Sometimes, you get breakthroughs with plays that are so freaking OBVIOUS you just DON'T understand how you didn't see if before. I won't go into the details, but I made some connections the other night, and suddenly things started making more sense.
It's funny, because of the two plays I had read this summer, A DEATH IN THE FAMILY is the one I didn't think I would be trying to complete a better draft of. TIME CHANGES is still sitting in a pile somewhere, but A DEATH IN THE FAMILY has already gone through one new draft, and an even NEWER draft is brewing currently (*knock wood*). I need to get this draft finished in the next four days, and somehow get together my play for National Playwriting Month AND learn to write a murder mystery for dinner theatre.
Ahhhh, this all makes me so happy!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Waiting on November
There's nine days before National Playwriting Month (www.naplwrimo.org) begins, and just like every year, I have about ten plays I want to write all at the same time. Why this can't happen another time of the year, I don't know, but here we are, knee-deep in ideas, and at least the same amount of plays I am trying to rewrite.
I would like to be at Last Frontier again next year, and I am having trouble figuring out what to work on for that. The play I am going to work on (at this moment anyway) for NaPlWriMo is AUGUSTEND, but I might actually construct a play based on a crazy 48 hour period that happened to me last weekend. Good God, was that last weekend? It seems like a lifetime ago.
At any rate, I am once again finding myself changing my mind. I don't know exactly what to write starting 9 days from now, but I am sure I will come up with something at some point. I might actually work on 'Highway to Hades' or 'Mine' and send that for Last Frontier. I just hope that if I go, the Alaska lovelies I met there will be able to return, or it will be a sad time (well, maybe not sad, just not as happy!). I was thinking about Alaska today when I was thinking about how to find a writer's group locally or create my own. I miss having a group like that, and I hope I can find one locally sometime soon.
So the edits on A DEATH IN THE FAMILY are getting a bit out of control. I keep getting all these wild ideas that would require the play to be longer, and the ideas are shiny and fun, but I don't know if they have any place in this play. I don't think longer is bad, but I don't think it should be longer just because I'm amused. Hell, it's already longer than it probably needs to be because I am amused. There was one idea that unites the family in the play in a very good way, that I think would work really well if i could pull it off--and I think I will attempt that. Tomorrow though. My brain is sundowning right now and watching the third season of BREAKING BAD is NOT helping.
I would like to be at Last Frontier again next year, and I am having trouble figuring out what to work on for that. The play I am going to work on (at this moment anyway) for NaPlWriMo is AUGUSTEND, but I might actually construct a play based on a crazy 48 hour period that happened to me last weekend. Good God, was that last weekend? It seems like a lifetime ago.
At any rate, I am once again finding myself changing my mind. I don't know exactly what to write starting 9 days from now, but I am sure I will come up with something at some point. I might actually work on 'Highway to Hades' or 'Mine' and send that for Last Frontier. I just hope that if I go, the Alaska lovelies I met there will be able to return, or it will be a sad time (well, maybe not sad, just not as happy!). I was thinking about Alaska today when I was thinking about how to find a writer's group locally or create my own. I miss having a group like that, and I hope I can find one locally sometime soon.
So the edits on A DEATH IN THE FAMILY are getting a bit out of control. I keep getting all these wild ideas that would require the play to be longer, and the ideas are shiny and fun, but I don't know if they have any place in this play. I don't think longer is bad, but I don't think it should be longer just because I'm amused. Hell, it's already longer than it probably needs to be because I am amused. There was one idea that unites the family in the play in a very good way, that I think would work really well if i could pull it off--and I think I will attempt that. Tomorrow though. My brain is sundowning right now and watching the third season of BREAKING BAD is NOT helping.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Getting ready for November
Things are settling down around these parts--fall is here, and I am so excited to be in a real Midwestern fall. It's exciting to go out for a walk and have GINORMOUS piles of beautiful leaves to crunch around in. I don't recall having that same experience in Arkansas the last four years--mainly because you didn't walk anywhere in that less than pedestrian friendly town I lived in--so I am delighted to be able to experience fall for real. Now, remind me I said that when winter hits and I am whining because I don't have my winter legs anymore!
The real excitement for me is that November is almost here and that means National Playwriting Month is almost here! I am sure that most of you know what this critter is about--I've been doing it for the last four years and moderating for the last three--but in case you are stumbling upon this because you found my site through the National Playwriting Month website--here's the nutshell version of this whole shindig.
Similar in fashion to National Novel Writing Month, NaPlWriMo consists of writing a new play from November 1, at 12:01 a.m. to November 30, 12:59 p.m. (in your time zone). The goal is at least 75 pages in that time. It is a fun, crazy time and I look forward to doing it again this year. I have been getting ready by making the forums for this year on the site, putting out some adverts on different websites and getting together my quotes for my countdowns and my daily updates. It's funny, every year I think I will not be able to find new quotes--and there are some fun stand bys I always use because they express truths about the writing life that I have yet to find more eloquently expressed--but somehow I always manage to find some new material. I guess it's like ideas--I am always afraid I might not find a new one and then they keep coming. I love that.
Besides NaPlWriMo, I've made some massive changes to A DEATH IN THE FAMILY. The feedback I got from Reston has helped immensely. I had cut about 5 pages from the play so far, and I am sure I will get that bad boy under 100 pages before too long. I have a lot of character work to do and plot work to do and all that good stuff, but things are definitely coming together.
The real excitement for me is that November is almost here and that means National Playwriting Month is almost here! I am sure that most of you know what this critter is about--I've been doing it for the last four years and moderating for the last three--but in case you are stumbling upon this because you found my site through the National Playwriting Month website--here's the nutshell version of this whole shindig.
Similar in fashion to National Novel Writing Month, NaPlWriMo consists of writing a new play from November 1, at 12:01 a.m. to November 30, 12:59 p.m. (in your time zone). The goal is at least 75 pages in that time. It is a fun, crazy time and I look forward to doing it again this year. I have been getting ready by making the forums for this year on the site, putting out some adverts on different websites and getting together my quotes for my countdowns and my daily updates. It's funny, every year I think I will not be able to find new quotes--and there are some fun stand bys I always use because they express truths about the writing life that I have yet to find more eloquently expressed--but somehow I always manage to find some new material. I guess it's like ideas--I am always afraid I might not find a new one and then they keep coming. I love that.
Besides NaPlWriMo, I've made some massive changes to A DEATH IN THE FAMILY. The feedback I got from Reston has helped immensely. I had cut about 5 pages from the play so far, and I am sure I will get that bad boy under 100 pages before too long. I have a lot of character work to do and plot work to do and all that good stuff, but things are definitely coming together.
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