ARTIST STATEMENT SEMINAR!
& ARISTOTLE ON CHARACTER
LAST CHANCE FOR ASS CLASS!
The Artist Statement is notoriously difficult to write, even for writers! ASS Class (the acronym for Artist Statement Seminar) is a deep dive into who you are and why you create. It gives you the chance to express yourself as yourself on the page in a way that actually works! Because writing Artist Statements often makes us feel like asses, and this class fixes that. Any kind of maker is welcome!
Take my Artist Statement Seminar (ASS Class) on Sunday July 12th from 2-5pm ET (check your time zone here). To register send $65 to me at my PayPal Link or via Venmo to Emma-Goldman-Sherman (8102 if they ask). (Yes, it’s cheaper, because life is harder right now.) If finances are the issue, please reach out.
This may be the last time I offer this class. As I’m working full-time now as an IFS Coach, it’s harder to schedule this.
ASS Class and I provide you with more than an Artist’s Statement, although you’ll get a draft of that too. And anyone who has taken the class knows, I will respond to your statements forever, as you and the statements will grow and change. Class is capped and not recorded, so sign up soon. (testimonials here)
CHARACTER - Aristotle’s Second Element
Aristotle’s 6 Elements are here (1=plot), here (3=thought) and here (5=song) and the others are on the way! Character is what Aristotle found to be most important after plot.
I wish I could remember who said, “A character is a metaphor for a human being with whom we can identify,” but Aristotle would agree. Aristotle talked a lot about imitations of life, mainly focusing on four concerns when it comes to character. Feel free to adopt only what is useful for you!
Characters must be good morally, or at least trying to express moral purpose.
Characters must be appropriate meaning they act according to their class, and he put property-owning men in a class above all others.
Characters must be true to life.
Characters should be consistent, AND this includes characters who are inconsistent, that they should be consistent in their inconstancy.
Character, for Aristotle, is shown via action. We are what we do, not what we say.
In American theatre, and I suspect in many other kinds of narrative, Character drives our stories. We identify with a character and engage (by caring) with their trajectory. If you have a character with whom you have issues (maybe you find them reprehensible) I recommend trying to find something, some part of the character however small, that helps you feel warm toward them. Because when I come across playwrights who feel cold toward their characters, it shows on the page.
For example, I have a character who is a staunch zionist in my play, Abraham’s Daughters. Maxine is a formidable antagonist, and she’s also a grieving daughter who just lost her mother. She’s in the middle of a divorce, and her only daughter is about to leave for college. Max isn’t getting any younger or any thinner, and her ex left her for a younger woman, a blonde! who is also a lawyer, who didn’t spend the last five years schlepping to Queens to care for a dying mother. In the play, she’s helping her father move half way around the world. So she’s suffering. And that helps me feel compassionate toward her, even if I can’t stand her racist, zionist views that push her to behave reprehensibly in the play.
Character is also how most of our stories are vetted. Gatekeepers want to know, why should we care? To help, there are countless ways to create more rounded, three-dimensional characters. One is via a Character Questionnaire. I suggest you interview your characters as if they were separate from you, and let them answer in their own voice(s).
If you don’t like the questionnaire I linked to, there are thousands of others if you search. You don’t have to answer all at once for all your characters. You can dip into the questions as necessary. As you’re writing, if things get glitchy, go back to answer another question or two. Usually this helps a lot!
Actors build backstories for their characters. This is a practice I was taught in high school by my beloved Drama teacher, Mrs. Lois Goutman. She put a big list on the board naming everything we needed to know about our characters. It included things like birth; family life; religion; socio-economics; education; dreams, and at the bottom she put the word BELIEVE. I interpreted this as what does the character believe. (For me, belief is separate from actual religious background.) This became another item on my list.
We had to hand in these character studies. At the end of mine, I wrote several paragraphs on what Lady MakBeth believed. (We were doing Schechner’s version, hence the spelling). I don’t remember most of Mrs. Goutman’s response to my work, but I will never forget that she clarified that she had meant I needed to BELIEVE the backstory to be able to play the character!
