Patch the Fence
Storytelling stuff worth sharing
One of my current favorite YouTube mood lifters is these “Hear for the first time” videos where professional musicians listen to a song they have never heard before, and then—right in the moment, no time to prepare—play along with the track.
Watching/listening to a jazz drummer take on Metallica entirely on instinct, or—in the case of this week’s salutation cookie—a New Orleans pianist riff on Green Day… the joy and skill and musicality that erupt are equally jaw-dropping and inspiring.
Click on “Hello friends” when you’ve got a spare ten minutes. You will be gleefully transported.
(And here’s a follow-up cookie, just as if not even more delightful!)
Storytelling Tip o’ the Week
In the vein of musicians giving themselves over to an unrehearsed take on a new song, here’s the tip I put into practice while writing this very newsletter.
You may recall I offered the “7-minute timed writing” tip a couple weeks back. This is another version of that. Ready? Here goes.
JUST WRITE.
Don’t stare at the screen or the paper. Don’t wait for the right words before you write.
JUST WRITE.
Write something. Write anything. But don’t wait. Just like the musician, when the track starts, you’ve gotta play something. Trust your instincts. Trust the story inside you.
JUST WRITE.
With today’s newsletter, I was stuck on the tip! Between storm recovery and directing a show and keeping up with clients, I was behind on preparing my thoughts for today.
So first I avoided. I worked on the calendar. The podcast. The quote. Came back to the tip… big fat hunk o’ nuthin’.
I refilled my water, came back, sat down, stared for a few seconds, then shook my head and said, “Jason, geez, what do you say to students who ask you about this very situation? JUST WRITE.”
So I did. Thank goodness for the power of “delete” because my first draft went something like…
What’s my tip today? In class I’ve always got tips. Well, those are provoked by questions. But now, when I need one, where are they? So annoying. When will this scab on the base of my palm heal? It’s been like three weeks and it’s right on the spot where my hand rests on the desk while I’m typing. The dogs are barking, there must be a walker outside. But at least they can go in the back yard again. Fixing that fence on Monday with Dad was the right call, even though we’re still waiting on insurance. The fence. THE FENCE!
And that’s when the idea hit. See, Milton caused our big, beautiful oak in the backyard to tumble down. It took out a healthy chunk of the six-foot-tall fencing that embraces our yard. And that fence is what allows our dogs to run around free, pee where they want, lay in the sun, all without us having to leash or worry about them. It also enables privacy while we relax in the pool or lanai. Life hasn’t been right without the dang fence. And insurance is taking a while. And every fence company I’ve contacted has a four-to-eight-week backlog due to how many fences in this area got pummelled.
Over the weekend, I realized I was done waiting. It was time to JUST WRITE.
I texted my dad. I ran to Lowe’s first thing Monday morning and grabbed three eight-foot sections of six-foot wooden fencing. I roped them to the top of my Outback.
Dad came over. We did our best. The lengths aren’t quite right. The new fencing doesn’t match the look or design of the old fencing. We overlapped pieces in weird ways and I had to run to Ace real quick to grab some longer screws. It’s the cheapest, kookiest DIY job you ever did see.
But, a couple hours later, huzzah and hallelujah, the gap was gone. The fence was complete. When the professionals come in several weeks, they’ll have a good laugh at my expense.
But I can let my dogs out, and our neighbors surely feel the same relief we do about not having unobstructed views into each others’ yards.
Just write. Action begets action. Patch the fence now and make it pretty later.
Calendar of Events
A quick recap of the four cool events I mentioned last week. If you want to remind yourself of the full details of those events, just click the purple button below!
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1: Marvelous Memoir - Live!
Hey! That’s today!
Ibis Books author Estrella Engelhardt performs her new original memoir piece at the Bowne’s Lab on the campus of Florida Studio Theatre at 7:30pm tonight. Five bucks at the door.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6: Last Out—Elegy of a Green Beret
The premiere of the new production of LAST OUT—directed by yours truly—goes up next week at Stageworks Theatre in Tampa at 7pm.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9: Bookstore1 Local Author Book Fair
Meet and support 18 local authors in the breezeway of 117 S. Pineapple from 9am to 1pm, including three authors from Ibis Books!
Carrie Seidman — A PLACE AT THE TABLE: Memories of a Life Well-Fed
Dan Landon — FROM THE BACK OF THE HOUSE: Memoir of a Broadway Theatre Manager
Maria Schaedler-Luera — BE THE PROTAGONIST: How Ayurveda, Meditation, and Theatre Can Transform Your Life
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14: first class meeting for Playwright’s Playground
My playwriting class at ACE (Adult & Community Enrichment) on the campus of Suncoast Technical College runs 1-3pm on Thursdays for six weeks, through December 19, with Thanksgiving Day off.
Quotable
To go along with the fence tip above…
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” —Robert Frost
The surprise is especially potent to me here today. Just keep writing. Even when you get lost. Especially when you get lost. The surprises will show you trails and by-ways you never would’ve otherwise found.
Write your way back to what you’re trying to say.
The Podcast
The next episode of the Page and Stage Podcast drops on Monday. Watch for this cover art in your Monday inbox!
My guest is professor, author, playwright, and screenwriter Jeffrey Couchman, and we dig deep into the process of adaptation: transforming (or translating, or transplanting!) stories from one format into another. Jeffrey talks about how he can turn a silent film like Battleship Potemkin into a dialogue-rich musical, or historical events into plays, or short stories into a stage play that he then turns into a radio show. Our lively discussion explores how adaptation is not just about transferring content but about reimagining form.
Thanks as always for reading, and have a great weekend!
Jason “Fence Patcher” Cannon