I wrote about how my PP play was not chosen for this year's school season, and that same play just got its second rejection. This time, though, I think I know why.
My mom sent me an e-mail almost two months ago with a scanned attachment. It was an article from my local paper at home announcing that a theatre in my home county was taking submissions of pieces by poets, playwrights, and the like for a festival. This was already enough to get me interested, but the article went on to say that this festival's focus was on work that was inspired by other writers' work; the submissions didn't have to fall into this category, but those that did would be given more consideration.
I got very excited. I am a playwright, if a budding one, and my play was a piece directly influenced by J.M. Barrie's novel and play. Perfect!
I sent off the current draft to my critique partner, asking him to get it back to me a few days before I would have to send it off to the committee for perusal. This way, I figured, I'd have time to adjust at least a few things. He complied a few weeks later, I edited, and then off went the e-mail to the theatre.
A response came back almost immediately- I hadn't filled out a form. This was because they hadn't mentioned a form in the advert, but I filled it out and sent it off. Another response came, this time asking if my submission was a full length play. They weren't sure how they'd do with that- they had been looking for shorter pieces, like monologues and poems. What did I expect if my piece were to be chosen?
This irritated me a bit. They hadn't specified what kind of pieces they wanted. If they had only wanted short pieces, no way would I have submitted my ninety-three page script. But I did not show this irritation. Instead, wrote back and said that even a staged reading would be wonderful.
The decisions were made earlier than was expected and I got my "thanks, but no thanks" e-mail on Wednesday. It wasn't unexpected- I knew from the second e-mail, the one that mentioned the length, that my piece wasn't right for the festival. There are also a few other reasons why there would have been small problems. For example, they wanted the playwright/writer to come to dress rehearsals and things like that, which I would normally love to do, but would have been unable, as I'm still in England then. So while it may have been the writing that drove them away, I'm hoping it was one of those issues.
I think my mom was more disappointed than I was that it hadn't been accepted. When I told her the news this afternoon, she started listing other theatres that I should send the play to. I love that she's so supportive, but I know that the play still needs some work. Just as with the school submission of this play, I didn't have enough editing time and had to just send off the copy I had at that moment. To submit it to other theatres, I'm going to need to work on it much more, and I'm happy to do so. I love the play and one day, when it's truly finished, I hope to see it onstage.
Showing posts with label peter pan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peter pan. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Knowledge, Or the Lack Thereof
I have lately been experiencing the above conundrum in two of my current works, and it's difficult to work my way out of these states.
First, Knowledge.
I like to research. I am that nerdy girl at school who practically clapped when a research paper was announced. I do super in-depth dramaturgical work when I'm in a play... sometimes for every character or situation presented. Sometimes, my research goes horribly awry, like when I was collecting facts for my 2009 NaNo novel, Remembrance. I sent it away to be edited by a friend, and when it came back, she had noted that most of my research was incorrect. All of my hard work was for nothing, and now I had a very mistaken point of view of English history. Other times, I simply know too much-I research to the point where what I know about the subject can't possibly be worked into the manuscript, especially in a natural, non-info barf-y way. This is an issue I came across recently, when I decided to write my analytical essay for class on my favorite play and its film adaptation, which I also love. I re-read the play, watched the film, collected sources, and wrote ten pages of notes. The essay was only allowed to be 2,500 words wrong and by about 2,000, I had only talked about three of my points and hadn't needed to use a single source because I had so much to say on the subject in the first place.
This latter problem is what is going on for one piece, in a way. When I began writing my Peter Pan play, I waffled about whether to send my main character, Mary, to an insane asylum. As I started doing more research in about February of last year, I came to learn that in Victorian England, seeing things and talking too much about things that people don't want to hear merits you a one-way ticket to a nice padded cell.
I worried that this might be too dramatic and waffled for about six months as to whether to put it in or not. In the end, I decided that she would be sent to the asylum but skipped over the actual asylum part. leaving off when she found out she was being sent away and picking up when he returns. When I presented my semi-finished script to my playwrighting class around November of last year, my teacher specifically requested that I write a scene in the mental institution.
All through this, I had been thinking of doing so, if only for myself, and had been doing research. I learned a lot. A lot, a lot. My entire perception of the medical world in the Victorian era was changed because of the methods they used to cure women of the disease my character was thought to be suffering from (hysteria, the catch-all diagnosis for all inconvenient behavior in the 19th century.) I wrote the scene. I turned it in. I was happy with it.
Then I came to England and started a class called Madness and Medicine in Modern Britain. The class specialised in the examination of asylums in the Victorian era, with a unit devoted to hysteria. I read a dozen articles on it, covering them in highlighter. I took detailed notes during class. I gave my own presentation on hysteria. Then I went back to my script, armed with my new knowledge. Then I realised something.
I knew too much. There was no possible way I could go deep enough into the subject in two or three scenes without making it unnatural and/or confusing a potential audience. I needed to, not dumb it down, but keep it simple, on the surface. Let the audience know what the disease was and the milder ways it was treated (some of the more serious treatments not only shocked me and would be hard for me to write about, but there's no way my fourteen year old character would have been subjected to that... I hope.) However, it's been difficult for me to pull back and see just how much is too much to be dumping on the audience.
Then there's the problem at the other end of the spectrum: too little knowledge. This problem came in when I was working on my NaNo '10 novel, which I've been editing since December.
See, in the novel, my character has a boyfriend. The first time they get together in a romantic way, they kiss pretty seriously to the point where my main character gets uncomfortable and leaves. However, she does let herself get carried away before realising what she's doing.
Yeah... like I know what that's like. Besides not being great at writing kissing scenes- I've only ever written one, and it was more of a very chaste kissing moment- I have little personal experience with the act myself. I've never gotten to the point that Lyddie does in that scene.
I wrote it early in the process and when I shared it nearly a year later, people seemed to think it was realistic. But reading it over this week, I realised that it wasn't serious enough. While the reader knew that she was getting uncomfortable... there were really no details and so they just had to take my word for it, and I don't think that would satisfy many people. That's the problem with this being a novel and not a screenplay. I've written screenplay/play kisses and it looks like this:
(They kiss.)
I can do that (unless I'm the actor carrying out the direction, which I have been. Then I'm just as inept.)
In a novel, especially one being told in first person present like mine... you need more than "he kisses me" (well, at least for this scene. I do in fact have a few more, no-details-given kisses in the book.)
I wanted to add more but what? I didn't know what would go on in a situation like that. So I spent some time on the romance boards of NaNoWriMo.org, consulted my favorite book series, and added a bit to the scene.
I'm happy with how it stands right now, but I honestly don't know if it's realistic, and unless I find a lovely English boy who will love and care about me, I don't anticipate getting any real-life experience in the near future that would help me confirm it.
*sigh*
First, Knowledge.
I like to research. I am that nerdy girl at school who practically clapped when a research paper was announced. I do super in-depth dramaturgical work when I'm in a play... sometimes for every character or situation presented. Sometimes, my research goes horribly awry, like when I was collecting facts for my 2009 NaNo novel, Remembrance. I sent it away to be edited by a friend, and when it came back, she had noted that most of my research was incorrect. All of my hard work was for nothing, and now I had a very mistaken point of view of English history. Other times, I simply know too much-I research to the point where what I know about the subject can't possibly be worked into the manuscript, especially in a natural, non-info barf-y way. This is an issue I came across recently, when I decided to write my analytical essay for class on my favorite play and its film adaptation, which I also love. I re-read the play, watched the film, collected sources, and wrote ten pages of notes. The essay was only allowed to be 2,500 words wrong and by about 2,000, I had only talked about three of my points and hadn't needed to use a single source because I had so much to say on the subject in the first place.
This latter problem is what is going on for one piece, in a way. When I began writing my Peter Pan play, I waffled about whether to send my main character, Mary, to an insane asylum. As I started doing more research in about February of last year, I came to learn that in Victorian England, seeing things and talking too much about things that people don't want to hear merits you a one-way ticket to a nice padded cell.
I worried that this might be too dramatic and waffled for about six months as to whether to put it in or not. In the end, I decided that she would be sent to the asylum but skipped over the actual asylum part. leaving off when she found out she was being sent away and picking up when he returns. When I presented my semi-finished script to my playwrighting class around November of last year, my teacher specifically requested that I write a scene in the mental institution.
All through this, I had been thinking of doing so, if only for myself, and had been doing research. I learned a lot. A lot, a lot. My entire perception of the medical world in the Victorian era was changed because of the methods they used to cure women of the disease my character was thought to be suffering from (hysteria, the catch-all diagnosis for all inconvenient behavior in the 19th century.) I wrote the scene. I turned it in. I was happy with it.