Playwrights should never feel compelled to share this backstory with the audience. It’s not up to you to “out” your characters. Often when writers control characters, things happen that aren’t earned.
To know them will enhance your writing! It will add depth, provide subtextual meanings, but mostly getting to know your characters helps you learn how to allow their impulses to guide you in the writing, so you can let them do what they need to do! Because characters are Doers! And actors like to invent their own backstories.
Let your characters control their own narratives. Sometimes this is something we need to get used to by practicing in small sessions, asking each character,
What do you want?
What do you need?
How can you try to get these things?
Are the wants and the needs in conflict with each other?
And what are the other conflicts happening inside and outside each character?
Three levels of conflict can be layered into your narrative:
Conflict within, against themself
Conflict against another character or characters
Conflict (with or without other characters) against the culture/world of your play.
Writing is an exploration. Allowing characters to perform/do themselves, I have discovered what it was I wanted to understand, and why I write. There is a lot of mystery in that. Let yourself enjoy the gift of that mystery.
COME TO BRAVE SPACE!
Basically the cheapest, most accessible dramaturgy around! When you’ve only got one question about your play, and you don’t wanna hire a dramaturg, come and ask!
Work for a focused hour with help to start or to keep going! Body-Doubling and/or Creative Prompts in a supported community via Zoom.
Grounding practices, prompts & courage! After the hour, optional discussions about process & craft! Make deeper meaning. Find your groove. Restart after being stuck. Begin &/or bring your projects to completion.
As a body-doubling space, Brave Space helps you get stuff done in community! Whatever you need to do! On or off camera, no small talk necessary. Write hard emails, clean out your closets, tackle piles, do taxes!
$5-25 suggested per session, but no one will be turned away. 4x/week! On or off camera. No commitment necessary with lots of accountability! Drop-ins welcome. Try it!
ACTUAL SCHEDULE: Next Brave Space is Friday 7/10 at 12pm ET with Brave Sharing on Sunday 7/12 at 6pm ET. Then Brave Space on Monday, Wednesday and Friday as usual at 12pm ET. Email or reply for a link!
artwork by Scott Sherman at ScottShermanStudio on instagram
NeuroAffirming (NAF) Parts Work Group:
Meets Second Saturdays of each month (July 11th at 12pm ET - time zone converter here) to offer community, parts work experience and support for anyone neurodivergent (inclusive of Autism, ADHD, Audhd, OCD, cPTSD and more).
You do not need an actual diagnosis to participate. Run by Emma and Jess (Level II), both of us Audhd, we are creating non-pathologizing and anti-ableist Parts Work content for healing and ease in neurodivergent systems. Sign up for our link here. Sliding scale from $5-25/session, but no one will be turned away.
Opportunities
DUE by 9/15 but they will CAP so submit soon! Voices of Women 2027 Theatre Festival seeks plays by women-identified and nonbinary playwrights inclusive of Bigender, Female, Genderqueer, Nonbinary, and Trans Woman. Please submit 10 pages of a full length play for a rehearsed reading they will produce March 25-28, 2027.
Playwrights may only submit one play. Playwrights must not submit previously submitted works to any Powerstories opportunity. All plays should be submitted as PDFs with the title in caps, followed by the playwright’s name. Example: VOW 2027 Playwright Name. Play’s cover sheet must include the author’s information (name, address, telephone, email, NPX page). A short synopsis is encouraged. Submit only the first ten pages.
Play must be unproduced, new works, OR works not recently produced. We will not accept musicals. The maximum cast size is 5. Your submission reflects overall quality and is a substantially developed and well-written play. Your submission is no longer than 120 minutes. Your play must center female characters and narratives.
The 2027 Circle in the Square Theatre School Emerging Writers Residency! Submissions are open from August 3rd - 17th. Residency dates are January 12th - February 8th, 2027.
We are seeking new plays and musicals early in their development that have NOT been professionally produced. Both plays and musicals must have a minimum of 4 substantial roles, and musicals with ensembles are encouraged to apply (though it is not a requirement). All roles will be performed by Circle students, so while the roles certainly do not all need to be college-aged, older characters will be played by younger actors. Writers must be able to attend rehearsals in person in NYC during the residency.
