Sometimes my job requires me to be creative. It's a necessity more than the usual sudden urge to create. Normally pressure doesn't bother me, but with writing it's different. I can write a one-act play in a day - at least the first draft. If I have an idea that inspires me, the words just pour out, and I write until I am done. Writing under pressure is a lot harder.
I've struggled with writers' block for months on end. Years if you count the long time during college and before I had kids when I just did not allow myself to write. To know that you have a deadline on your creativity can be stressful and disappointing. I often feel worried that I'm out of ideas and have nothing left to say. I don't think that will ever actually happen, but at the time it's easy to feel like a failure.
Of course that stress can also lead to the creation of something great. I've found that the moment I stop worrying and trying to write is the moment that the ideas come. Relaxation is much more productive than stress and worry. A perfect example of this happened two years ago.
I was not doing my usual production of
A Christmas Carol at the opera house, so I decided to add in another show for my middle school students. It was going to be a very short rehearsal period because our fall production goes up in mid-November. At the time, I had enough budget to cover the scripts and performance rights for one show all year. I paid for my fall show and wrote my spring show. Adding a Christmas show would mean another script that needed to be written. I thought I could manage. I had the spring show done and ready to go, so why not write another one?
Writing a Christmas play was a lot harder than I thought it would be. How do you write something that involves such a universal theme without being too much like the classic Christmas stories? How could they not heavily influence the script? How do I make my writing style fit into a Christmas theme?
I had so many questions, and I was stuck for months. By October I was concerned. My boss was excited about a Christmas show. The students were excited. I figured I could always just do
A Christmas Carol again.
That somewhat pitiful thought actually ended up being quite helpful. It helped me relax. I had an escape route in case my imagination failed me. It never had before, but there is a first time for everything. I started thinking about my students and how to fit them into Dickens' classic story.
Of course, the idea came to me first in the shower. That's where most of my writing ideas begin. It's just about the only place in my house where I can be alone to think. I've had people ask where my ideas come from, and I never know how to answer. They always just kind of happen. The plot line flows, and I have a definite beginning, middle, and end (usually). That's how
Greedy Greta Visits Christmas Town started. It popped into my head, ready to be written, a day or two after I'd given up on my creativity.
The show ended up being one of my favorites. I had a great cast. I took a chance and gave the lead to a 5th grader who hadn't acted before. She played Greta as terrible and mean as she is meant to be played. It was beautiful. I like this script because it incorporates different bits from the well-known holiday stories. It has some fantastical elements in it, which gives it my usual style, but it is still a Christmasy, feel-good sort of script. The audience loved it. My students loved it. People still bring it up two years later. I don't think I'll try writing another Christmas script. I feel like I could never out-do what I've already done.
Below is the second scene from
Greedy Greta Visits Christmas Town. This takes place just before she goes to Christmas Town, meets Santa, accidentally lets some goons kidnap Santa, and then has to make everything right.
Enjoy!
SCENE 2
The living room of GRETA's home.
GRETA, MRS. MOONTZ, and ARIEL sit around the room.
ARIEL
Mom, Greta stole my skirt! She's
wearing my skirt!
MRS. MOONTZ
Greta,
did you take Ariel's skirt?
GRETA
She
gave it to me.
ARIEL
No,
I didn't!
GRETA
I'm
not a liar!
MRS. MOONTZ
That's it! I can't stand listening to
you fight. Here, Ariel, go buy a new skirt.
GRETA
What
about me?
MRS. MOONTZ
Here
take it all.
GRETA
Thanks,
Mom.
ARIEL
Can
you drive me to the mall, Mom?
MRS. MOONTZ
I
guess so. Coming, Greta?
GRETA
No
way.
MRS. MOONTZ
Fine.
I'll take you both tomorrow.
ARIEL
But,
Mom, that's not fair!
MRS. MOONTZ
Not
now, Ariel. I'm tired.
She
exits.
ARIEL
It's
not fair.
She storms out. GRETA laughs. There's
a knock on the door.
GRETA
Mom!
There's someone at the door! Mom!
MRS. MOONTZ
(from offstage)
Mommy's
busy, dear! Ariel, get the door!
ARIEL
(from offstage)
No!
Make Greta do it!
GRETA
Fine! I have to do everything around
here. I'm coming. You can stop knocking!
She opens the door and MADELINE
enters. She is an elderly woman dressed in loud, sparkling clothes and a large
hat.
MADELINE
Oh, hello, dear child! My name is
Madeline Bunkwith, and I am afraid I am in terrible
trouble. My car has broken down, and I have no place to stay. I was traveling
through town, you see. I'm going to Santa's annual Christmas party. I'm afraid
I will be late now. The North Pole is so far away, you know.
