Lent 2024
The party is over. Mardi Gras 2024 has come to an end, and here we are at Ash Wednesday. In the Christian faith, today is the beginning of Lent. It lasts 40 days. It is a time of testing, trial, penance, purification, and renewal. The timing takes us right up to Easter. Now, whether you are of the Christian faith or not, I think everyone could use a little Lent observance right about now.
In this tradition, there is a misconception that drives me batty. People say, “I’m giving up_______ for Lent.” No. Wrong. Let’s rethink that. You are supposed to discipline yourself against something that is potentially tempting. You see, that’s where the testing and trial comes in. If you discipline yourself against eating chocolate for example, then when you are tempted to eat chocolate you’re supposed to do some self-reflecting. It could be something very personal or something about your faith journey. In hand with this disciplining, you are supposed to do something positive for yourself. Examples of that might be to commit to exercise, yoga, meditating, or anything that brings you to a more positive self.
I’ve been struggling with my choices for a Lenten promise. But, I was reminded the other day, how I “went off” on The Facebook over this Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce stuff. Frustrated over people jumping to conclusions, I referred to them as “idiots.” Now, if you know me - that’s really not in my character. I’m really sorry for saying that. With that in mind, I’ve made a list of things that “WE” as a people should consider for Lenten promises. Imagine what our worlds would be like if we -
Disciplined ourselves AGAINST:
Hate
Racism
Bigotry
Anti-semitism (HE was Jewish…did you forget that?)
Using social media as our only news source
Jumping to conclusions
Being negative
Living in “the sky is always falling mentality”
Judging people
Being all up in the Swift/Kelce relationship in a negative manner - Just be happy for them.
Pushing far right or far left agendas.
Do something positive for yourself like:
Speaking kinds words to everyone around you
Post nothing but positive, kind, forward-thinking social media posts for the next 40 days
LISTEN to the people around you
Journal
Mediatate
Exercise or do yoga
Eat healthy
Learn something new
Read a book!
Call an old friend you haven’t talked to in a long time
Befriend an elderly or shut-in person
Learn about a culture you’re not familiar with
Consider another person’s point of view without judgment
Just LOVE people. (That was HIS message to begin with in case you forgot.)
Yes, I know this is radical. It might even lead to 40 days of peace and positivity. Our world is a broken place. There is no way to mend the world unless we take positive steps towards change.
Happy Lent everyone!
2024- “Mine”
I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. Instead, I set goals. With each goal, I create smaller, obtainable goals. It gives me an opportunity to reflect on where I’ve been, what I want to accomplish, and focus on the present moment. Here are my work/career goals:
Goal #1:
My musical, Runaway Home, that I co-wrote with Judy Rodman, will go through the next stage of development, have a 29 hour reading and a concert of the music in NYC, and have a fully mounted, world premiere production. www.runawayhomethemusical.com
Goal #2:
I will have at least one project optioned and in development for television and/or film.
Goal #3:
I will find the right representation for my work in novels, stage, and film. I would like a manager that will guide me on my career goals.
Goal #4:
New Work: I will complete the next draft of my play, Burn. I will release the new Abbie Girl Spy novel. I will have drafts of a new musical, a novel, and a pilot for television.
Goal #5:
Teaching/Coaching: To work with teachers across the country to help them reach their literacy goals with teaching writing and close reading comprehension. To coach individuals in writing and acting to help them reach their own goals.
Goal #6:
To accomplish all of the above, I will be more organized and consistent in my planning to achieve these goals by the end of 2024.
All of these goals are attainable. I separate my goals into career, family, and personal. Each list compliments the others with time, self-care, meditation, self-reflection, and challenging myself to be in a positive mindset each and every day.
Hurdles will pop up. Roadblocks. Sometimes, life will feel like there is a brick wall in front of me. But when I’m in a growth mindset, I learn how to face the issue, consider many, different, and unusual solutions, forecast my choices, and eventually climb over the wall instead of allowing it to stop me all together.
Yeah - I make it sound easy, right? Of course it’s not. We’re all in the same boat trying to navigate our own individual journeys. What I do know is this - if you allow yourself to live in a negative cesspool, you will achieve nothing. The sky is not falling. And don’t forget, sometimes an obstacle can be a blessing. Maybe there was a better way. A better path. A better choice. The obstacle allowed you to avoid tunnel vision and a fixed mindset.
Here is to 2024. May she be a bright year filled with hope and forward motion!
Stage One Complete!
Michael Park sings “Broken” during the staged reading of Runaway Home.
In 1994, I buckled up for a plane ride home from New York City. It had been a wonderful trip to see shows, friends, and enjoy the city. As the plane taxied down the runway, a thought popped into my head - that image would be the first character in Runaway Home. At that moment, I had no idea that these thoughts would take me on a thirty year odyssey, but here we are…
Those early thoughts and images would evolve into characters - Aleah, The Preacher, Pyper, Steve, Father Liam, Mrs. D’Angelo and so on. Monologues for Pyper and Aleah would come first, which tends to be a part of my process. Write monologues to establish backstory and the voicing of the characters. Loads of research would lead me down the dark abyss into the lives of runaway and homeless teens. Never in my wildest imagination would I have guessed about the staggering statistics of these young people - never. And, over the years, those numbers have grown exponentially.