Then I came to England and started a class called Madness and Medicine in Modern Britain. The class specialised in the examination of asylums in the Victorian era, with a unit devoted to hysteria. I read a dozen articles on it, covering them in highlighter. I took detailed notes during class. I gave my own presentation on hysteria. Then I went back to my script, armed with my new knowledge. Then I realised something.
I knew too much. There was no possible way I could go deep enough into the subject in two or three scenes without making it unnatural and/or confusing a potential audience. I needed to, not dumb it down, but keep it simple, on the surface. Let the audience know what the disease was and the milder ways it was treated (some of the more serious treatments not only shocked me and would be hard for me to write about, but there's no way my fourteen year old character would have been subjected to that... I hope.) However, it's been difficult for me to pull back and see just how much is too much to be dumping on the audience.
Then there's the problem at the other end of the spectrum: too little knowledge. This problem came in when I was working on my NaNo '10 novel, which I've been editing since December.
See, in the novel, my character has a boyfriend. The first time they get together in a romantic way, they kiss pretty seriously to the point where my main character gets uncomfortable and leaves. However, she does let herself get carried away before realising what she's doing.
Yeah... like I know what that's like. Besides not being great at writing kissing scenes- I've only ever written one, and it was more of a very chaste kissing moment- I have little personal experience with the act myself. I've never gotten to the point that Lyddie does in that scene.
I wrote it early in the process and when I shared it nearly a year later, people seemed to think it was realistic. But reading it over this week, I realised that it wasn't serious enough. While the reader knew that she was getting uncomfortable... there were really no details and so they just had to take my word for it, and I don't think that would satisfy many people. That's the problem with this being a novel and not a screenplay. I've written screenplay/play kisses and it looks like this:
(They kiss.)
I can do that (unless I'm the actor carrying out the direction, which I have been. Then I'm just as inept.)
In a novel, especially one being told in first person present like mine... you need more than "he kisses me" (well, at least for this scene. I do in fact have a few more, no-details-given kisses in the book.)
I wanted to add more but what? I didn't know what would go on in a situation like that. So I spent some time on the romance boards of NaNoWriMo.org, consulted my favorite book series, and added a bit to the scene.
I'm happy with how it stands right now, but I honestly don't know if it's realistic, and unless I find a lovely English boy who will love and care about me, I don't anticipate getting any real-life experience in the near future that would help me confirm it.
*sigh*
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Failure? Maybe, Maybe Not
So I did something in December that, until right now, only six people knew about, including me. I've mentioned my PP play on this blog numerous times, obsessed over it, finished it, and handed it in. I was very proud of it. I am very proud of it. However, when my professor suggested that I submit it for my school's theatre season, I was a little hesitant. I don't show a lot of people my writing. Besides doing WIP Wednesdays on this blog, there are really only two people to whom I regularly show my writing, and I've talked about them in an old blog post about writing buddies. I find it hard to part with my babies, though I'm getting much better due to writing classes and workshops.
I also didn't know if I wanted to submit it because when I spoke about it with my advisor (who has a great hand in choosing the season, if not the whole hand), he told me that I needed to get it in very fast, as they usually announce the next season in the first week of January. The completed script was due for class on December seventeenth. I had a copy to my advisor by the fifteenth. And while I did hand him a completed script... it was a first draft. Not all of the scenes- some of them were nearly a year old. But others had been completed just hours before. I knew it wasn't ready, but because I had been encouraged to do so, I had enough nerve to turn it in.
I wasn't ashamed of my advisor reading it- I think it's an okay play. But it's not great, not yet. Besides the fact that some of the plot can be fleshed out much further, it would also be a challenge for my school's theatre space in regards to stage size, cast size (we hardly have any boys at my school, and my play would need all of them), and stunt ability (there's not a lot, but it is Peter Pan and since the Spiderman debacle, people are pretty leery about the whole flying thing, no matter how brief.) I didn't know what to expect in ways of reaction. They've set precedent in working with student playwrights after they choose the student's show, and I wasn't sure if that might happen to me. When I would have exchanges about the next season with my advisor, he would be cryptic. I got an e-mail response from him this week telling me that he thought I would be very happy with the next season.
It was announced last night. My play is not on it.
Am I sad? No. Not at all. The part of me that really wanted to have a play I love produced this soon is a little disappointed. But I don't feel cheated or gyped or disrespected or overlooked. I'm not relieved, but it does take a good deal of pressure off of the rewrites I'm doing now, which I would have embarked on either way. I do want to publish this play one day, but it needs a lot of work.
So I don't consider this a failure. I won't lie- there was a moment or two when I thought, "If he hates the play, does that make me an awful writer? What does this mean?" But the fact is, I don't know if he hated the play. He might- we have different tastes in plays and I wrote a play I would want to see. But he might not hate it. There is a myriad of reasons why my play wasn't chosen; dislike could be one reason, but even if it is, there's probably something else too (like the casting of non-existent boys.) Also... the season is freaking awesome. I felt nothing but excitement when I read it.
So no failure here. Not success either, really, but it doesn't lessen my passion for the play and it hasn't slowed my rewrites. I just sent a fresh draft, complete with two brand-new scenes, off to one of my trusty writing partners last night. Hopefully with his edits, I can make it even better and hope to one day see it mounted on a stage.
I also didn't know if I wanted to submit it because when I spoke about it with my advisor (who has a great hand in choosing the season, if not the whole hand), he told me that I needed to get it in very fast, as they usually announce the next season in the first week of January. The completed script was due for class on December seventeenth. I had a copy to my advisor by the fifteenth. And while I did hand him a completed script... it was a first draft. Not all of the scenes- some of them were nearly a year old. But others had been completed just hours before. I knew it wasn't ready, but because I had been encouraged to do so, I had enough nerve to turn it in.
I wasn't ashamed of my advisor reading it- I think it's an okay play. But it's not great, not yet. Besides the fact that some of the plot can be fleshed out much further, it would also be a challenge for my school's theatre space in regards to stage size, cast size (we hardly have any boys at my school, and my play would need all of them), and stunt ability (there's not a lot, but it is Peter Pan and since the Spiderman debacle, people are pretty leery about the whole flying thing, no matter how brief.) I didn't know what to expect in ways of reaction. They've set precedent in working with student playwrights after they choose the student's show, and I wasn't sure if that might happen to me. When I would have exchanges about the next season with my advisor, he would be cryptic. I got an e-mail response from him this week telling me that he thought I would be very happy with the next season.
It was announced last night. My play is not on it.
Am I sad? No. Not at all. The part of me that really wanted to have a play I love produced this soon is a little disappointed. But I don't feel cheated or gyped or disrespected or overlooked. I'm not relieved, but it does take a good deal of pressure off of the rewrites I'm doing now, which I would have embarked on either way. I do want to publish this play one day, but it needs a lot of work.
So I don't consider this a failure. I won't lie- there was a moment or two when I thought, "If he hates the play, does that make me an awful writer? What does this mean?" But the fact is, I don't know if he hated the play. He might- we have different tastes in plays and I wrote a play I would want to see. But he might not hate it. There is a myriad of reasons why my play wasn't chosen; dislike could be one reason, but even if it is, there's probably something else too (like the casting of non-existent boys.) Also... the season is freaking awesome. I felt nothing but excitement when I read it.
So no failure here. Not success either, really, but it doesn't lessen my passion for the play and it hasn't slowed my rewrites. I just sent a fresh draft, complete with two brand-new scenes, off to one of my trusty writing partners last night. Hopefully with his edits, I can make it even better and hope to one day see it mounted on a stage.
Friday, February 4, 2011
In Which I Recognize That I Am a Baby
I mentioned a few blog posts back that I got some great, helpful feedback from my playwrighting professor on my adaptation. I am excited to apply them... but I am also being a complete baby about it. I enjoy editing, and I feel very accomplished when I've completed a lot of little changes. For example, in my fiction, I have the tendency to just use "says" and "asks" rather than more vivid verbs. This was one of my frend's biggest comments on Remembrance. So I went through The Other Side of Light and highlighted every single one, then took a few days to go back and "vivify" them. It took a long time, but I know my novel's better for it.
But the changes that need to be made on Straight on 'Til Morning are not small. It's almost like an overall rewrite is due- my scenes and dialogue are fine, but it's so all-talk, no-action that I pretty much need to rework every scene in some little way, as well as add one or two more that are more swashbuckling.
When I bring up my document and face the title page, however, my brain just throws a tantrum. I'm not quite sure how to make a lot of these changes, as all-talk, no-action is my weakness in all writing... and possibly my life :p I want to make them because this play will not sit in my desk drawer for the rest of my life... but it's definitely going to be hard.
This weekend's a writing weekend, though- I have to finish up three shorter papers and then I'll turn my attention to the scritpt. We'll see how this goes.
In non-whiny, cool news, the First Novels Club is holding an awesome contest! Check it out!
