Chekhov Kegstand and the Path of Least Resistance
The last few months have been a bit crazy and as a result, I’ve been a bit of a bum when it comes to posting new material. I have decided that postinganything at all is better than radio silence, so for the rest of the year expect me to be short but prolific :).
Currently, a play that I wrote in college and re-wrote early this year is being produced in Chicago. It’s called Chekhov Kegstand and I could not be more proud of it. Dusting off some old writing or ripping it off of the old hard drive can be a major learning experience. There’s something about looking at the person you used to be staring up at you from the page. If you give yourself enough time to ruminate about it and a major goal (like…having to get the play ready to be produced) this cannot help but yield some major motivation.
The week that I had to re-write the play there were a ton of things on my plate. I had to work on a website for my carnatic saxophonist friend (more on him later), a ton of freelance articles to catch up on, and my taxes were looming over my head like an orange and black storm cloud. I put it all off for the entire week. I knew that the more focus I put into the play the better it would turn out. I happily went down the path of least resistance.
Inspiration is not automatic for most people. If you find yourself caught up in a wave of inspiration, sometimes you just have to drop everything and run with it. Sure, this can cause laundry to pile up and you may have to work a bit of overtime to catch up on it all, but the amount of creative force you will be able to place in your writing/acting/directing/whatever will be worth it.
There is one performance left of Chekhov Kegstand (on Monday, April 26th, 2010 at 7:30 PM) and I’d love for any Chicago folk to come check it out. It’s at the Gorilla Tango Theatre (1919 N. Milwaukee Ave.) and tickets are $12. It’s funny, lewd, and a bit ridiculous, but it’s my baby, so I love it :). To those of you that have missed me, worry not. I’m back and with a writing vengeance! Happy writing :).
Done with Chekhov Kegstand?
Go back to Motivation Techniques.
Written by Bryan Cohen
Bryan Cohen is the author of more than 30 books, many of which focus on creative writing and blasting through that pesky writer's block. His books have sold more than 20,000 copies. You can find him on Google+ and Facebook.
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