired by the work and process of creator Isaiah Zagar. On our guided tour (which I highly recommend), we learned that when Zagar creates his mural mosaics, he pulls tiles out of his bucket at... Continue Reading →
I used to think that having a mission and vision meant that my purpose would plant me into the ground like a tree, and that my career would branch off from that one central root. On the contrary, I’ve come to learn that my mission and vision are more like Jack’s magic beans. Instead of... Continue Reading →
With the revision deadline for my young adult novel in the not-so-distant future, I spent last week wresting with a chapter of my book that needed major restructuring. In the midst of already having my work cut out for me, I found myself fed-up with my ‘First Draft Self’ because she had made some choices... Continue Reading →
When I saw the challenge this week on Making Learning Connected was hacking your writing, I knew that it was the week I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and into the realm of glorious bumbling. Despite the growing popularity of the term "life hack,” which is quickly widening the idea of... Continue Reading →
On the Making Learning Connected hangout tonight, the conversation about hacking games, as well as Kim Douillard’s story about an amazing Monopoly remix, reminded me of one of the oldest improv games I know. I’m sure it goes by many different names, but I learned it as The Status Game. Thanks to the structure provided... Continue Reading →
Thanks to the great fun and greater conversation going on at Making Learning Connected, this week I’ve had memes on the brain. Ever since I made my first-ever memes to compliment my last post, I’ve been convinced there’s a writing game in there somewhere. Well, I’m excited to say that I’ve come up with not... Continue Reading →
As I mentioned in my last post, I had the absolute pleasure and honor of directing a play by an amazing young playwright for the How I Learned to Write Festival, a program created by Philadelphia Young Playwrights. During the weeklong process, I can only hope this talented young writer learned as much from me... Continue Reading →
Fresh off an amazing week of new play development for the How I Learned to Write Festival with Philadelphia Young Playwrights, I’ve been thinking a lot about the creative process and the creative mindset. So when I signed up today for the Making Learning Connected project and saw the first Make Cycle had a “How... Continue Reading →
Mae Early 