Sometimes in order to make a piece of writing stronger you have to remove something. Whether that's a conversation between two characters, a whole scene, a whole narrative thread or maybe even a whole character. In today’s episode I unpack the common piece of writing advice to ‘kill your darlings’ and share some of the provocations and writing tasks that have helped me cut material from my latest draft.

I speak about:
- Stepping back and looking at your play as a whole rather than its individual parts.
- We often default to adding something to our draft to improve it, but subtraction is just as important.
- How to know when to add something and when to take something away.
- When not to kill your darlings.
- Why going for clarity in each moment of the script isn’t the same as being vanilla.
- Some prompts for cutting dialogue, cutting drama beats, cutting key events, cutting scenes, cutting narrative threads, cutting whole characters and cutting stage time.

I reference:
- Episode 28 ‘Character Development’
- Episode 38 ‘Stay With the Story’
- Mark Ravenhill’s series of tweets ‘101 Notes on Playwriting’

See Monument at Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre!
By Emily Sheehan and directed by Ella Caldwell
February 20 - March 10, 2024
Book now: https://www.redstitch.net/monument-2024

See Frame Narrative at The Old Fitz Theatre!
By Emily Sheehan and directed by Lucy Clements
March 8 - 30, 2024
Book now: https://www.oldfitztheatre.com.au/frame-narrative

Get one-on-one support for your writing by visiting www.emilysheehan.info/dramaturgy and say hi, ask a writing question or request a podcast topic on instagram @emilysheehan__.

What’s your play about? What questions is it trying to answer? What provocations does it make? After a period of intense focus on the big ideas of the play, it can be helpful to switch focus and 'stay with the story'.

In today's episode I speak about:
- Writing from your authentic voice. The place where you are the most honest, most lyrical, most creative.

- The difference between what your play is about, and what it’s really about.

- Developing the story versus developing the ideas.

- The dance between complex ideas in a simple story, and simple ideas within a complex story.

- Looking at feedback through a story lens.

- Looking at your outline through a story lens.

- Using note cards to physicalise your story spine.

- Why I always print out the material I’m working on.

I reference:
Episode 22 'Writing a Draft Zero’
‘36 Assumptions About Writing Plays’ by José Rivera

Get one-on-one support for your writing by visiting www.emilysheehan.info/dramaturgy  

Say hi, ask a writing question or request a podcast topic on instagram @emilysheehan__

A seductive psychological defence is that we will one day feel ready. Ready to start a draft. Ready to tackle these rewrites. Ready to send the script to a friend to read. But feelings of readiness don’t always arrive…

Today I share my thoughts on whether we need to feel ready before we take the next step in a creative project. And some strategies and tools to try out if we don’t feel ready. I speak about:

- Readiness is an emotion and emotions are fickle.

- How to focus on what you can control: where you place your attention and the action you take.

- Discovering a supportive writing routine and setting up writing sessions.

- Getting curious about the pace your project wants to move at. Does it want to go slow? Or does it want to bolt? Are you getting in the way of that pace?

- A travel story about the opulent dinner parties thrown by Salvador Dalí and his wife and muse, Gala. Hint: if you’re given a bottle of champagne, it’s only good on your shelf for a year. So don’t save it. Drink it!

I reference:
Episode 14 Episode Creative Resets Between Projects
Episode 15 'The Artist's Way' Weeks 1-4
Episode 16 'The Artist's Way' Weeks 5-8
Episode 17 'The Artist's Way' Weeks 9-12
Episode 25 Writing Habits to Overcome Procrastination
‘Dali: Les Diners De Gala’ by Salvador Dali.

Get one-on-one support for your writing by visiting www.emilysheehan.info/dramaturgy

Say hi, ask a writing question or request a podcast topic on instagram @emilysheehan__

It’s time to reacquaint ourselves with rest. Rest and recovery are as much a part of the creative process as phases of enormous artistic output. And we can validate our ambition to create our best work and chase our dreams, at the same time we talk about wellbeing and meeting our needs as artists. ‘Pushing through’ when we’ve hit our limit is rampant in the arts industry. This podcast is an invitation. I want to release you from the myth that those who are experiencing the most artistic success and the most artistic fulfilment are the ones who are pushing the hardest.

In this episode I speak about:
- The myth that those who are successful are pushing the hardest.
- Rest’s relationship with capitalism.
- My honest opinion on our obsession with ‘pushing through’ in the arts industry.
- How we can find rest within a broken system.
- The difference between high quality rest activities and unhelpful numbing techniques.
- My strategies for setting up small ways to rest, extended ways to rest, and making space for mindful distraction techniques during the week’s schedule.

