Go Out for Drama

(If You Want to Write...)

Go out for drama.

I've been involved in theater since elementary school. I've been in Robin Hood, Godspell, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Guys & Dolls and about ten times as many drama classes have detracted from my academics. I love Broadway music and still mournfully listen to Children of Eden once a year, the show that was cancelled.

"I'm not a great actor/tress!" you cry.

Exactly.

I have never gotten a lead role in a play. Ever. I have never sung a solo on stage. Why? Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but I'm not that hot of an actress and directors can tell. I'm loud, but that doesn't make me good. I can critique theater but can't perform it.

This self-revelation was not delivered by hand. No, instead I had years of rejections. My first heartbreak was getting the part of Agnes in Guys & Dolls (who is she? My point.) I have been rejected so many times that now, rejection is second nature. Rejection doesn't scare me, so I have the blunted guts to keep trying.

If you go out for drama- especially if you're horrible- you will pee your pants with fright. You'll get your hopes knocked around and eventually settle into a state of I'm-going-to-try-or-else. And THAT, my friends, is the moment you get published.