Rejection Party, Tic and Tac, Your Contest

On Saturday, I attended the Dramatists Guild Rejection Slip Festival at a bar in Brooklyn near Prospect Park.

I recently joined the Dramatists Guild. “Finding Mr. Rightstein,” the adaptation of my memoir with the same title, is my first play. I brought a rejection I’d gotten for an early draft I shouldn’t have submitted to my first ‘rejection slip’ event.

I’ve gotten more than a few for my essays and books. In “Writing from Personal Experience,” I mention accumulating 156 before having anything published. I remind longtime and new students to put on ‘Don’t take it personally’ hats upon getting a ‘no.’

Playwriting makes essay and book writing seem easy. And no writing is easy. It’s all challenging. Scary. Exciting. Fun.

I am grateful I write. Grateful I heard rejection tales Saturday. Doozies, too. A new friend, Jeff, a widely produced playwright and screenwriter, is meeting me for coffee to schmooze and will attend my June play reading. I’m grateful for all support. Sharlene, an actor who participates in my readings, invited me to her weekly theater group. Tonight, members will read my scenes.

I’m grateful I saw Tic and Tac perform again Sunday in Washington Square. They’re hilarious. Talented. Their well-honed act is a hoot. Better this year. I love reminders that making it look easy requires WORK.

I’m grateful for my readers. Here. Everywhere. Grateful some of you entered the mom contest. The entries are good. The judges chose Lisa Alexander’s. Read it on my last post--May 5—in “Comments” after my Boston Globe piece. Read them all. Congratulations, Lisa. Congratulations, everyone.