References:
'Rest is Resistance' by Tricia Hersey

If you’re enjoying the podcast, please leave me a rating or a review. It’s a really friendly way to show your support.

To learn more about my work, visit my website, connect with me on Instagram @emilysheehan__ or send me an email at [email protected].

As part of the publicity for Monument at Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre, I’ve done a number of radio interviews. This episode is a compilation of three of my favourite radio conversations.

So much about theatre and live performance is ephemeral, so including these in my podcast feed is a way to archive interesting conversations about the play. And even though art and writing can and should speak for itself and stand alone, I also really believe that artists should be part of the conversation about their work.

Listen to these interviews in full and check out other conversations with interesting artists by following:
Steff Kechaya on Arts Weekly on 3MBS Melbourne
Yvette Kean on She Bop on 3CR Radio
Richard Watts on SmartArts on Triple R

Read the play!
Monument by Emily Sheehan
Buy online at Readings
Buy online at Booktopia
Buy online at Currency Press

Today I'm joined by Artistic Director of Red Stitch Actors' Theatre, Ella Caldwell, to talk about the rehearsal room for my play Monument.

We speak about:
- Finding the right artistic team to build out the world of the play.
- Bringing different perspectives into the development room.
- The rehearsal process and the role of a director and playwright.
- New discoveries in the rehearsal room and going all the way with a choice to reveal the next layer.
- Being brave enough to expose your work early and when to open up the rehearsal room to outside eyes.
- The themes of Monument (politics and beauty culture) and our personal relationship to makeup.
- The challenges of working with a closed time closed place play.
- Engaging subject matter experts at different points of the artistic process.
- Working with a makeup consultant in the rehearsal room.

Come see the show!
Monument by Emily Sheehan
Directed by Ella Caldwell
At Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre
9 August - 3 September, 2023
Book now

Read the script!
Monument by Emily Sheehan
Published by Currency Press
Buy here

Monument by Emily Sheehan
Directed by Ella Caldwell
Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre
9 August - 3 September, 2023
Book now: www.redstitch.net/monument-2023

Next Episode
If you have questions about the rehearsal room or working with a director that you want Ella or myself to speak about, DM me on Instagram @emilysheehan__ and that will give Ella and I some ideas for our podcast chat later this month.

Playwriting Workshop 
September 5 - November 7
Details here: bit.ly/banyule-playwriting

I’ve been intrigued by the concept of ‘slow looking’ from my visits to galleries in my travels. Slow looking is an approach to visiting a gallery that encourages spending more time with a few selected artworks, rather than rushing through to try and see everything.

In today’s episode I’m sharing some thoughts on slow looking, how it’s extended to my experience watching theatre, and how I’ve been using it as an entry point for writing scenes.

References
'A guide to slow looking' on the Tate website

To learn more about my work, visit my website or connect with me on Instagram @emilysheehan__. If you’re interested in working with me as your dramaturg then send me an email at [email protected].

In today’s episode I share one of my favourite pieces of writing about playwriting. José Rivera’s ‘36 Assumptions About Writing Plays’, originally published in the American Theatre Magazine. It’s a beautiful list of provocations about playwriting craft which I have found enormously helpful and returned to again and again.

References

‘36 Assumptions About Writing Plays’ by José Rivera

To learn more about my work, visit my website or connect with me on Instagram @emilysheehan__. If you’re interested in working with me as your dramaturg then send me an email at [email protected].

Today I talk about staying consistent in our writing practice even when life gets busy. I've been feeling motivated and inspired, but despite my best intentions, life has been intruding on my writing time. This has made for some rushed and unsatisfying writing sessions this month.

So today I'm sharing what has been helpful creative process wise when it comes to writing when life gets in the way. Because I hope that my artistic self can still feel welcome in all seasons of life, even if the conditions are less than ideal. 

I cover:
- Physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. 
- When to rest and when to persevere.
- Asking 'Do I know what the next step is?' Followed by, 'Do I have everything I need to take the next step.'
- Writing in less than favourable conditions. 
- Why taking smaller steps more often is more supportive than finding days for enormous progress.
- Finding smaller pockets of time to create in.
- Journaling on life's big themes when they're present in our life. 
- The inhale and exhale of a writing life.
- Sarah Ruhl’s wonderful words on why writing is more about life than it is about writing, and so life by definition is not an intrusion.
- And finding what you can drop and where you can lower your standards, because there is magic in C-grade work.

References 
'100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write' by Sarah Ruhl 
Episode 10: Creative Pace, Timing and Patience

To learn more about my work, visit my website or connect with me on Instagram @emilysheehan__. 

If you’re interested in working with me as your dramaturg then send me an email at [email protected].