road is scary. We begin to be distracted by roadside
attractions or detoured by the bumps.
• A screenwriter has an agent interested in repping a
script with just a few changes. He doesn’t make the
changes.
• A performance artist is offered a space to use for
work-shopping his new material. He does it once,
doesn’t like his mixed reception indicating more
work is needed, then stops working on new material
at all.
• An actor is told to get his head shots together and
check back in with a prestigious agent. He doesn’t
get his head shots, doesn’t check back in.
• An actress-producer with a solid script is offered a
studio deal to further develop her project. She finds
fault with the deal and then shelves the project
entirely.
• A painter is invited into a group show, his first, but
picks a fight with the gallery owner.
• A poet reads some poems to very good public
reception at a neighborhood open mike. Instead of
continuing at this level and gaining strength, the poet
enters a slam (a sort of boxing match for poets
judged by nonpoets), loses, and stops reading
publicly altogether.
• A lyricist hooks up with a new composer, and they
literally make beautiful music together. They demo
three songs, which get enthusiastic response, and