Advice to the Playwright

Advice to the playwright: 

• Never let anybody alter your work. But if they do, and it happens to make it better, be prepared to take credit for it. 
• Never allow directors to intimidate you, but have some sympathy for them. They are professional cat herders and you are why they drink. 
• Strive to be kind to actors, even when they're being impossible. They have a difficult life, and without them, you're a novelist.
•  Praise and blame are illusions. 
• Never take kind words for granted, but do your work. 
• Just do your work. Don't let anybody stop you. Keep writing no matter what. 
• Direct, act, build sets, earn your right to be in a theatre. This will give you insight into the absurdly difficult tasks you set for others when you write. 
• Help other playwrights when you can, even if they don't like you. Jealousy is poison. We're all in the same sinking ship. 
• Calm down. Hysteria is contagious in rehearsal, and life is short. 
• Break the rules. 
• Trust your own instincts. If your instincts now and then betray you, learn from it, but don't stop trusting them. Experience can deepen and fine tune your instincts, but in the end, you have nothing else. 
• It's better to be hated for what you wrote than for what you let somebody else talk you into writing. 
• Write without fear. 
• Love without hope.  
--- DON NIGRO 

A "Tip of the Hat" to Owa for passing this along.