CYAH — blog — Danielle Mohlman

Crafting a Support System

I have a board of directors.

And I agonized over it. I agonized for the same reasons I always agonize over asking for help. It’s a big ask, right? Why would anyone donate their time like that? And what do they get out of it anyway? I kept talking about my hypothetical board of directors — how I would rely on them as I faced this seemingly lawless world of playwriting, how they would help me choose a new headshot, how I would tap into their expertise to quiet my own insecurities — for the better part of a year. But something kept stopping me. I didn’t want to burden anyone. I didn’t want to burden them. I didn’t want to be a burden.

CYAHDanielle MohlmanJune 20, 2019Crafting Your Artistic Handbook, Personal Board of DirectorsComment

Crafting a Celebration of Our Own Successes

I took this photo on my way to class last night.

I love how much sunshine we’re getting these days, deep into the evening. I love how this rainbow reflects the lesson I was preparing to teach that night: how to get ahead of artistic jealousy by focusing in on our own successes — and by lifting others up unprompted. I love how this touristy little spot became my own moment of reflection.

CYAHDanielle MohlmanJune 11, 2019Crafting Your Artistic HandbookComment

Crafting Your Non-Negotiables

We’re in week three of Crafting Your Artistic Handbook here in Seattle and I continue to be inspired by the artists I’m working with. They are so incredibly trusting of our time together — and before I know it, the class will be over! But it’s not actually actually over. I’m teaching an online version of this class (live! interactive! wear your comfiest clothes!) starting July 8. Intrigued? Head over to my website to learn more and register.

CYAHDanielle MohlmanMay 22, 2019non-negotiables, when to say no, Crafting Your Artistic HandbookComment

Crafting an Accountability Practice

I started teaching Crafting Your Artistic Handbook last week and I’m so happy with the group of artists who’ve opted into this class. They’re all so incredibly talented, smart, and excited to put the work into their artwork. They even indulged me in a class photo last week. Look at all our smiling faces!

This week, we focused on different modes of accountability — a theme that could really take over the entire six week series if we let it. I brought in four different accountability structures that I’ve tried over the course of my career: two that I’ve abandoned and two that I still use to this day.

CYAHDanielle MohlmanMay 14, 2019artistic accountability, accountability, Crafting Your Artistic HandbookComment

Crafting Space for Documentation

I live my life surrounded by so much paper. A pile of books sits in my windowsill — a combination of library books I’ll certainly never finish before their due date and books and plays I own, texts I dream of reading one day. Bookshelves tuck into every corner of my apartment — under the windowsill, inside an unused closet, below my growing collection of plants. The wall in front of my desk is papered with postcards from friends across the country, women who mean it every single time they say “Wish you were here!” Even my calendar is paper, much to the dismay of my super tech savvy bestie and my partner, a man who knows his schedule at a glance. Flipping through his calendar is a silent activity. Flipping through mine is percussive.

CYAHDanielle MohlmanApril 29, 2019accountability, artistic accountability, documentationComment

Crafting a Code of Conduct — Toward Yourself

In January 2018, months before I actually started writing my own Artistic Handbook, I started a list of things that I wanted to work on. Creating a code of conduct — something I could reference whenever I’m feeling conflicted or eerie or just plain gross during an interaction with a fellow theatre professional — was pretty high up there. But right underneath that super corporate phrase “Code of Conduct,” I wrote “Code of Conduct Toward Myself.”

CYAHDanielle MohlmanApril 21, 2019code of conduct, you are the art, self careComment

Crafting Your Welcome Letter

When I set out to write my own Artistic Handbook last April, I had no idea where to start. I knew what I wanted to include in my handbook — I had a list as long as my arm that featured everything from the phrase “standard operating hours” to “play ideas” to “working out of town.” I had a ton of rules for how I’d operate in the American theatre landscape, all of which I’d broken at some point or another. And I had an overwhelming task ahead of me: a 70+ page artistic handbook that was fully searchable, fully functional, and fully me.

CYAHDanielle MohlmanApril 15, 2019accountability, artistic accountability, Crafting Your Artistic HandbookComment