But the changes that need to be made on Straight on 'Til Morning are not small. It's almost like an overall rewrite is due- my scenes and dialogue are fine, but it's so all-talk, no-action that I pretty much need to rework every scene in some little way, as well as add one or two more that are more swashbuckling.
When I bring up my document and face the title page, however, my brain just throws a tantrum. I'm not quite sure how to make a lot of these changes, as all-talk, no-action is my weakness in all writing... and possibly my life :p I want to make them because this play will not sit in my desk drawer for the rest of my life... but it's definitely going to be hard.
This weekend's a writing weekend, though- I have to finish up three shorter papers and then I'll turn my attention to the scritpt. We'll see how this goes.
In non-whiny, cool news, the First Novels Club is holding an awesome contest! Check it out!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Activating
When I got my (great and very helpful) play evaluation back on my Peter Pan play, one of the biggest notations was that a lot of the scenes were all talk, no action. They were full of smart dialogue... but no one ever did anything. And as I was writing scenes for a different play I'm working on, I noticed the same thing. I really liked what was being discussed, but they just sat on the couch and talked.
So I wrote to my teacher and asked him if he had any suggestions to liven up the action. He gave me a few suggestions and I'm going to try them as soon as I get these darned reviews written for my Reading Theatre class.
This is when I wish I had my arsenal of plays with me. Sadly, I only brought three (Proof, Time Stands Still, and Leaves.) The good thing is that they're all talky plays, so I'm going to scour them for ideas as to how to get my characters up and moving.
Any suggestions from my fellow writers?
So I wrote to my teacher and asked him if he had any suggestions to liven up the action. He gave me a few suggestions and I'm going to try them as soon as I get these darned reviews written for my Reading Theatre class.
This is when I wish I had my arsenal of plays with me. Sadly, I only brought three (Proof, Time Stands Still, and Leaves.) The good thing is that they're all talky plays, so I'm going to scour them for ideas as to how to get my characters up and moving.
Any suggestions from my fellow writers?
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Pushing Through
*tries to slip in unnoticed*
Oh, hey... is this where my blog is located? I guess I kinda... haven't posted for awhile, huh?
BUT, guys, I have an EXCUSE. And it is a good one.
I've been writing. And yes, it's November and this is a writing blog, so of course, if I'm posting, I've been writing. But I mean I have been composing like a mad woman. Thank goodness for computers, because I have done so much writing today that I wouldn't be able to move my hand if I'd had to do it long hand.
See, my schedule blew up recently. What with classes, rehearsals, and you know, LIVING, I fell way, way behind on my wordcount. And what's more, when I did have time to write, I'd basically sit there and stare at the screen and maybe get a hundred words out of it.
I know there are sometimes slow periods, especially in NaNo, but this was bad. Because to be honest, I could keep pushing it off until tomorrow, thinking I'd have more time, but every tomorrow brings another 1667 words to be written and it also brings with it my crazy schedule. I mean, seriously... this time next week, I'll be opening a show. So even though I'd sequestered myself for a good four hours yesterday, I got nothing out of it, and I was determined that today would not be another one of those days. I took advantage of my second class being cancelled and went to the school cafe and wrote.
Slowly, very slowly, I began to chip away at the wall I'd been smacking my head against for the past few days. I found my plot again, cleaned up some Write or Die scenes, and in general got my act together. Then I changed my location and did three thirty-minute, thousand-word Write or Die sessions. And finally, after about seven hours, my word count stands thus:
Word Count: 28,421 / 50,000
I am seriously proud of myself. Not only did I write 6,982 words today, I also found a brand new, awesome plot point and had a few new things go wrong for my character. Yesterday, I was desparing that I could write another 35,000 words of this novel, but now I think I might be able to swing 21,579 more.
So my lesson for today, everyone- DETERMINATION. I was about to give up on NaNo this year because I was feeling really overloaded. But in the end, I really want to do it, so I pushed through and it was hard but so, so worth it.
In other news, I had the reading of my first twenty pages of my Peter Pan script in my playwrighting class. It went well. I wasn't too happy with how it was actually read... if only the class were full of actors. But, as my friend in the class said (who I cast as Peter), you can get it from the writing, too. I got some great feedback, both complimentary and constructive, and I'll be returning to that once this entry is finished.
I watched my teacher as he read along with it and I thought he didn't like it. But while he had some questions, in the end, he gave me a compliment so awesome that I am afraid to repeat it to anyone. I'm not going to write it here because a) I don't want to jinx it and b) it's very specific to my school, so you guys might not understand WHY it was such a compliment. But it really was, and it gave me hope, especially since he wasn't so into the idea in the first place.
So now I'm off to work on that! Push through, NaNoers, push through. It'll be well worth the effort.
Last Google search: Write or Die
Last Thesaurus.com search: hurry
Oh, hey... is this where my blog is located? I guess I kinda... haven't posted for awhile, huh?
BUT, guys, I have an EXCUSE. And it is a good one.
I've been writing. And yes, it's November and this is a writing blog, so of course, if I'm posting, I've been writing. But I mean I have been composing like a mad woman. Thank goodness for computers, because I have done so much writing today that I wouldn't be able to move my hand if I'd had to do it long hand.
See, my schedule blew up recently. What with classes, rehearsals, and you know, LIVING, I fell way, way behind on my wordcount. And what's more, when I did have time to write, I'd basically sit there and stare at the screen and maybe get a hundred words out of it.
I know there are sometimes slow periods, especially in NaNo, but this was bad. Because to be honest, I could keep pushing it off until tomorrow, thinking I'd have more time, but every tomorrow brings another 1667 words to be written and it also brings with it my crazy schedule. I mean, seriously... this time next week, I'll be opening a show. So even though I'd sequestered myself for a good four hours yesterday, I got nothing out of it, and I was determined that today would not be another one of those days. I took advantage of my second class being cancelled and went to the school cafe and wrote.
Slowly, very slowly, I began to chip away at the wall I'd been smacking my head against for the past few days. I found my plot again, cleaned up some Write or Die scenes, and in general got my act together. Then I changed my location and did three thirty-minute, thousand-word Write or Die sessions. And finally, after about seven hours, my word count stands thus:
Word Count: 28,421 / 50,000
I am seriously proud of myself. Not only did I write 6,982 words today, I also found a brand new, awesome plot point and had a few new things go wrong for my character. Yesterday, I was desparing that I could write another 35,000 words of this novel, but now I think I might be able to swing 21,579 more.
So my lesson for today, everyone- DETERMINATION. I was about to give up on NaNo this year because I was feeling really overloaded. But in the end, I really want to do it, so I pushed through and it was hard but so, so worth it.
In other news, I had the reading of my first twenty pages of my Peter Pan script in my playwrighting class. It went well. I wasn't too happy with how it was actually read... if only the class were full of actors. But, as my friend in the class said (who I cast as Peter), you can get it from the writing, too. I got some great feedback, both complimentary and constructive, and I'll be returning to that once this entry is finished.
I watched my teacher as he read along with it and I thought he didn't like it. But while he had some questions, in the end, he gave me a compliment so awesome that I am afraid to repeat it to anyone. I'm not going to write it here because a) I don't want to jinx it and b) it's very specific to my school, so you guys might not understand WHY it was such a compliment. But it really was, and it gave me hope, especially since he wasn't so into the idea in the first place.
So now I'm off to work on that! Push through, NaNoers, push through. It'll be well worth the effort.
Last Google search: Write or Die
Last Thesaurus.com search: hurry
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Dodging a Bullet by Taking Another
I wrote yesterday about how my plot needed a complete revamp after the introduction of a semi-serious romantic relationship for my main character. While I was plowing through those changes (which I'm still doing right now... so many little details have to be tweaked), I was seeing statuses/reading blogs/hearing that people were suffering from the Week Two Blues. These are common, and I'm sure I suffered from them myself last year, but right now, I'm feeling pretty good. I really like the changes that this relationship has made to the novel. It's made some decisions more serious, given Lyddie a distraction, which is both good and bad for her, and made me look at some scenes I haven't looked at in awhile and that needed a redo anyway.
So I sort of feel like I've dodged the Week Two bullet. Of course, rewriting all of this stuff, as well as adding in a ton, is proving to be hard and meticulous, but I think it's my own little Week Two challenge. What I'm most afraid of is the 30k panic- I KNOW I suffered from that last year. You hit 30k and then suddenly, it all goes to pot.
And you guys get to come along for the ride :p
Now I've got to go read through my Peter Pan play- I'm having 20 pages of it read in Play & Screenwriting on Tuesday night. I'm either going to be very happy or have my bubble burst by 10 pm that day.
