No Heavy Lifting

By Scott Dodgson
I have had couple questions about my blog. Is it an excerpt from a book? Did the events actually happen? The answers are no and yes. I write a couple thousand words of prose every day. Also, I work on my screenplays and plays. At this time not including the blog Sailor on Horseback which I produce about four a week, I’m finishing a screenplay “The Chinese Box” for a German production company and a play “Homeless in America” for a New York Theater Producer. I am about to take on a MOW, movie of the week script for a client. In two weeks I’ll be revising a screenplay I wrote last month “Actor Adictus” for production. To steal a quote from JJ Abrams “The good news is I write fast. The bad news is I write fast.”


Another question is am I afraid I will burn out? No. Writing requires no heavy lifting, sanding, shoveling, although some readers may perceive that is all I’m doing (Ex-wives fall into this category), knuckle knocking or walking long distances. It does require a thick skin. I reference the film industry for skin thickening as your critics are the most likely the least talented and most powerful.

How can I move between different forms so easily? The answer is I didn’t fall asleep in English class. The first choice to make is about structure. What structure will best suit the story? Screenplays have taught me a lot about structure. I have a defined number of pages, 120 max. I usually have a budget in mind. I also have an idea of the market I want to sell. Once I have decided what seems the best for the story I have in mind I let the characters tell the story and generally they get it right without much interference from me. Plays are a little different. Plays are dialogue driven. I interviewed Edward Albee a long time ago while we were walking around an art gallery. He would look at a painting and ask me what I thought. I didn’t know anything about art, so my answers were short. “I like this one.” “That’s okay.” He would frown or shake his head no. I felt as though the hour we spent together as a one act play between a bitchy master and naïve student. When we were about to part ways I said, “You know I get looking at art as this referential experience to life and beauty, but self indulgent crap leaves me cold.” He smiled broadly. He leaned in close and said, “It’s a great subject for a play.” One feeling, one point of view of a moment in time, one play waiting to be written, Mr. Albee showed me how to think about playwriting.

Where does the story telling come from? Family and in particular my Uncle Willard could start a story Friday evening and keep you mesmerized until Sunday afternoon. He had all the prerequisites, rich history of experience and an innate pace of revelation. I include the long hours of listening to Louis Malle, James Dickey and other men of less repute who could spin a yarn over beer and cigarettes.

So that’s writing for me.