OVER, UNDER, THROUGH.

I read Tina Fey's delightful little book Bossypants and I can't stop thinking about the career advice she gives, advice she gleaned from this old school Sesame Street clip:

 

Over, under and through.

They don't play the clip anymore- I guess because it's a bad idea to encourage children to play in a construction site? But the career advice feels fresh.

Fey is talking about gatekeepers and, in her case, sexism in the workplace. If you have a boss who is mysoginistic, don't waste your time trying to change them. You can't. Instead, focus your energy on someone above them, below them, or find an alternate route to the other side of said gate.

I think the same thing can be said for writers. Being a young writer can be frustrating, because you're consistently at the mercy of other people's taste and the folks running the show and the young playwright often have very little in common. Different ages, classes, sometimes different races and certainly a different taste. It's a baby boomer's theater, so what's a young playwright to do? Over, under, through.