Habits

I like white space.

As a playwright, I like dialogue to be short. To the point.

And I like for there to be space between the lines.

One of my first playwriting teachers noticed this about me. I forget what play were were talking about, but he commented on my use of the page.

He said that the formatting had as much to do with my story as the words did.

The white space was another piece of dialogue.

I nodded, not quite getting it, but also knowing that at some level I knew he was right.

The white space of the page has continued to be one of my "signatures", one of my "habits".

It is important to me.

But it also causes the play to run long on paper. And, let's be real, playwrights and producers and directors of plays aren't always rollin' in dough. And printing and copying costs way more than it should.

So it was interesting to be asked to see if any of the white space could, well, leave.

Not really leave.

Not fully leave.

But be checked.

And it was interesting for me to realize that I had become attached to the white space.

To my way of writing.

And it was interesting for me to realize that for a workshop, for a critical review of my work, the space would have to stay.

That playwriting teacher was right. The white space is another form of dialogue to me. Another character.

Another aspect of my play to be questioned.


--

Two weeks until the workshop.