EXTRA CRITICUM

As I write, I feel the voices of friends' encouragement behind me.

Is it just me? When a friend tells me I'm onto something, I tend to push harder and faster on a given writing project. Or if I have a new play read aloud to a small audience of colleagues and the vibe in the room is positive, I leave renewed and chomping at the bit to get right back to it.

The other day I happened to tell my therapist about something i was working on and she encouraged me to go for it, even suggesting that she'd be excited to read what I produced.

And so, I'm on a bit of a tear.

Weekend at Rolo’s

When Roland Tec asked if I’d be interested in spending a weekend in CT with him and John Yearley, writing, I was onboard. I liked the idea from the start, but I also wasn’t sure what I’d work on. Though Roland had labeled it, “writing weekend” I was pretty sure he wouldn’t mind if I worked on my documentary, A Life’s Work. But something in me said, “Write.”

I was sitting at a diner in Westport, CT with Extra Criticum's estimable founder, Roland Tec. He was describing how, when he writes, he can get to feeling isolated. But if he can just see other people, even through a window, down several stories, he's fine.

I have been thinking a lot about community lately. I've been thinking that much of what ails me in my creative life stems from a lack of community. We created our own little community last weekend, Roland, David Licata, and I. We spent a writing weekend up at Roland's beautiful childhood home.

Thanks, John and David, for a productive weekend.

Just had a wonderfully productive writing weekend with two pals and EC contributors, John Yearley and David Licata. And this never would have happened were it not for John asking if it might be possible. I'm so glad he did. It's always the same with such things, isn't it? It's somehow not until you're in it, in the thick of it, that you remember just how important it is to your work.

Within minutes of our arriving at the house, I found myself a nice perch by the pool where I could sit in the warm late summer air and write a little, think a little, read a little, doze a little, rinse and repeat.

What I noticed immediately was surprising to me though it shouldn't have been.