Shhhh….I have a plan

Me with my Editor

Fun picture book about holding onto a plan and the consequences of NOT being adaptable.

I had a plan for this newsletter. And then my husband broke my car fob.

Some people would have a back up fob. But not me. That one broke a few months ago.

So I’ve spent the last hour and a half figuring out if I can drive my car to work tomorrow. (The jury’s still out.)

Meanwhile, it’s getting late and I still haven’t written this letter. I tried to go back to writing on my original topic, but I’m too frustrated to deal with it. Thus I did what I learned to do as an actor—use what’s going on in the present. Write about my frustration that best laid plans often don’t work out.

You’d think I’d be used to it by now because a creative’s life NEVER goes according to plan.

Some writers create detailed outlines before they start their story only to have their characters decide to go in vastly different directions as they write. The ending almost never happens as planned.

As a musical actor you rehearse a song over and over again so your emotions fuse with the words and notes. It becomes a type of muscle memory so you don’t have to think about what you’re doing and can just be present onstage. Then in the middle of your big solo a tree from the set falls on you. (Yes this happened to me. Think Laurie in Oklahoma singing “Many a New Day” above.)

What you learn from these experiences is that flexibility and adaptability is key. Often your characters write a much better ending than you’d planned. Having a tree fall on you while you’re singing allows you to have an unrehearsed interaction, and assuming you go on with the show, endears you more to your audience. (It’s not the falling down that captures us, it’s how you get up.)

Making a plan, but being open to the muse, or your boss, or your husband messing with that plan may end up giving you a better book, or performance, or a new skill.( I did figure out how to put the fob back together it appears.)

Not sure that’s true here. Not sure this is a better letter than the one I’d planned, but it’s honest.

What best laid plan have you made lately that took a different direction? What did you learn from it? Do you think it turned out better than what you’d envisioned?

RADICAL RESOURCES FROM THE LIBRARY: Leading my first book club as a librarian! It went well, btw. We discussed Doodleville by Chad Sell, a middle grade graphic novel where doodles come to life.

YouTube Video of the Week: Chad Sell reading a few chapters from my book club book, Doodleville. Click the image and enjoy!