Please visit our website here for more information and full details on how to apply. We look forward to reading your work!
IN NYC, DUE 7/11/26 6pm ET, The Poetry Project seeks a Director of Event Production who will manage the administrative and technical functions of a robust annual calendar of 45+ live events at St. Mark’s Church in New York City. The Director of Event Production leads all aspects of onsite production support and is the primary liaison between curators, technicians, vendors, volunteers, and Poetry Project staff.
We’re looking for a candidate who will bring creativity, thoughtfulness, a welcoming and kind attitude, and a collaborative spirit to both their work and our team. Candidates should feel comfortable strategizing and troubleshooting in a live-event setting, demonstrate a high level of organization and attention to detail, and have a background that reflects strong technical production skills. The ideal candidate is eager to manage and support live event production workflows and systems, and is motivated to refine and adapt these systems across a range of artistic contexts.
Candidates with an interest in poetry and performance, as well as a desire to work with and amongst fellow artists, are preferred. We will only consider applicants who submit their application via THIS LINK
IN NYC, DUE 7/31/26 Emerging Artists Theatre is launching a new opportunity for MUSICALS! Spark Musical Theatre Festival NYC and Spark Theatre Festival NYC are three-week festivals of self-produced work for the stage that allow artists of different disciplines to produce one or more performances of a polished “work-in-progress” with audience feedback. For more information and to APPLY HERE DUE 7/31 for a November show!
DUE 7/31/26 Neukom Institute asks for play subs that ask the question: what does it mean to be human in a computerized world? More info HERE
DUE 8/1/26 Ixion is seeking ten minute (or less) plays where HELP is the theme. These can be stories of persons in need of help. Or they can be stories focusing on seeing and acknowledging the helpers amongst us. Whatever the concept of help invokes for you, we would like to see your scripts. We will select up to eight scripts for full production. Guidelines for “Help” submissions(s) are:
- No more than 4 actors, simple setting, no more than 12 pages
- Submissions must include full first and last name on title page
- In header or footer, please include script name and your last name
- Multiple submissions are allowed
- No bios are to be included.
- Digital submissions only to ixionensemble@gmail.com
Free Peer Coaching for Res Artist members. Res Artis is a worldwide network of artist residencies.
Women in the Arts and Media has a newsletter full of opps for stage plays and screenplays. Seriously lots here!
People Doing Amazing Things:
If you want to be listed here, please let me know what you’re up to and include your links!
Poets & Prose Writers! Join me in Maya C. Popa’s Conscious Writers Collective! I joined in January (2026), and it has changed my life, my poetry, and my levels of confidence. Not only have I gained an incredibly generous community of poets, but I have improved my skills and gained a deeper understanding of my craft. I am halfway through the year, and I cannot recommend it highly enough!
Grab my chapbook, Dear Palestine, from Moonstone Press! And my free micro-chapbook, Possible Paths for the Minotaur, from Ghost City Press!
Kelly Grace Thomas offers poetry workshops that I highly recommend. She has helped me improve my writing in easy-to-implement, concrete ways that have taken my work to new levels. Check out her Substack!
Jess Pearce & I made these neuroaffirming IFS experientials on Insight Timer. Enjoy here.
POLITICAL ACTION:
Get Involved:
What you need to know about ICE.
Fight for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Writers for Democratic Action.
READ/SUBSCRIBE:
Chop Wood, Carry Water - Jess Craven’s focus on political action includes good news to help sustain us!
ABORTION EVERY DAY a substack by Jessica Valenti - support real research about what’s really happening. MEN, this is scary shit, and your support is needed and appreciated!
THE CRUCIAL YEARS a substack by Bill McKibben - climate change and ways to understand it and to actually do stuff about it.
ERIN in the Morning, by Erin Reed - news from the trans community.
The Intercept, 972mag, Aljazeera, and Mondoweiss - independent news.
AMAZING spreadsheet! Reach anyone in the government directly, right here! Bookmark it and use it!
Emma I'm so pissed I missed this class! Please offer it again