So I sort of feel like I've dodged the Week Two bullet. Of course, rewriting all of this stuff, as well as adding in a ton, is proving to be hard and meticulous, but I think it's my own little Week Two challenge. What I'm most afraid of is the 30k panic- I KNOW I suffered from that last year. You hit 30k and then suddenly, it all goes to pot.
And you guys get to come along for the ride :p
Now I've got to go read through my Peter Pan play- I'm having 20 pages of it read in Play & Screenwriting on Tuesday night. I'm either going to be very happy or have my bubble burst by 10 pm that day.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Plotting and Planning
So not only is NaNoWriMo fast approaching (11 days and counting), during which time I will be asked to produce at least 1,667 words every day or risk falling behind on the ever-important word count, but I'm working on two shows AND I have all of my writing classes that will be going strong in November as well.
I know you know this; it's the purpose of this blog. But I thought I would just reiterate just how much writing I'm doing this semester, and especially in November. It's crazy. It's great. And it's going to be really hard to keep up.
I'm having kind of a moral crisis about NaNoWriMo. It centers around the fact that I've already begun the novel I'm going to be working on. I feel like I'm in one of those angel-and-devil-on-the-shoulders type of situation.
DEVIL: If you fall behind on your word count, it's TOTALLY acceptable to count the 14,679 words you've already written in for the day. You're busy, it's understandable. Besides, it's not like you're writing this in a blog or whatever- NO ONE WILL KNOW!
ANGEL: Are you doing National Novel Writing Month or National I Wrote Most of This in a Month But I Cheated Because I Was Lazy Month? Do you think you'll really feel fulfilled if you take teh easy route? You know if you don't compose 50,000 BRAND NEW words this month, you won't let yourself count it.
DEVIL: She can't do math anyway, so why not make it that much easier?
ANGEL: Yes, but starting her wordcount from scratch will push her to explore her characters and situations more deeply, especially if she's short on words for the month.
DEVIL: What do you think she's been doing for the past several months? Exploring characters and situations!
ANGEL: (sing-song) Cheating, cheating, cheating...
DEVIL: It's not like she didn't put work on what she's written for the past few months-
ANGEL: (putting her fingers in her ears) La, la, la, I can't hear you!
DEVIL: Aren't you supposed to be the good one?
Yeah...
Anyway, in addition to continue to work on the plot of my NaNo novel, I spent this afternoon sorting out the plot of my Peter Pan play. I'm so, so excited that this is going to be my final project because it's going to push me to finish it. I also found out, as I was filling out the breakdown table I made in Word that technically, I have the most of the first part of the assignment done. If I wanted, I could call the first act (of, I think, three) done. Wow... It's still going to take a lot of work for me to finish this play in a way that my Type-A personality will accept as "good."
Speaking of well-written plays, I just bought my ticket to see Time Stands Still (by Donald Margulies) for a second time. The writing in it is just incredible, so great that I was willing to pay through the nose to sit in the orchestra section (I was in the very very last row last time- they actually had to give my friends and I booster seats to see.) Also, Laura Linney, one of my favorite actors, is in it, along with Brian d'Arcy James, who I also love. They're electric onstage. I'm so excited!
I know you know this; it's the purpose of this blog. But I thought I would just reiterate just how much writing I'm doing this semester, and especially in November. It's crazy. It's great. And it's going to be really hard to keep up.
I'm having kind of a moral crisis about NaNoWriMo. It centers around the fact that I've already begun the novel I'm going to be working on. I feel like I'm in one of those angel-and-devil-on-the-shoulders type of situation.
DEVIL: If you fall behind on your word count, it's TOTALLY acceptable to count the 14,679 words you've already written in for the day. You're busy, it's understandable. Besides, it's not like you're writing this in a blog or whatever- NO ONE WILL KNOW!
ANGEL: Are you doing National Novel Writing Month or National I Wrote Most of This in a Month But I Cheated Because I Was Lazy Month? Do you think you'll really feel fulfilled if you take teh easy route? You know if you don't compose 50,000 BRAND NEW words this month, you won't let yourself count it.
DEVIL: She can't do math anyway, so why not make it that much easier?
ANGEL: Yes, but starting her wordcount from scratch will push her to explore her characters and situations more deeply, especially if she's short on words for the month.
DEVIL: What do you think she's been doing for the past several months? Exploring characters and situations!
ANGEL: (sing-song) Cheating, cheating, cheating...
DEVIL: It's not like she didn't put work on what she's written for the past few months-
ANGEL: (putting her fingers in her ears) La, la, la, I can't hear you!
DEVIL: Aren't you supposed to be the good one?
Yeah...
Anyway, in addition to continue to work on the plot of my NaNo novel, I spent this afternoon sorting out the plot of my Peter Pan play. I'm so, so excited that this is going to be my final project because it's going to push me to finish it. I also found out, as I was filling out the breakdown table I made in Word that technically, I have the most of the first part of the assignment done. If I wanted, I could call the first act (of, I think, three) done. Wow... It's still going to take a lot of work for me to finish this play in a way that my Type-A personality will accept as "good."
Speaking of well-written plays, I just bought my ticket to see Time Stands Still (by Donald Margulies) for a second time. The writing in it is just incredible, so great that I was willing to pay through the nose to sit in the orchestra section (I was in the very very last row last time- they actually had to give my friends and I booster seats to see.) Also, Laura Linney, one of my favorite actors, is in it, along with Brian d'Arcy James, who I also love. They're electric onstage. I'm so excited!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
WIP Wednesday
I wrote this monologue for Play & Screenwriting. I had planned on composing something completely different- a not-so-great experience from my life that caused me to make a few choices I still hold fast to today. However, as I was writing it, I realised that, though it had actually happened to me, it sounded convoluted and over-dramatic. Plus, I thought I would be okay with people reading it, but in the end, it was too personal.
So in the end, I wrote this. It's kind of surprising to me that I did because, as an actor, I LOATHE monologues like this- where the delivering character is listening to someone who's not there. There are other parts that I like though, so I'm all right with that.
HANNAH: I was actually on time for class, Mrs. Collins, but honestly, I’m lucky to have made it here at all. See, this day has just been terrible. I mean, awful. It’s like that- that thing you were talking about a couple of classes ago, the whatsit… some guy’s law about things going wrong. (Beat) Yeah, Murphy’s Law, exactly. Well, it’s been like that.
I got up this morning and things immediately went downhill as soon as I looked in the mirror. I don’t really consider myself a vain person, Mrs. Collins, but seriously, this morning, my hair decided to stage a mutiny. I won’t bore you with the sordid details, but suffice it to say that scissors and an excessive amount of gel were used. It wasn’t pretty.
I knew I was running late so I literally ran to my car because there is nothing more important to me than your English class, as shown by the hours I spent finishing up that essay last night. (Beat) Well, I don’t actually have it on me… that Murphy thing again, it’ll kill you, right? (Laughs, but gets no response) Anyway, I ran to my car, turn the key and what do you know, the battery was dead. Unbelievable, right? I thought so, too. Luckily, after a good twenty minutes- that believe me, Mrs. Collins, were spent in tears on my part, I was so distressed- my dad found some jumper cables and brought good old Sammy the Saturn back to life. (Beat)
Well, yes, you would think that that would have been it, but as I was racing here, I realized that I hadn’t had any breakfast. You may not understand this, Mrs. Collins, due to your slender frame and will of iron, but when my stomach asks for something, I have to oblige. Otherwise, things get ugly. Plus, you know by my outstanding academic record that I am nothing if not a rule-follower, and I would not want to cross the United States Department of Agriculture if they found out I had skipped the most important meal of the day.
But did I stop at my favorite café for a delicious croissant and fragrant cup of coffee? No I did not. Because making it to your class is worth the health risk of fast food. Unfortunately, today McDonald’s seemed to be operating under a… oh, that thing you talked about when we were reading A Tale of Two Cities… a paradox! Am I using that right? Well, anyway, what I’m trying to say is that today, it was slow food. I mean, how long does it take to make a freaking breakfast sandwich?
Eventually they finally coughed up my food- not literally of course, that would be gross, and then I would have had to wait for another sandwich. So then I jumped back into my car, pulled back onto the road, thinking I was going to sneak in right on time… but I hit every single traffic light. Like, all fifteen. (Beat) Well, I might be exaggerating a little bit, but I’m not lying when I say I hit all of them. (Beat) Okay, I hit both of them. Then I pull into the parking lot, stumble out of my car, race into the building and I’m practically to your classroom when Principal Harris demands to see me in his office. Can you believe him? Denying me the pleasure of attending your class to have an impromptu talk with me? And the subject of the discussion was completely ridiculous- he claims that my file includes several more tardy arrivals. I told him I resented the slander to my reputation, but he just kept talking.
