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Students Get A Glimpse Into The Life Of A Writer

(with photo)

BY MICHELE HOGAN

What was it really like writing for Sesame Street ?

Ray Sipherd, one of the original Sesame Street writers, gave students at

Newtown High School the inside story on the life of a writer.

Many times, he sat in Jim Henson's office, Grover puppet on his hand, playing

toy games with Bert and Ernie.

Mr Sipherd said, "I'd written all these pieces for Grover, and suddenly, I was

Grover! We'd sit there and let them yak at each other. Great hits came out of

that."

They would start with a theme, whether it be a letter, a number, an emotion or

a problem-solving strategy, then they would play, and later, write.

Although derived from play, he had to come up with two scripts, each 25

minutes long, every week.

Mr Sipherd said that as a script writer, he couldn't allow himself to get

writer's block. When asked what his incentive was for writing, he said,

"Knowing it is due Tuesday!"

He did explain that a short coffee break and then re-reading the material can

sometimes help if you get stuck.

Sometimes an idea simply wouldn't pan out, so he would put it away, and come

back to it fresh, maybe years later.

He said, "I'll say that writing can be one of the freest and most gratifying

-- as well as the most perilous, insecure, ego-bashing and financially

upsetting occupations I can think of."

Back in 1962, when a friend asked Mr Sipherd if he would write a few scripts

for a new children's television show, he had no idea that Sesame Street was

going to be such a hit.

At first, Sesame Street got bad reviews from The New York Times .

It was different from Howdy Doodee , and the reviewers didn't understand it.

Sesame Street was based on educational research showing that children's

attention span was much shorter than the typical children's show of the day.

Sesame Street responded to this by using 50 elements per hour, alternating

animation, muppets and live acting, with each segment never longer than four

minutes.

Educators of the day were highly critical of Sesame Street , accusing it of

shortening children's attention spans, and sugar-coating learning (like making

the letter C grow legs and run around things that begin with the letter C), he

said.

But, by the end of the first year, Sesame Street and all the writers were

recognized with Emmy Awards.

Mr Sipherd said he is pleased to see that the show, now in its 27th season, is

still using some of the muppet segments that he made in the 1960s.

Big Bird and Oscar were the first characters.

Cookie Monster was almost going to be a silverware-eating monster, but the

writers decided it was a bad example for the pre-school crowd "so we made him

eat cookies instead."

He said that "it is fun to experiment, to find out new things about yourself

and your life. I might go back to Sesame Street , but not to soap operas!"

The script writing pattern for soap operas, a job Mr Sipherd did for a short

time just prior to working for Sesame Street , was quite different from Sesame

Street .

Each Friday's script had to be a cliff-hanger, to keep people coming back on

Monday.

One Friday, they had Jerry, a child, fall into the river, about to drown, and

Miranda leave her husband over a misunderstanding. When people tuned in on

Monday, there was a game show on TV instead. The soap opera had been cut.

Mr Sipherd said that all the phone lines at ABC lit up. ABC had to rehire the

writers to do a two-page resolution, to tell people that all was well at the

end of the show.

Mr Sipherd has done many types of writing.

He wrote the screen play for the Mad Women of Challiott , a play recently

performed at Newtown High School.

He has also written mysteries, short stories, and is on his third novel.

"There are two requirements for writing," he concluded, "talent and tenacity.

Some writers flash across the literary sky like meteorites, and are gone."

He also said some scripts just don't show talent. He said that editors can

usually tell in the first paragraph if a script is worth reading, just as a

viewer can appraise actors by their entrance.

For students interested in pursuing a career in writing, he recommended that

they read and write as much as they can, and that they sharpen their

sensitivity to life.

He told them not to do it for the money. He told them that the average writer

in the United States earns about $5,000 a year from writing. Most writers need

to keep their day job, too.

He did say that with Monica Lewinsky, it would be different. He said, "She

will probably write a book and earn more than most writers do in their whole

careers."

Ray Sipherd is the second speaker in a series brought to the school by Jack

Quinlan, guidance counselor, and Jane McEvoy, career counselor, to help give

high school students insight into careers.