Diane Sherlock

  • Adaptation – UPDATED

    Last year, I worked on the screenplay for the short film version of The Green Bench. Unlike novels, screenplays are intended to be a group effort. Lots of people bring their abilities and you won’t be happy if you are not flexible. The major plot points and themes, yes, fight for those. However, if you’re…

  • Dignity of the person and the character of characters

    There’s been a lot of bad news this summer. Drought, unrest, domestic violence, hacking the Cloud, hacking off heads… in the 21st century. We’d hoped we would be better by now. One of the most important things the arts can do is allow us into another person’s world. Of course, if you set out to…

  • home and diving deeper

    Below is a TED talk from Elizabeth Gilbert on success, failure and the drive to create. In it, she discusses “home,” something I heard Dorothy Allison also talk about in a memorable lecture a few years ago at Antioch University, Los Angeles (will look for my notes to include in the next post). This dovetails…

  • The needle and the damage done…

    There’s something about the passing of a master in a field you’ve been trained in that pierces the heart – not in the same way as family or friends of course – but out of a bit of knowledge about the journey, the work, the struggles, the process, the lifestyle. There are so many writers…

  • a death in the family…

    My brother died November 19th. Growing up at the beach, I was in the water all the time. One of the scariest things that can happen is getting caught in that washing machine when big wave after big wave comes pounding into shore and you can barely get your breath in between and you wonder…

  • Why do you create? Why do we?

    Why do you want to create? Why do you write, act, compose, play? If you don’t know, spend some time and get clear on the why. That “why” is the engine that drives you. It keeps you going after rejection – and rejection always comes. It helps if there is some aspect of service in…

  • Owning your shadow

    Perhaps since it’s October and Halloween is just around the corner, the dark, the spooky, the unseen are more on my mind. Robert A. Johnson, a Jungian psychologist, wrote a slim book, Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche that is very helpful for artists. He’s also the author of She, He, and…

  • Movement & Character, part one

    Sunday evening, I had the great pleasure of taking a workshop at Body Chance from Benedikt Negro, lead performer in Cirque du Soleil’s O for the past 11 years. Let that sink in a moment. 11 years, 10 shows a week and no injuries, thanks in part to the Alexander Technique. That’s something like 5,000 performances. He…

  • The artist and self-compassion

    If you pursue the creative life, the journey will be, well, if not easier, more pleasant if you are kind to yourself. As a friend is fond of saying, the world is hard enough on you, why be hard on yourself? Please watch this, especially for the important distinction between self-esteem and self-compassion:

  • What would you fight for?

    The University of Notre Dame has been running a series for years now called What Would You Fight For? Each week during football season, they televise one and post it online. What would you fight for? Seriously. Is there anything and if not, why not? It’s another way of asking, “what are you passionate about?”…

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com