He finally let me leave, but when I got out of the office, I saw that the janitor had just washed the floor, and I don’t believe in disrespecting our maintenance staff by traipsing across the spotless floor and undoing all of their hard work. So I had to go down the language wing and then up the mathematics wing, and that was slow going because numbers make me dizzy and I was concerned that I might faint and then not make it to class at all.
So Mrs. Collins, I just wanted to return this detention slip to you because not only do I believe it’s unnecessary due to the unforeseen circumstances that prevented me from arriving to your class in a timely manner, but the thought of a tree dying for a mistaken gives me a pain in my heart… although that may be the breakfast sandwich. So here you go. I’ll turn in my essay tomorrow.
There are a few changes to be made- my class gave me some awesome suggestions.
In related news, I got permission to write the complete adaptation of my Peter Pan prequel. My teacher's a little skeptical about whether my main character (Mrs. Darling as a child) is interesting enough, but nevertheless, I'm jazzed that he's allowing me to explore that- in a full script. I've got what accumulates to about half of it (40 pages), but I think he wants me to write the first act first... eep! I'm not a linear writer at all! Thankfully, I have the advantage of knowing my project pretty well already.
Hm... I think someone's smoking under my window... gross.
So in the end, I wrote this. It's kind of surprising to me that I did because, as an actor, I LOATHE monologues like this- where the delivering character is listening to someone who's not there. There are other parts that I like though, so I'm all right with that.
HANNAH: I was actually on time for class, Mrs. Collins, but honestly, I’m lucky to have made it here at all. See, this day has just been terrible. I mean, awful. It’s like that- that thing you were talking about a couple of classes ago, the whatsit… some guy’s law about things going wrong. (Beat) Yeah, Murphy’s Law, exactly. Well, it’s been like that.
I got up this morning and things immediately went downhill as soon as I looked in the mirror. I don’t really consider myself a vain person, Mrs. Collins, but seriously, this morning, my hair decided to stage a mutiny. I won’t bore you with the sordid details, but suffice it to say that scissors and an excessive amount of gel were used. It wasn’t pretty.
I knew I was running late so I literally ran to my car because there is nothing more important to me than your English class, as shown by the hours I spent finishing up that essay last night. (Beat) Well, I don’t actually have it on me… that Murphy thing again, it’ll kill you, right? (Laughs, but gets no response) Anyway, I ran to my car, turn the key and what do you know, the battery was dead. Unbelievable, right? I thought so, too. Luckily, after a good twenty minutes- that believe me, Mrs. Collins, were spent in tears on my part, I was so distressed- my dad found some jumper cables and brought good old Sammy the Saturn back to life. (Beat)
Well, yes, you would think that that would have been it, but as I was racing here, I realized that I hadn’t had any breakfast. You may not understand this, Mrs. Collins, due to your slender frame and will of iron, but when my stomach asks for something, I have to oblige. Otherwise, things get ugly. Plus, you know by my outstanding academic record that I am nothing if not a rule-follower, and I would not want to cross the United States Department of Agriculture if they found out I had skipped the most important meal of the day.
But did I stop at my favorite café for a delicious croissant and fragrant cup of coffee? No I did not. Because making it to your class is worth the health risk of fast food. Unfortunately, today McDonald’s seemed to be operating under a… oh, that thing you talked about when we were reading A Tale of Two Cities… a paradox! Am I using that right? Well, anyway, what I’m trying to say is that today, it was slow food. I mean, how long does it take to make a freaking breakfast sandwich?
Eventually they finally coughed up my food- not literally of course, that would be gross, and then I would have had to wait for another sandwich. So then I jumped back into my car, pulled back onto the road, thinking I was going to sneak in right on time… but I hit every single traffic light. Like, all fifteen. (Beat) Well, I might be exaggerating a little bit, but I’m not lying when I say I hit all of them. (Beat) Okay, I hit both of them. Then I pull into the parking lot, stumble out of my car, race into the building and I’m practically to your classroom when Principal Harris demands to see me in his office. Can you believe him? Denying me the pleasure of attending your class to have an impromptu talk with me? And the subject of the discussion was completely ridiculous- he claims that my file includes several more tardy arrivals. I told him I resented the slander to my reputation, but he just kept talking.
He finally let me leave, but when I got out of the office, I saw that the janitor had just washed the floor, and I don’t believe in disrespecting our maintenance staff by traipsing across the spotless floor and undoing all of their hard work. So I had to go down the language wing and then up the mathematics wing, and that was slow going because numbers make me dizzy and I was concerned that I might faint and then not make it to class at all.
So Mrs. Collins, I just wanted to return this detention slip to you because not only do I believe it’s unnecessary due to the unforeseen circumstances that prevented me from arriving to your class in a timely manner, but the thought of a tree dying for a mistaken gives me a pain in my heart… although that may be the breakfast sandwich. So here you go. I’ll turn in my essay tomorrow.
There are a few changes to be made- my class gave me some awesome suggestions.
In related news, I got permission to write the complete adaptation of my Peter Pan prequel. My teacher's a little skeptical about whether my main character (Mrs. Darling as a child) is interesting enough, but nevertheless, I'm jazzed that he's allowing me to explore that- in a full script. I've got what accumulates to about half of it (40 pages), but I think he wants me to write the first act first... eep! I'm not a linear writer at all! Thankfully, I have the advantage of knowing my project pretty well already.
Hm... I think someone's smoking under my window... gross.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
A Wonderful Problem
Today I got tired of working on all the school-specific things I had to do (study abroad applications, resume for a job interview, etc. etc.), so I decided to return to my Peter Pan script. I've been working on it off and on this school year, but my two writing classes have been demanding all of my writing attention, and so poor Peter and Mary have been neglected for too long.
I touched up a few scenes here and there, put all the completed scenes I had written into a document (24 pages so far), and jotted down some plot ideas. I really want to use this script as my final project for Play & Screenwriting, though I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to- the teacher doesn't seem too pleased with my writing, so who knows if I'll get the special permission necessary to compose the 90-page script for credit.
As part of my work, I decided to look over some feedback from the class that had seen and performed in the first drafts of my scenes. One of the strongest ones was simply asking what would happen if one character did a certain thing, and it's something I'd been wondering myself. A few minutes later, I found myself beginning on a scene that would answer that question.
At first, it was just kind of a 'Let's see where this goes' thing. But now I've got a good-lengthed scene and... I really like where it's going. The problem? The one reasno I hadn't written the scene already is because I knew I could never use it in the play. To put this scene (and, if it's going where I think it's going, yet another scene) in between the two it's meant to, it'll slow the pace way down, and I don't know if I want that. But what I do want is this scene. In my play. Now. Unfortunately, there's a 99.9% chance that it won't work, and that's making me sad.
*sigh*
Oh well. Best get to bed- early rehearsal tomorrow, then I'm heading home for about twelve hours. Yay, broken teeth and dentist appointments :p
I touched up a few scenes here and there, put all the completed scenes I had written into a document (24 pages so far), and jotted down some plot ideas. I really want to use this script as my final project for Play & Screenwriting, though I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to- the teacher doesn't seem too pleased with my writing, so who knows if I'll get the special permission necessary to compose the 90-page script for credit.
As part of my work, I decided to look over some feedback from the class that had seen and performed in the first drafts of my scenes. One of the strongest ones was simply asking what would happen if one character did a certain thing, and it's something I'd been wondering myself. A few minutes later, I found myself beginning on a scene that would answer that question.
At first, it was just kind of a 'Let's see where this goes' thing. But now I've got a good-lengthed scene and... I really like where it's going. The problem? The one reasno I hadn't written the scene already is because I knew I could never use it in the play. To put this scene (and, if it's going where I think it's going, yet another scene) in between the two it's meant to, it'll slow the pace way down, and I don't know if I want that. But what I do want is this scene. In my play. Now. Unfortunately, there's a 99.9% chance that it won't work, and that's making me sad.
*sigh*
Oh well. Best get to bed- early rehearsal tomorrow, then I'm heading home for about twelve hours. Yay, broken teeth and dentist appointments :p
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
WIP Wednesday
I'm doing what I've always read that I should do as a writer, but never actually did: I am setting aside a few hours out of each day to devote solely to writing. Right now, it's at three per day, and I've scheduled them outside of my normal writing hours (9 pm- 3 am) so hopefully I can get some product in the beginning of the day by force and then continue working on that product when my brain is actually working. The curse of being a night owl.
So anyway, what I'm working feverishly on right now is my Peter Pan Inspiration, so here's a scene from it. All you need to know if that this is a teenaged Mrs. Darling after she ran away from Neverland after she had a big fight with Peter.
(MARY is in her room when she hears a tap at the window. She drops what she’s doing, runs over to it, and throws it open. PETER flies through and lands on the toy chest.)
PETER. Found you!
MARY. Peter! What are you doing here?
PETER. Where have you been, Mary? The boys all miss you so. Our house is such a mess.
