The Great Accountability Rodeo
About
Take the reins with your writing and kick start your 2025!
Deadline to sign up: 5pm, Friday 7th February 2025
The Great Accountability Rodeo is three threads of work: Writing Workshops, Creative Questions Sessions and Writing Sprints. All elements will be led by professional theatre artists, including Linda McLean and Douglas Maxwell. You’ll set a goal at the start to reach by summer. If you take part in a certain number of these sessions and reach the goals you set, you’ll get a small token to mark your accomplishment.
The number one thing playwrights tell us they’re hoping for when they apply for opportunities with us is accountability - having a structure that will help keep them motivated and working towards manageable deadlines with their writing work. So we’ve made this space to help playwrights set and stay on track with their writing goals in the company of other writers.
It’s part self-governing writing group, part workshop series, part creative coaching. Participants will set intentions in an early session and whilst we’ll offer support along the way, it’ll be you as writers keeping yourselves and each other on track. The Great Accountability Rodeo will run from February to July 2025.
Content
There are three elements to the rodeo: Writing Workshops, Creative Questions Sessions and Writing Sprints.
Writing Workshops
Each 3 hour workshop session will consist of activities led by a professional playwright addressing that month’s themes; an exercise to do in real time together; and a creative discussion session. The workshops will take place monthly in Glasgow with a chance to engage with the workshops online for the following week.
The workshops will cover some of the following topics.
February: starting out; building your confidence; setting intentions
March: developing an idea from a seed; stress-testing an idea; the dramatic frame of a story; moving on from research
April: redrafting, reworking and incorporating notes
May: the emotional journey of writing; maintaining your stamina; understanding when to push on and when to let go
June: working with collaborators; structuring R&Ds; working with other people to develop your ideas
Creative Questions Sessions
Creative Questions Sessions are a chance to bring a specific writing question to an experienced playwright. They’re available to writers who took part in that month’s Writing Workshop session. The Creative Questions Sessions will take place monthly, two weeks after the Writing Workshops and will be available online or in person. Each session will last up to 45 minutes.
Writing Sprints
Writing sprints are 30 minute online writing sessions where everyone taking part can come together to quietly concentrate on their individual work.
Every Monday morning at 10am and every Thursday lunchtime at 1pm, we’ll host online sessions where anyone can turn up and write. There will be a short introduction which will include a form of prompt, but you don’t need to write to it – you can work on anything you’d like. The session will last 30 minutes in total.
Key Dates
The rodeo kicks off on Tuesday 11th February. If you stick with it until the end point on 1st July, you’ll get a prize (as well as a warm glow of satisfaction).
Writing Workshops Dates:
Tuesday 11th February
Tuesday 11th March
Tuesday 8th April
Tuesday 6th May
Tuesday 3rd June
Tuesday 1st July
Creative Questions Sessions Dates:
Tuesday 25th February
Tuesday 25th March
Tuesday 22nd April
Tuesday 20th May
Tuesday 17th June
Writing Sprints Dates:
Every Monday morning at 10am
(First session on 17th February, final session on 23rd June)
Every Thursday lunchtime at 1pm
(First session on 20th February, final session on 26th June)
The sessions will last 30 minutes in total.
Eligibility
Anyone Scottish or based in Scotland will have priority to join. If other writers want to join us, they’ll be welcome, depending on capacity.
We hope the structure allows writers with any amount of experience to take part. It is designed for those with some basic knowledge of playwriting – those who have a bit of a sense of their writing interests, strengths and practice already – but you don’t need to have work produced yet. If you feel unsure whether or not it’s right for you, get in touch, or come along to the first one and you can see how it feels.
Access & Equality
See our full statement on access and equality.
The Great Accountability Rodeo will take place in person in Glasgow and online.
We strive to make all our events as accessible as possible. If there is any way we can improve accessibility for you or if you have any questions, please email us at access@playwrightsstudio.co.uk.
Questions?
Below is a list of questions you might have about The Great Accountability Rodeo. If you have further questions, please email info@playwrightsstudio.co.uk and we will be happy to help.
The Great Accountability what?
It’s difficult to stay focused and committed to your writing goals. That’s the rodeo of the project. As the rodeo is a metaphor, at no point will anyone be expected to round up steers or ride mechanical bulls (literally, in any case...)
What’s the aim of the project?
This thread of work focuses some of our public offerings to give more writers a chance to access structured support and the accountability we’ve been told a lot of playwrights miss. The workshops can stand alone but have been designed by industry professionals to take you on a complete journey with the piece of work you want to work on. And each one will be repeated online for a limited period to give you flexibility in being able to attend.
How much does it cost?
All the resources we are providing will be free to access.
What’s the online element?
Writing sprints will be only online. Writing Workshops will take place in person in Glasgow but with elements filmed and available for a short period of time afterwards for those unable to attend in person. Creative Questions sessions will be available online via Zoom or in person subject to the lead writer's availability.
Will I be able to watch the online content again?
For rights reasons, the workshops will only be available online for a limited period.
Can I sign up for just one element?
You can decide to come to events as and when you can. But to meet the expressed need for accountability, we do encourage you to sign up for the whole project if you can. Rodeo members will have first dibs for a space at the Writing Workshops and the Creative Questions Sessions are just for those who have taken part in the last workshop.
Will you still have other one-off open access provisions for writers?
Yes. To stay fully updated on all our opportunities, please ensure you are signed up to receive our e-news.
How many elements do I have to take part in?
To complete the rodeo and get your prize, attend five of the six Writing Workshops, one Creative Questions Session out of a possible five, and at least one writing sprint session per month out of a possible eight.
What’s the prize?
It’s a secret! It’ll be a small token and it’ll be unique to the rodeo. The main prize will be working towards and hopefully meeting your goal.
Why take part?
New year is a time when people often feel a burst of energy and possibility. We wanted to provide a structure for as many people as possible to harness that energy. Like any resolution, we could all do with a little help sticking to our goals, and the structure should mean you meet likeminded people along the way, which a lot of writers also say to us is important to them.
What’s expected of me?
It’s you that sets the goal for the duration of taking part. Particular workshop leaders may, as part of the exercises, ask different things of you – for example, to share bits of writing in sessions – but they will set that out at the start of their workshop. We also ask you to meet the standard behaviour expected of anyone taking part in our work such as being respectful and being considerate of other people’s work and opinions. Beyond that, the commitment is to yourself.
Sign Up
To ensure the rodeo works for everyone, we need to gather a few details about you and your goals. You don’t need to prepare anything in advance of signing up. During the sign up process, you will be asked for the following information:
Name
Email
Phone number
Address
To confirm any allergies that we should be aware of ahead of any in person sessions.
To confirm any communication or other access requirements we should be aware of in order to support your participation in the rodeo.
Why do you want to be part of the rodeo? (We'll set more detailed intentions in February's meeting, so a brief response -up to 300 words - is fine.)
Whether you'll attend sessions in person in Glasgow, online, or a mix of both.
Please submit using The Great Accountability Rodeo Sign Up Sheet.
If you are unable to sign up online and would like the details in different format, or have any questions at all regarding the sign up process, please email info@playwrightsstudio.co.uk.
Deadline to sign up: 5pm, Friday 7th February 2025
Following the deadline to sign up, we will be in touch with more details about the first rodeo session.
