This issue is about successes and failures so I can’t help but be reminded that each day as a playwright, librettist and/or composer seems to bring us both.

The day we write, very well might be a day of being unproduced. When there’s a production you may be too busy to write. Since we are the generators of our own work as well as being the marketing department, artistic director and dramaturg, the work is many fold.

Bankers have good days without falling behind. Basketball players can win without any recourse. But the process of writing is unique. First of all, we have no back-up team, no understudies, no replacements. If we take a vacation, there is no one else to fill in.

Singularity always brings to mind the image of the stereotypical “working mother.” Either she’s neglecting her children… or her job. Either way, it’s a losing proposition.

Thus it is for writers. The day we wear our marketing hat and send out twenty packets to various theatres is the same day we aren’t writing. The day we’re writing, we mean to send out some scripts but are so inspired by what we’re doing, we don’t get around to it.

As with life, the yin and yang is about staying in the middle. Appreciating what is good and bad about our craft and accepting the process as a whole. Some days may be unproductive, others sixteen hours long. Perhaps, like life, it’s best not to look at what’s under the microscope but instead look around the room for the big picture. After all, it’s not what you’ve accomplished that day that wins the race… it’s the entirety of your career.

fpiantadosi@dramatistsguild.com