MARY. I came back, Peter.
PETER. Well why’d you do that? (He looks around) It’s so dreary here.
(MRS. LIDDELL approaches on the other side of the door but stops when she hears her daughter speaking, apparently to no one.)
MARY. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again…
PETER. Here I am! You must come back right now- the mermaids and the boys are having a swimming contest!
MARY. Do you forgive me then, Peter?
PETER. Forgive you? For what?
MARY. Well… I left Neverland.
PETER. Well, you did break the rules of hide and seek, but you’ve always been a good hider. Of course I forgive you. Now come on!
MARY. No, Peter. I left because you were angry with me and I said… some terrible things. I’m sorry for that. I was just homesick and upset. I didn’t mean them at all.
(MR. LIDDELL comes through the hallway and MRS. LIDDELL silently motions for him to join her.)
PETER. (hardly acknowledging her apology) It’s fine. Now, I’ll just sprinkle you with some fairy dust and we’ll be off. The boys will be so happy I’ve found you! (He grabs her hand, but MARY doesn’t move.) What’s wrong?
MARY. I can’t go, Peter.
PETER. Yes you can. Just move your feet, silly. (He pulls on her hand again, but still she doesn’t move. He thinks she’s playing a game.) Ma-ary!
MARY. Peter, you don’t understand. I can’t go. My parents were so angry when they saw I had left-
PETER. Parents don’t know what fun is.
MARY. But they know other things, like how to send me away if I don’t act like a young lady.
PETER. (alarmed) They’re sending you away?! Where?
MARY. They won’t if I act like I should. But that means I can’t go to Neverland again.
PETER. Ever?
MARY. That’s right.
PETER. I hate your parents.
MARY. Peter…
PETER. Don’t you?
MARY. I- I…
PETER. I do. They’re mean and I hate them. I don’t want you to live with mean people. You need to come with me. Now.
MARY. (pained) I can’t…
PETER. Yes, you can.
MARY. (tearful) I don’t want them to send me away, Peter.
PETER. They can’t get you in Neverland! No grown-ups allowed! You’ll be safe!
MARY. I’m not going.
PETER. Yes you are.
MARY. No.
PETER. (stomping his foot) Mary!
MARY. (turning away from him) You need to go now, Peter. I don’t want my parents to hear me talking to you.
PETER. I’m not leaving without you.
MARY. You’ll have to. (She walks over to the window and holds it open for him. They stare at each other for a long moment.) Good-bye, Peter.
PETER. You’re wrong, Mary. You should be coming with me. They won’t be nice to you here.
MARY. I’ll miss you.
(After another long moment, PETER takes his leave out the window. MARY watches him sadly, but then closes the window firmly, latches it shut, and pulls the curtains over it.
Out in the hallway, MR. and MRS. LIDDELL look at each other in alarm.)
Lights down.)
So anyway, what I'm working feverishly on right now is my Peter Pan Inspiration, so here's a scene from it. All you need to know if that this is a teenaged Mrs. Darling after she ran away from Neverland after she had a big fight with Peter.
(MARY is in her room when she hears a tap at the window. She drops what she’s doing, runs over to it, and throws it open. PETER flies through and lands on the toy chest.)
PETER. Found you!
MARY. Peter! What are you doing here?
PETER. Where have you been, Mary? The boys all miss you so. Our house is such a mess.
MARY. I came back, Peter.
PETER. Well why’d you do that? (He looks around) It’s so dreary here.
(MRS. LIDDELL approaches on the other side of the door but stops when she hears her daughter speaking, apparently to no one.)
MARY. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again…
PETER. Here I am! You must come back right now- the mermaids and the boys are having a swimming contest!
MARY. Do you forgive me then, Peter?
PETER. Forgive you? For what?
MARY. Well… I left Neverland.
PETER. Well, you did break the rules of hide and seek, but you’ve always been a good hider. Of course I forgive you. Now come on!
MARY. No, Peter. I left because you were angry with me and I said… some terrible things. I’m sorry for that. I was just homesick and upset. I didn’t mean them at all.
(MR. LIDDELL comes through the hallway and MRS. LIDDELL silently motions for him to join her.)
PETER. (hardly acknowledging her apology) It’s fine. Now, I’ll just sprinkle you with some fairy dust and we’ll be off. The boys will be so happy I’ve found you! (He grabs her hand, but MARY doesn’t move.) What’s wrong?
MARY. I can’t go, Peter.
PETER. Yes you can. Just move your feet, silly. (He pulls on her hand again, but still she doesn’t move. He thinks she’s playing a game.) Ma-ary!
MARY. Peter, you don’t understand. I can’t go. My parents were so angry when they saw I had left-
PETER. Parents don’t know what fun is.
MARY. But they know other things, like how to send me away if I don’t act like a young lady.
PETER. (alarmed) They’re sending you away?! Where?
MARY. They won’t if I act like I should. But that means I can’t go to Neverland again.
PETER. Ever?
MARY. That’s right.
PETER. I hate your parents.
MARY. Peter…
PETER. Don’t you?
MARY. I- I…
PETER. I do. They’re mean and I hate them. I don’t want you to live with mean people. You need to come with me. Now.
MARY. (pained) I can’t…
PETER. Yes, you can.
MARY. (tearful) I don’t want them to send me away, Peter.
PETER. They can’t get you in Neverland! No grown-ups allowed! You’ll be safe!
MARY. I’m not going.
PETER. Yes you are.
MARY. No.
PETER. (stomping his foot) Mary!
MARY. (turning away from him) You need to go now, Peter. I don’t want my parents to hear me talking to you.
PETER. I’m not leaving without you.
MARY. You’ll have to. (She walks over to the window and holds it open for him. They stare at each other for a long moment.) Good-bye, Peter.
PETER. You’re wrong, Mary. You should be coming with me. They won’t be nice to you here.
MARY. I’ll miss you.
(After another long moment, PETER takes his leave out the window. MARY watches him sadly, but then closes the window firmly, latches it shut, and pulls the curtains over it.
Out in the hallway, MR. and MRS. LIDDELL look at each other in alarm.)
Lights down.)
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Taking a Step Back
I've written in previous entries how well my revision has been going, and I've gotten a lot more done since then- a few more new scenes, more conventional changes, more realistic dialogue rather than some of the "I-am-seriously-reaching-for-a-higher-wordcount-here" conversations.
But yesterday, I hit a rough patch. It wasn't a wall, or even really writer's block. But I felt like he entire novel was blurring before my eyes, not allowing me to see what needed to be changed or fixed anymore.
Another thing is that I'm still learning as a writer is how to throw things away. I hold on to what I've written so tightly that I'm often unwilling to cut it out or edit it too drastically. I've gotten much better with this novel, perhaps because I know how much work it needs and/or because I had an outside editor. In yesterday's case, I wanted to add a scene I had written a few weeks ago, that I had really begun to like- there was some logic in it that was missing from the novel thus far and I liked the ideas it exercised. When I first wrote it, I wasn't sure where to put it and so kept it in a separate document and worked on the rest of the novel. These past few writing days have been spent working on the suggestions given to me by my "editor", to the point where I went to go put that separately written scene in... and it didn't fit anymore. I was quite disappointed, but there doesn't seem to be a way to include the scene that I've grown to love. *sigh* Sometimes you have to kill your babies, as we used to say at school.
So since my novel was giving me some trouble, I gave a bit longer and then decided to take a step away from it for a bit. I didn't stop writing, though- I finally returned to my Peter Pan inspiration and wrote part of a scene as well as a partial scene breakdown. I am beginning to fall back in love with this idea, which I've missed working on since May. I really do love writing :)
But yesterday, I hit a rough patch. It wasn't a wall, or even really writer's block. But I felt like he entire novel was blurring before my eyes, not allowing me to see what needed to be changed or fixed anymore.
Another thing is that I'm still learning as a writer is how to throw things away. I hold on to what I've written so tightly that I'm often unwilling to cut it out or edit it too drastically. I've gotten much better with this novel, perhaps because I know how much work it needs and/or because I had an outside editor. In yesterday's case, I wanted to add a scene I had written a few weeks ago, that I had really begun to like- there was some logic in it that was missing from the novel thus far and I liked the ideas it exercised. When I first wrote it, I wasn't sure where to put it and so kept it in a separate document and worked on the rest of the novel. These past few writing days have been spent working on the suggestions given to me by my "editor", to the point where I went to go put that separately written scene in... and it didn't fit anymore. I was quite disappointed, but there doesn't seem to be a way to include the scene that I've grown to love. *sigh* Sometimes you have to kill your babies, as we used to say at school.
