In September of 2012, the NY Times published, as part of an ongoing series,
a list of "rules of writing" composed by
Neil Gaiman. With only minor editing, they apply equally to lighting design as well as to any other art form.
- Write. In the case of a lighting designer, if you're not currently lighting a show,
at least be thinking about lighting. Observe lighting in nature. Analyze other designers' work.
When you're listening to music, think about the way you would light each song. Look at paintings and
photographs and movies, and analyze the way those artists used light.
- Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down. When you're starting a new project, don't be
intimidated by that big, blank piece of paper (or that big, blank, monitor screen). Don't think, "I have to draft
this whole plot"; think, "I have to draw the next fixture".
- Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it. Self-explanatory.
- Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you
respect and who like the kind of thing that this is. In the case of the lighting design, this will almost
always be the director, and often the artistic director.
- Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right.
When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
- Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go
and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
The show's open. Move on.
- Laugh at your own jokes.
- The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do
whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.)
So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can.
I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter. Remember that theatre is a collaborative art
form, so you're not entirely free to just do whatever you want, but if you believe that your design serves the show — and
if the director agrees — don't worry if what you've done violates what the conventional wisdom holds to
be the "rules" of lighting design...even those listed elsewhere on this site.
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