Play 326: I Have No Ability To Judge My Own Writing

CHARACTERS
VINCENT, 17
EVAN, 17

VINCENT
Know what’s funny?

EVAN
What?

VINCENT
When you write something you think is terrible, and other people really like it.

EVAN
Yeah. Happens to me a lot in English class.

VINCENT
Same.

EVAN
I’ll think something’s really bad, and my teacher’ll love it.

VINCENT
Or I’ll really like something and they’ll hate it.

EVAN
Definitely.

VINCENT
Or like, all of the poetry I’ve ever written that other people like, I hate.

EVAN
That’s funny.

VINCENT
Yeah. I guess I don’t like most poetry though, so it makes sense.

EVAN
Yeah.

(Beat.)

VINCENT
And it seems like any time I write a scene and think, or at least worry, that it was just pretentious bullshit, people always seem to really like it.

EVAN
Really?

VINCENT
Yeah, it’s odd.

(Beat.)

I’ve just come to learn that I have no ability to judge my writing.

EVAN
It’s hard to be objective when it’s your stuff.

VINCENT
Yeah.

(Beat.)

Especially with writing I find though.

EVAN
Makes sense.

VINCENT
Yeah, I guess.

EVAN
It’s more personal than most things, and a little more of a subjective thing in general, so it makes sense that it’d be even more hard for you to judge objectively.

VINCENT
That’s a good point.

(Pause.)

VINCENT
I guess I should just try to always write scenes that are pretentious crap.

EVAN
Maybe.

VINCENT
That would obviously end well.

EVAN
Obviously.

(Blackout.)