So since my novel was giving me some trouble, I gave a bit longer and then decided to take a step away from it for a bit. I didn't stop writing, though- I finally returned to my Peter Pan inspiration and wrote part of a scene as well as a partial scene breakdown. I am beginning to fall back in love with this idea, which I've missed working on since May. I really do love writing :)
Monday, May 3, 2010
Hey, I'm Interesting!
The semester is winding here at my school. Today is the last day of classes, which means that at ten am this morning, my last official Children's Theatre class took place. Though we are technically meeting twice more to finish up final project presentations, I am so sad that this class is over. It was easily one of the best classes of my college career so far, despite all the stress I went through over my Peter Pan project.
And speaking of that project, I presented it today! Every time I met with my professor or even talked to her, she would congratulate me on all the work I had done on the script. Until last night, I accepted the compliment but never really believed that I was worthy of it; I just didn't feel like I had really done that much work. But what I realised last night was that I really have done a lot of work on the project- it just doesn't seem like it because, well, I'm a writer and writing is what I do for fun. And yes, the script was hard work, but I enjoyed every minute of writing it, so I didn't see it as work, really.
After I met with my teacher last Wednesday, she asked me if there was anything she could do to help me with the project. I had given her a copy of the three scenes I had written and said that if she had time, I'd love to hear her comments on them. She's doing a lot of writing work of her own, as well as a million other things, but since she rocks, an e-mail popped into my inbox around noon on Saturday- her comments. I was scared to click on it- what if they sucked? But eventually I did and was ecstatic at what I found- she loved them!
Of course, they were in no way perfect- even after the rewrite for today, they still need a lot of work- but she really liked them and gave me a lot of great suggestions. I gave one of the scenes a huge facelift, finished one of the scenes that had been incomplete when I handed it in, and made a few smaller conventional changes to the third one. There are still a lot of changes I want to make-I am struggling a lot with Peter's voice (he sounds too mature for his age and attitude) and though the play is set from the 1860's to the 1890's, I need to make sure the dialogue isn't so old-fashioned that it sounds stilted.
But even though I want to do all of those things, my presentation went very well. I had to explain why I chose to continue with the script, as doing so wasn't actually an option, and my explanation was simple- I am passionate about the story and feel it needs to be told.
I cast all of my classmates in the scenes for the staged readings, so four or five of them would be onstage while the others would watch. The actors did quite well in their characters, and the best part was the audience reaction- I got great laughs and "aw"s and gasps of surprise- pretty much everything I wanted from my audience, I got. YES!
A required part of the presentation was a Q&A at the end, where we were allowed to ask questions of the audience and vice versa. I asked them a few questions, and got some great, great stuff- some suggestion were made about the plot that I've already got penciled in, some awesome questions were asked that made me want to delve even further into the material. And the absolute best part of the Q&A session was when one of my classmates raised her hand to ask a question and said, "Your writing just always keeps me interested."
There are few compliments better than that. If a writer's compositions don't keep their readers' attention, there's a problem there. I know I have a ways to go before I'm a Libba Bray or a Neil Simon, but I hope that being an interesting writer is a baby step in that direction.
Now that the project itself is over, I'm ready to continue work on the script- for real. Now I'm not writing for anyone but myself as I develop the story. With my classmates' and teacher's support, encouragement, and suggestions, I am confident and ready to put in the work!
In completely unrelated stuff, I have been obsessively listening to When You're Home from Into the Heights for the past day or so. You should check it out. I haven't seen the show, but the song is so catchy.
And speaking of that project, I presented it today! Every time I met with my professor or even talked to her, she would congratulate me on all the work I had done on the script. Until last night, I accepted the compliment but never really believed that I was worthy of it; I just didn't feel like I had really done that much work. But what I realised last night was that I really have done a lot of work on the project- it just doesn't seem like it because, well, I'm a writer and writing is what I do for fun. And yes, the script was hard work, but I enjoyed every minute of writing it, so I didn't see it as work, really.
After I met with my teacher last Wednesday, she asked me if there was anything she could do to help me with the project. I had given her a copy of the three scenes I had written and said that if she had time, I'd love to hear her comments on them. She's doing a lot of writing work of her own, as well as a million other things, but since she rocks, an e-mail popped into my inbox around noon on Saturday- her comments. I was scared to click on it- what if they sucked? But eventually I did and was ecstatic at what I found- she loved them!
Of course, they were in no way perfect- even after the rewrite for today, they still need a lot of work- but she really liked them and gave me a lot of great suggestions. I gave one of the scenes a huge facelift, finished one of the scenes that had been incomplete when I handed it in, and made a few smaller conventional changes to the third one. There are still a lot of changes I want to make-I am struggling a lot with Peter's voice (he sounds too mature for his age and attitude) and though the play is set from the 1860's to the 1890's, I need to make sure the dialogue isn't so old-fashioned that it sounds stilted.
But even though I want to do all of those things, my presentation went very well. I had to explain why I chose to continue with the script, as doing so wasn't actually an option, and my explanation was simple- I am passionate about the story and feel it needs to be told.
I cast all of my classmates in the scenes for the staged readings, so four or five of them would be onstage while the others would watch. The actors did quite well in their characters, and the best part was the audience reaction- I got great laughs and "aw"s and gasps of surprise- pretty much everything I wanted from my audience, I got. YES!
A required part of the presentation was a Q&A at the end, where we were allowed to ask questions of the audience and vice versa. I asked them a few questions, and got some great, great stuff- some suggestion were made about the plot that I've already got penciled in, some awesome questions were asked that made me want to delve even further into the material. And the absolute best part of the Q&A session was when one of my classmates raised her hand to ask a question and said, "Your writing just always keeps me interested."
There are few compliments better than that. If a writer's compositions don't keep their readers' attention, there's a problem there. I know I have a ways to go before I'm a Libba Bray or a Neil Simon, but I hope that being an interesting writer is a baby step in that direction.
Now that the project itself is over, I'm ready to continue work on the script- for real. Now I'm not writing for anyone but myself as I develop the story. With my classmates' and teacher's support, encouragement, and suggestions, I am confident and ready to put in the work!
In completely unrelated stuff, I have been obsessively listening to When You're Home from Into the Heights for the past day or so. You should check it out. I haven't seen the show, but the song is so catchy.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Yesterday I had a meeting with my teacher about my adaptation, and it went amazingly well. Not only does is my professor encouraging me to continue with it, but she seems to really like the idea itself.
I also experienced a huge rush of relief when she said that she didn't think my play was for children- and it didn't have to be. First of all, this is incredibly generous of her, since I am doing this project for my Children's Theatre final; she has every right to force me to make it a kids' peice. I was also glad to hear this because it means I'm not just overestimating the level of emotions and the intensity of the experiences that are in my play. This is not to say that children don't experience these things as well- they certainly do- but the fact is that my play is not for kids. Perhaps ages thirteen and up, but definitely not the younger set.
The other great thing is that my professor knows that this isn't just a class project to me- it's an actual script that, one day, I hope to have produced. I feel like I have her support and that's just a great feeling :)
I also experienced a huge rush of relief when she said that she didn't think my play was for children- and it didn't have to be. First of all, this is incredibly generous of her, since I am doing this project for my Children's Theatre final; she has every right to force me to make it a kids' peice. I was also glad to hear this because it means I'm not just overestimating the level of emotions and the intensity of the experiences that are in my play. This is not to say that children don't experience these things as well- they certainly do- but the fact is that my play is not for kids. Perhaps ages thirteen and up, but definitely not the younger set.
The other great thing is that my professor knows that this isn't just a class project to me- it's an actual script that, one day, I hope to have produced. I feel like I have her support and that's just a great feeling :)
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
WIP Wednesday
Okay, this is taking me a lot to post this, as it is my most in-progress work: a segment of a scene from my adaptation. This is the scene that was performed as the first part of my project in February. My play centers around Mary (a.k.a Mrs. Darling) who, like her daughter after her, knew Peter Pan as a girl.
(YOUNG MARY sits on her floor, having a tea party with some of her dolls and stuffed animals. MARY wears a large feathered hat and holds an open parasol with one hand as she pours tea with the other.)
MARY. Another biscuit, Miss Penny? Not so much sugar in your tea, Mr. Meriwether! Miss Carroll, if you desire another cake, you may ask me to pass them to you. Ladies do not reach across the table.
(There is a knock at the door but MARY, absorbed in her play, barely acknowledges it. MRS. LIDDELL enters.)
MARY. Mother! Come have some tea. Miss Carroll is behaving rather badly this afternoon, but I’m sure she’s left some cake for you.
MRS. LIDDELL. Thank you dear, but I’ve had my tea this afternoon.
MARY. Oh, but it’s green tea. The queen herself sent it. She is terribly sorry she could not attend herself, but-
MRS. LIDDELL. Mary, perhaps the tea party could wait for a moment. (She sits on her daughter’s bed and pats the space next to her.) Come sit.
