You’re back for the third installment! If you’re enjoying this, please take a minute to subscribe at the right so you’ll be alerted whenever I post a new episode. (I’m so proud of myself for figuring out how to add that subscription form so please use it lol!)     And if […]

    Thank you everyone who showed up for Day 1. I edited there to say, and I’ll also say here, that I’m in the process of trying to get my daughter or somebody to figure out how I can add a subscribe button to this blog (if you’re MailChimp and WordPress savvy, hit me […]

  PLEASE NOTE: This play has undergone substantial revision since this rough draft process. If you’d like to read the current draft, please contact me or, for NPX members, click here. I seemingly have to say this because a reviewer saw fit to read this blog entry and use its information to help him supplement […]

. Well, it had to happen. For the first time, I didn’t earn more from playwriting and playwriting activities than I did the year before. This is in large part due to the 2018 production of ONCE IN MY LIFETIME: A Buffalo Football Fantasy, though even if I remove that, I’m about $300 shy of […]

. Much mythology surrounds the vagaries of this business and the paths to success. Some myths we’re told by others; just as many we tell ourselves. Overwhelmingly, they seem to be protective devices to explain away slow years—or even slow careers. Often they become ways to deny how much constant effort it can take—particularly for […]

. Coming up on October 1, I have made a full 100 submissions fewer than last year and even of those I’ve made, a whole slew of them were isolated cold queries about specific plays for specific reasons, i.e. not responses to general calls for plays. Without those targeted queries, I’m guessing I’m at about […]

Ever since the theater-sponsored workshop I belonged to disbanded in 2014, I have felt lost. I tried unsuccessfully to start groups in-person and online, created Playwrights Offering Free Feedback (#POFF), and made use of my own contacts to solicit feedback—but I missed the camaraderie of a group, as well as having a place where I […]

  People have asked my opinion on fees a lot over the years, so here it is, for better or worse, for agreeing or disagreeing.   Play submission fees are on the rise.   Worse–whether it’s the result of economy, copycatting, or emulating the film/fiction/poetry industries–they aren’t going away.   In the wake of my […]

    I am swamped right now but so vexed by this latest bit of what–duplicity? disingenuousness? BS?–that I have to post. My apologies that there won’t even be photos. In return, I’ll keep it short.   Organizers of ten-minute play festivals are using “growth” as an excuse to add a fee. This makes ZERO […]

  I don’t like submission fees. I’m not a complete fee purist, but I don’t think they’re best practice. I don’t like playwrights funding opportunities. I don’t like paying into what is likely to be a losing proposition. However, after curating and categorizing plays for a recent college festival, I’m starting to understand what I […]