This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on August 18th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.
This summer, I spent a little more time than usual in the dance studio. A teacher/choreographer I've performed for in the past brought a group of her "regulars" together for weekly rehearsals. Not because she had a big idea for a new dance piece. And not because there was a show on the horizon. Simply because...she wanted to play.
She wanted to create.
She wanted to see where a few weeks of playful creation took us.
There was no obligation to participate. She invited each of us for however many Sunday afternoons we could offer her. She reserved space, and we showed up, whenever we were able, ready and open.
In July and August, we made almost six minutes of material. It's not set in stone. It's malleable. But it exists—in our bodies and on video.
What does this process look like? So many different things! We remixed set sequences of choreography. We improvised together. We tried various pieces of music, to see how each one affected the movement and the feelings within it. Those of us who were present last week caught up those who weren't able to come, so everyone was on the same page. Dancers Zoomed in to participate remotely. It was a process filled with joy, laughter, gratitude, curiosity, and surprise.
I hadn't rehearsed like this in years, and doing so this summer was a bit of a revelation.
It has me thinking about writing as play.
Once upon a time, free-writing was a part of my creative process. I'd sit down to play with an idea, just to see where it would lead me. Sometimes, that idea turned into something bigger! Other times, it fizzled. But the result wasn't really the point. The process of creating, of being ready and available and open, and of putting words on the page—that was what mattered. And I would ask myself to try different things: writing from new points of view, or switching up the tense, or having a character write poetry. I showed up, and I played, and every once in a while, I made magic.
These days, more often than not, I'm starting from sturdier ground. I have an idea I've already settled on, and I know what the voice needs to sound like. Or I'm working in a document or with characters I know well. Or (in the case of my write-for-hire gig) I'm playing in someone else's sandbox—giving life to their characters, in a style of their choosing. Also, these days, my writing is very goal-oriented. I have a deadline, and I know what I need to do to make it there.
But playing choreographically this summer has given me a bit of an itch to do the same with my writing. To sit down, maybe once a week, without a goal or even a set starting point. To show up at my laptop and just...write something. And the following week, to decide whether to develop it...or to set it aside and start something new.
Do you make time for play in your creative process? Do you ever dive in without an intention or a plan, beyond simply seeing what happens?
~Kathryn
(Photo: performing with this choreographer, Diane McCarthy, in November 2018—I'm kneeling front right.)
What I'm:
Reading: My mom recommended The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson for the "book about books or libraries" square in my summer reading challenge. This novel is set in the 1930s, deep in the hollers of Kentucky, and follows the journeys of a "book woman"—a librarian who would ride a pack horse out to remote wilderness locations to bring books—and literacy—to mountain folk. An added interesting piece to this story is that the titular book woman has a blue skin tone, caused by a recessive blood disorder. Although there are whole families of "Blues," she deals with prejudice and scorn from her neighbors. I like learning about pockets of history that are new to me, and this book met that criteria on two fronts: "book women" and the "Blue People of Kentucky."
Loving: My daughter and I took a “girl’s trip” to Tennessee to visit my parents (her Gigi and Doc)—and for me to visit a local elementary school to share my author presentation!