I collaborated with singer/songwriter, Judy Rodman in 2006. Together, we pulled together the first incarnation of the musical. Several workshop productions told us we were onto something, but for me, I never felt it was the right story for the musical. On paper, I had about five years of their lives mapped out with a complex tapestry of storylines. In 2009, we decided to let the show cool off while we worked on other projects. Not only did Runaway Home cool off - it collected dust - a thick layer of dust and was almost lost completely.
At the dawn of the new year claiming its hold on 2023, I started dreaming about these characters again out of nowhere. I had decided that my New Year’s goal was to focus on my writing. After all, I had spent most of my career helping others to reach their career dreams in the Arts - now, it was my turn. Maybe that woke up Aleah, Pyper, and The Preacher. Nevertheless, they were awake and talking loudly. I reached out to Judy Rodman and told her - this is it. We’re doing this.
Revision.
The time had come to tell Aleah’s origin story, and that was going to be the basis for the musical. Over a week, I started jotting down thoughts on notecards and pretty soon, I had quite a stack. The following Saturday, I started putting the notecards together into the structure of a show. Within an hour, the show was staring back at me. Game on.
Fast forward several months. At one point, I echoed my wife’s comment - “What have you done?” There’s an old saying. If you want something to happen, you have to make it happen. I set a goal for an industry developmental workshop and staged reading for September. Literally, all the pieces started falling into place. The theatre. The cast. The script. The creative team. And finally, the angel investor who would make the plan a reality.
On September 11, 2023, a circle of extremely talented actors from the stage and screen sat in a circle on a stage at Theatre Row on 42nd Street in New York City. With scripts in hand, we had the first read thru of Runaway Home. Over the next two weeks, we worked on the development of the script. Excited. Elated. I was still in awe of “What have I done? Is this real?”
Many ask, “What does developing the script mean exactly?”
A script is never really finished or locked. Just because I wrote it, it doesn’t mean it’s ready for production. A line could sound amazing in my den with my dog Luna listening to me act out the scene by myself. But, when you give the script to actors and listen to the words coming out of their mouths, you learn what works and what doesn’t work. Some of my favorite moments of those two weeks were Michael Park, who was playing “Father Liam” and Melissa Gilbert, who was playing, “Mrs. D’Angelo,” pushing me to do better - dig deeper - and create dialogue that would have the most impact on an audience.
After seven days of rehearsal, the 199 seat theatre was nearly at capacity both days for Thursday and Friday performances.
Two standing ovations for the work. It would be easy to sit back and say, “Okay, we’re ready to fully mount this show and take it to Broadway.” Uh…not so fast.
I literally sat through two performances revising the show in my head as it was playing in front of me. This is the beauty of a staged reading. You’re not bogged down with the theatrics of scenery, full blocking, choreography, costumes and all the other spectacle of a fully realized production. You get the dialogue and the songs which either stand on their own or they fall flat. And, a few things fell flat to me. I know I can do better. Additionally, we have received feedback from producers, investors, and other theatre folk who offered up their critiques. From that feedback, Judy and I have filtered through what could work for the next draft of the script and music. We made some incredible discoveries, and my advice to playwrights - do not cheat yourself or your work out of this stage of the process. It is an enlightening experience which allows you to grow as a writer and consider the possibilities of what can make your piece stronger.
At this moment, we are gearing up for Stage Two of the development process for Runaway Home. Stay tuned to our page for updates and blogs as we chronicle the journey.
Starting over…kind of…
Starting over. Here’s my story.
Starting over is never easy. But I don’t like to think about this moment as “starting over.” I’d rather think about it as “picking up where I left off.” But this time, I’m wiser. I have fresh ideas. And, I am more energized than ever to make a difference in literacy!
Back in the day, I worked on the Alabama Direct Assessment on Writing (ADAW) for many years as a consultant to schools across Alabama. For the most part, I focused on schools in Decatur City Schools and Morgan County. I was hired to consult because their scores ranged from 8% to 43% meeting standards on the ADAW. The problem wasn’t just a North Alabama issue. Scores across the state were in this range. First and foremost, I knew there was no magic wand to wave and make this all improve overnight. Moving scores above the 50% mark was going to take consistency and providing classroom teachers with the tools they needed.
But what were those tools? These were highly gifted and intelligent classroom teachers. What was missing?
Quickly, I became a writing consultant, motivational speaker, cheerleader, and counselor to the the teachers and students I served. All of those traits were rolled into one as I helped them to see light at the end of a dark tunnel. Truly, they didn’t think they could get their test scores up.
