It's quite something.
I feel very lucky that I got to be one of the writing mentors on
this endeavour. Over the last number of months we’ve been meeting for long
sessions on Saturdays, looking at the mechanics and the art of writing for
theatre and then doing quite a bit of writing for theatre too. It’s been an
absolute blast and the five young people are, without exception, some of the most
committed, imaginative, and talented people I’ve met.
So this evening should be a bit special. The five writers
will see their new plays performed in rehearsed reading, with full tech support,
before a lovely audience. Hopefully, some of the seeds of encouragement that will
have been planted by this process will germinate into a continuing writing habit
for at least some (if not all) of the participants. And we all know where that
can lead.
Because, in my small opinion, a little encouragement can be
the difference between being a continuing writer and not. It’s an often-lonely
endeavour, with nobody to lean on but yourself. If somebody comes forward at
some point, and leans over your shoulder, and says, “Hey, that’s pretty good,”
well, that can sometimes count for a lot. More than you might imagine.
In my own case, and I know I’ve written about it before
somewhere in these pages, I received writing encouragement from my English
teacher Patricia O’Higgins. She would slip me the more challenging books to read
and talk to me in terms of my ‘writing’ before I ever even considered I had any
writing in me. She started me thinking that maybe I could scribble something along
the way.
These seeds sometimes take time, though, to germinate. Through my early twenties, I did some writing but never showed anything to anybody. I wrote sketches and little comedy routines and I kept a diary of my time bussing my way around Australia. In the reading room of Melbourne Library, I wrote my first full length screenplay in longhand. I was writing but, in another sense, I wasn’t.
Then IRDP and LBC held a ten-minute play writing competition in London, not
unlike what this evening’s cohort have been working on. I was newly-returned from the world trip, unexpectedly unemployed, and a little adrift. I entered and I was
one of the winners. As a result, I spent a magical, unforgettable, Saturday in a studio with professional
actors and a wonderful director, who teased out my fledgling script and made it
into something. That was me. Done. From that moment on I was sold. I wanted to write,
not just for myself, but for people. I wanted my little plays to be seen and
heard. And I went off and managed to do that. I’ll never be rich, I’ll never be
famous but, in my own small way, I am a writer and that brings me joy and some
peace.
And this process, the dealing with these wonderful young
writers and showing them the bits and pieces I have picked up along that way, it’s
a mutual-beneficial process. At least, I hope it is. I know for sure that it
benefits me. To tell somebody these things that you know, these things that you
believe to be important, it’s like telling them to yourself all over again. It’s
like reciting a sort of a Creed. And doing that reinforces for me what is
important in my writing and what is not. It refreshes the techniques and the
technicalities and makes them relevant and new again. More importantly, much more
importantly, it refreshes the creative corner of the mind. To see the young
people conceive and develop their writing, unencumbered with fear or trepidation,
it can’t help but rejuvenate your own process and send you back to your desk
with brighter and better ideas.
It’s the old, old story. Whenever you do something a bit
good for someone, you also do something a bit good for yourself. The benefits
of committing a little time and energy come back to you twofold, if not in
time then certainly in energy.
So I’m looking forward to this evening. There’ll be a little
edge in the air, as there always is with theatre. I wish the participants a
good experience and I hope there is encouragement in it for them.
I’ve got mine already but, who knows, maybe tonight I’ll get
a little bit more.