GRETA
Okay,
crazy lady, you need to go now.
MADELINE
But,
I have no place to stay!
GRETA
Well,
you're not staying here.
MADELINE
You'd throw an old woman out into the
cold? It's snowing!
GRETA
Why
don't you just rent a car?
MADELINE
Good
idea! Can I use your phone?
GRETA
No.
Use your cell phone.
MADELINE
Cell
phone?
GRETA
Are you kidding? You don't know what a
cell phone is?
MADELINE
That doesn't matter. I don't have a
cell phone. Will you help me?
GRETA
Um,
no.
She pushes MADELINE out the door
and slams it shut. MADELINE bangs on the door.
GRETA
Go away! Mom! Some psycho lady won't go away! Mom?
MADELINE opens the door and walks
in.
MADELINE
Your mother can't hear you, Greta. She
and your sister have gone away for the moment.
GRETA
How
do you know my name?
MADELINE
I know a great deal. I know where your
family is. I know how to unlock doors. I also know that you are on Santa's
naughty list, and I have been brought here to help you see the error of your
ways.
GRETA
You're nuts. I'm calling the cops if
you don't get out of here. Mom! Mom! Get in here!
MADELINE
I told you she is not here. They are
safe, and you will see them again when you can better appreciate them.
GRETA
I
don't believe you.
MADELINE
Go and see. You won’t find them. Go on.
I can wait.
GRETA runs off stage. MADELINE looks around the room while she waits
and starts doing a little dance to pass the time. She hums Christmas carols
while she dances.
GRETA returns looking concerned.
GRETA
Where
are they?
MADELINE
What's this? Concern for others? Maybe
I'm at the wrong house.
GRETA
I only care because it's Ariel's night
to do the dishes, and I'm not going to get stuck doing them just because some
crazy lady thinks Santa Claus is mad at me.
MADELINE
He's disappointed, dear. Santa doesn't
get mad. The naughty list is very, very short. Santa likes to think every child
is truly good on the inside.
GRETA
So what now, magical clown lady? Are
you going to show me visions of my past that will explain why I am such a
terrible child?
MADELINE
Something
like that.
The stage goes dark. When the
lights come back up, SPITS is kneeling on stage, working on something.
GRETA
Why
are we here? I thought this was my past.
MADELINE
Your friend, Stanley, made you a
beautiful necklace for Christmas last year. Do you remember?
GRETA
He gives me some hideous thing every
year. I keep telling him to just give me cash.
MADELINE
He works all year to make your gift
special. This is the seventeenth necklace he's made, and he finally thinks it's
perfect. What did you say when he gave it to you?
GRETA
I just told you. I asked for cash, and
I tossed the necklace in the trash. It was ugly.
MADELINE
Don't
you feel sorry for acting so terribly?
GRETA
No way. If he was a real friend, he'd
give me what I want.
SPITS looks sadly at the necklace
and throws it offstage. He slowly exits. ABBY enters. She is holding an iPod
and crying.
MADELINE
What
about Abby?
GRETA
What
about her?
MADELINE
Her parents made great sacrifices to
buy her an iPod last Christmas, and you threw it out the window of a car! She
was heart broken. On Christmas! It's just not right.
GRETA
I'll tell you what wasn't right. Abby
got an iPod, and I didn't. That is not okay.
MADELINE
What makes you think you deserve more
than others?
GRETA
All I wanted was a new iPod. Mine’s
outdated.
MADELINE
Some things are more important than
possessions.
GRETA
Right.
MADELINE
None of this is getting through to you,
is it? Very well. I'll try another approach.
She waves her arms, and the stage
goes dark. When the lights come back on, ABBY and ARIEL are dancing while MR.
&MRS. MOONTZ, SPITS, and several other kids watch.
GRETA
What
is this? Abby and Ariel don't dance.
MADELINE
This is a different kind of Christmas.
This is how Christmas would be if you had never existed.
GRETA
Yeah right. What's next? Are the Whos
going to come out and start singing and suddenly my heart will grow lighter and
I'll understand the true meaning of Christmas? You’ve been watching too many
Christmas specials, lady.
MADELINE
I'm trying to help you, Greta. Can't
you at least try to understand what I'm showing
you?
GRETA
What are you showing me? That Christmas
would be better if everyone danced around like an idiot?
MADELINE
They're happy! Don't you get it? They
are happier without you. Doesn't that bother
you?
GRETA
Not
really.
MADELINE
You are an impossible child! Fine. You
leave me no choice.
She waves her hands, and the stage
goes dark.
