Something New

I started reading Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist yesterday, a book a friend described to me as "so inspiring that I had to stop reading after 30 pages and go do something." It was required reading for my Movement class. I've created this blog because Kleon recommended that I do it. I'm hoping to use this as a creative outlet to write about ideas that I've probably stolen. To come up with any ounce of originality one has to swipe and steal ideas from wherever one can.

My name is Bryce. I'm a student at the University of Southern California, currently pursuing a BFA in Acting. I play the Chapman Stick and I write music. I take polaroid photos everywhere I go. I like to read plays. I once wrote and directed one of my own.

For a while now I've been experiencing a bit of a creative block. After I finished the production of my play I began working on a new one. I finished the first draft in a month and I was eventually ready to show it to people. I held a staged reading with some of my fellow actors at USC, and it was well-received.

I have two big fears about my writing. The first is that, upon review, the text is objectively bad. Nothing works, nothing flows, the whole thing is beyond repair. The second is that, upon review, the text is objectively good. It works, it flows, it's actually a decent read. With nowhere to go from.

The new text had a healthy middle. I got notes, ones that I could actually work with. The bits that worked worked, the bits that didn't didn't. I was left with a clear vision of where to begin to review and revise.

Yet, for whatever reason, I never did. I was content enough to know that the piece was workable that I basically set it aside and said "sounds good, I'll do that later." And I haven't done anything with it since.

I jumped around for a bit. I took up music theory and songwriting. I taught myself a few new instruments. I wrote poetry. I read books. Then I sat down and plowed through my schoolwork. And then all of a sudden I dropped everything and just played videogames all day.

It's been so much dicking around that I'm ready to get up and actually do some work.

Right off the bat I'm setting myself a few goals:

I will write a song like Sufjan Stevens.
I will get back on track and finish Grow Up, Riley!
I will carry a notebook with me, wherever I go.
I will buckle down and focus more on my schoolwork.
I will finish the recommended readings for my Acting and Improv classes.
I will get back into regular practice of guitar and Chapman Stick.

I'll be keeping track of my progress on here. If you're feeling up to it you're welcome to tag along with me. Welcome to something of my own.