Along the way, I discovered the secret sauces for teaching writing and close reading comprehension. I applied those tactics, taught the classroom teachers how to do it consistently, and when the scores came back, we saw significant gains. One school went from 8% meeting standards the previous year to 96% passing the following year. No miracles. No magic wands. No gimmicks. Just the consistency of applying proven methodology that met the needs of each and every student.
When the ADAW ended, I continued to work on the ARMT (Alabama Reading and Math Test) and refined my methodology for text-dependent writing and close reading comprehension. Scores were great, and I set out to create Weekly Writer an online curriculum resource with all of my methodology in thirty-six weeks of lessons for each grade level. I stepped out the daily classroom and went virtual. For the most part at least. I was invited to speak at conferences across the country through Premiere Speakers Bureau. Lots of sky miles!
Schools across the country subscribed to our online platform, and they had success even though I wasn’t physically in the classroom with them. My modeling videos of the writing process became the favorite part of the platform for many schools. But, I was sitting in an office. Detached. Antsy.
For the next six years, I would teach theatre in two different systems for middle school and high school students. I loved that experience, but in the back of my mind, I felt like I had taken a side road, diverting myself from my true purpose. I had stopped writing books. The fifth Abbie Girl Spy novel sat on a shelf, unpublished. With the exception of a few plays I wrote for my high schools students, I wrote practically nothing. I was lost, deep in the woods on a path I wasn’t supposed to be on.
One day, I knew enough was enough. It was time to get back on the right path. I resigned from teaching theatre and started writing. I pulled out a musical called Runaway Home that I co-wrote with award winning song writer, Judy Rodman. Today, we are prepping for an industry reading in New York City this fall, preparing to put the show on a pre-Broadway track. The universe lined up the stars - literally. The cast that signed on for the reading includes Tony, Grammy, Emmy winners and an Academy Award nominee. I’ve been refining The Alchemist’s Secret the fifth novel in the Abbie Girl Spy series and preparing it for publication in 2024, which is the 25th anniversary year of the first book in the series being published. I’ve been preparing new text-dependent writing lessons and videos for elementary and middle school students who will need those for state testing. And…
I’m ready to hit the road…again.
With a focus of Literacy Alive!, I am ready for conferences, keynote speeches, professional development workshops, student workshops - you name it. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and jump back into the trenches to make a difference. I want every classroom teacher to have the skills and confidence for teaching writing at the highest possible level. I want to see a revolution in reading - students gobbling up books, fiction and non-fiction. Close reading comprehension at the highest level possible. Literacy Alive means excitement about literacy across all content areas.
That’s my story. That’s the path I’m on. It’s my purpose.
What’s yours? Where do you want to be at the end of the school year? Reach out and let’s start a conversation. I would love to help.
Darren Butler can be reached at darren@darrenjbutler.com
We hope you will share this blog post with your colleagues!
Journal Writing with Students
It all begins with an idea.
by Darren J. Butler, MFA
Recently, a principal emailed me with a question. "Do you think daily journal writing is effective?"
The simple answer is "YES!" The more complicated answer is, "If..."
Several years ago, I was in a third grade classroom observing. The administration asked me to come in and evaluate where they were with writing and close reading. I visited a number of classrooms, where I saw a great deal of excellence with the staff. However, one classroom stood out to me...
The teacher asked her third graders to write in their journals. She set a timer of thirty minutes and returned to her desk. No further instruction. I walked around the room and eagerly observed the students as they took out their journals and turned to a clean page. For several minutes, I watched them basically stare at the paper. A few students scribbled some sentences, but the majority of students had the same problem every writer experiences...the blank page and no direction.
From what I had seen of this particular classroom, the students were writing well on open-ended question assignments, but their writing was fairly simplistic and cookie cutter. It lacked voice, style, and imagination. With the teacher's permission, I jumped into the lesson and started asking them questions about what they were curious about and activities that brought them joy. Once we identified the "what," they were able to create on the blank page.
Daily journal writing is great. Just keep in mind that students need direction. A "free for all to write" can happen eventually, but first, students need mentoring to learn how to understand the task at hand and how to brainstorm for ideas.
Also, journal writing can be bullet lists, graphic organizers, drawings, fragmented sentences for ideas. My journal has numerous pages like that before I write a short story, opinion, descriptive, or an explanation of something.
For grading, I recommend grading the effort - not the content. To me, a journal should be a place where students can use their imaginations and be free of the dreaded red grading pen. In fact, you might want to call it something besides a journal. A Think Book, Imagination Journal, or perhaps something you come up with that fits your classroom and teaching style. Keep in mind - we want our students to enjoy writing. We want them to be eager to pull out those journals and create.
As you're planning for the new school year, consider journal writing each day with a new perspective. Think about what you want to achieve in the end - a love of writing, a brainstormer, engagement in the writing process...the list goes on and on. Make it fun, and you will reap the rewards!
You can reach Darren Butler at darren@darrenjbutler.com
We hope you will share this blog post with your colleagues!