(MARY puts down the teapot and parasol and sits next to her mother.)
MARY. What’s wrong, Mother?
MRS. LIDDELL. Nothing at all. In fact, today is a day of celebration. Do you know what day it is?
MARY. (after thinking for a moment) Wednesday.
MRS. LIDDELL. (laughing) That is true, my dear, but there is something very special about this particular Wednesday. For it was on this day, thirteen short years ago, that I was blessed with the greatest gift a person could get- a little baby named Mary.
(As MRS. LIDDELL has been talking, MARY has grown noticeably downcast. She plays with the skirt of her dress and frowns.)
MRS. LIDDELL. Whatever is the matter, Mary? Aren’t you excited for your birthday?
MARY. No.
MRS. LIDDELL. But why not? You’re thirteen now- a young lady. (She reaches up and removes the hat that Mary is still wearing.) Soon you’ll have your debut and go to lots of beautiful parties, and then, one day, you’ll marry a wonderful man and be a mother just like I am. Don’t you want any of that?
MARY. (stubbornly) No, I do not.
MRS. LIDDELL. You want to stay a little girl forever? What is the fun in that?
MARY. I can have my tea parties and play with my friends. I can make up stories about whatever I like and then act them out. I can have fun.
MRS. LIDDELL. Grown-ups have fun, too, Mary. I have tea parties with real tea and cakes and I spend time with my friends. And we tell each other stories all the time.
MARY. (throwing herself face-down on the bed) It’s not the same!
MRS. LIDDELL. (beginning to lose patience with her daughter) We’ve all got to grow up sometime, Mary, whether we like it or not. You have the choice to cherish it or be miserable, and only you can make that decision.
(MARY doesn’t answer, as she has begun to cry. MRS. LIDDELL gets up, puts the hat on a nearby chair, and exits. MARY continues to cry as the lights change to show the passing of time. It is now evening and MARY is still crying quietly. Suddenly there is a tap at the window. She sits up on her bed and looks its direction, but there doesn’t seem to be anything there. Then comes another tap. MARY gets up and crosses to the window, unlatching it and leaning out to see what made the noise. She doesn’t see anything and makes to go back to her bed, but then through the window flies PETER PAN. MARY turns to see the boy hovering in her window and stares, speechless.)
PETER. Girl, why are you crying?
MARY. (wiping at her still-wet cheeks) I’m not crying.
(PETER flies closer to peer into her eyes and MARY takes a step back.)
PETER. Yes, you are. You’ve got more of those wet things in your eyes. Are you sad? Why?
MARY. (as if it’s obvious) Today is my thirteenth birthday.
PETER. (alighting on a toy chest) What is a “birth day”?
MARY. You don’t know what a birthday is?
PETER. (indignantly) I know lots of other things. I think I do know what a “birth day” is, but I just have a better name for it.
MARY. A birthday is a celebration of the day you were born. You have one every year.
PETER. I’ve never had a birthday.
MARY. Of course you have. Everyone has. How old are you? You ought to have had as many birthdays as you’ve had years of your life.
PETER. I don’t know how old I am. I climbed out of my pram when I was just one day old and ran away to live with fairies. Then I went to Neverland. No one ever told me I had a birthday of my own. I think I’d like one.
MARY. Then you may have one.
PETER. Really? Could you give it to me?
MARY. (after a pause) Only if you tell me about this “Neverland”. You lived there with the fairies?
PETER. No, silly girl! I lived with the fairies before I went to Neverland.
MARY. You are quite a rude boy. If you continue in this manner, I shan’t give you your birthday. (She folds her arms and turns away from him.)
PETER. (flies over her head and landing in front of her again) I’m sorry, girl-
MARY. My name is Mary.
PETER. I’m sorry, Mary. Sometimes I can’t help myself. I’m not clever like you, so I have to pretend I am. Please let me have my birthday!
MARY. Tell me more about Neverland and I’ll think about it.
PETER. Neverland is a place where pirates and Indians fight on the open sea while mermaids swim below. Where fairies flit about in the air like dancing lights and there is never a day without adventure. It is a place where you never have to grow up.
(Now he has MARY’s attention.)
MARY. You never have to grow up?
PETER. Never.
MARY. My mother says everyone’s got to grow up.
PETER. Your mother?
MARY. Yes.
PETER. Well, what does she know?
MARY. She must know something. After all, she did it herself.
PETER. Yes, but she chose to grow up, which means she knows nothing about fun. If she did, she would have stayed a child, wouldn’t she?
MARY. (thinking) I suppose you’re right. Whenever I watch grown-ups, they never seem to be enjoying themselves. Maybe they just never knew what fun was and so weren’t sad to grow up. (Beat) But I know about fun, and I don’t want to leave it behind. (Beat) Could I go to Neverland?
PETER. Only if you give me my birthday.
MARY. All right, then. Close your eyes.
(PETER does. MARY looks around, uncertain of what could be representative of a birthday. Finding nothing, she thinks for a moment. Then she steps up to PETER, snaps her fingers twice and then makes a motion as if cracking an egg on top of his head, letting her fingers run over his hair.)
MARY. There. Now you’ve got your birthday.
PETER. (smiling brightly) It feels wonderful to have a birthday! Does this mean ours are on the same day?
MARY. (realising that this is true) I suppose so.
PETER. We will have great fun celebrating them together in Neverland. Are you ready to go?
MARY. I’m really going?
PETER. Of course. But only if you hurry. (He runs to the windowsill and jumps up) Come on!
(He holds out his hand. MARY hesitates, looking around her lavish room. She considers what she would be leaving behind by going with Peter. Then she takes PETER’s hand and steps up with him.)
MARY. Let’s go.
(YOUNG MARY sits on her floor, having a tea party with some of her dolls and stuffed animals. MARY wears a large feathered hat and holds an open parasol with one hand as she pours tea with the other.)
MARY. Another biscuit, Miss Penny? Not so much sugar in your tea, Mr. Meriwether! Miss Carroll, if you desire another cake, you may ask me to pass them to you. Ladies do not reach across the table.
(There is a knock at the door but MARY, absorbed in her play, barely acknowledges it. MRS. LIDDELL enters.)
MARY. Mother! Come have some tea. Miss Carroll is behaving rather badly this afternoon, but I’m sure she’s left some cake for you.
MRS. LIDDELL. Thank you dear, but I’ve had my tea this afternoon.
MARY. Oh, but it’s green tea. The queen herself sent it. She is terribly sorry she could not attend herself, but-
MRS. LIDDELL. Mary, perhaps the tea party could wait for a moment. (She sits on her daughter’s bed and pats the space next to her.) Come sit.
(MARY puts down the teapot and parasol and sits next to her mother.)
MARY. What’s wrong, Mother?
MRS. LIDDELL. Nothing at all. In fact, today is a day of celebration. Do you know what day it is?
MARY. (after thinking for a moment) Wednesday.
MRS. LIDDELL. (laughing) That is true, my dear, but there is something very special about this particular Wednesday. For it was on this day, thirteen short years ago, that I was blessed with the greatest gift a person could get- a little baby named Mary.
(As MRS. LIDDELL has been talking, MARY has grown noticeably downcast. She plays with the skirt of her dress and frowns.)
MRS. LIDDELL. Whatever is the matter, Mary? Aren’t you excited for your birthday?
MARY. No.
MRS. LIDDELL. But why not? You’re thirteen now- a young lady. (She reaches up and removes the hat that Mary is still wearing.) Soon you’ll have your debut and go to lots of beautiful parties, and then, one day, you’ll marry a wonderful man and be a mother just like I am. Don’t you want any of that?
MARY. (stubbornly) No, I do not.
MRS. LIDDELL. You want to stay a little girl forever? What is the fun in that?
MARY. I can have my tea parties and play with my friends. I can make up stories about whatever I like and then act them out. I can have fun.
MRS. LIDDELL. Grown-ups have fun, too, Mary. I have tea parties with real tea and cakes and I spend time with my friends. And we tell each other stories all the time.
MARY. (throwing herself face-down on the bed) It’s not the same!
MRS. LIDDELL. (beginning to lose patience with her daughter) We’ve all got to grow up sometime, Mary, whether we like it or not. You have the choice to cherish it or be miserable, and only you can make that decision.
(MARY doesn’t answer, as she has begun to cry. MRS. LIDDELL gets up, puts the hat on a nearby chair, and exits. MARY continues to cry as the lights change to show the passing of time. It is now evening and MARY is still crying quietly. Suddenly there is a tap at the window. She sits up on her bed and looks its direction, but there doesn’t seem to be anything there. Then comes another tap. MARY gets up and crosses to the window, unlatching it and leaning out to see what made the noise. She doesn’t see anything and makes to go back to her bed, but then through the window flies PETER PAN. MARY turns to see the boy hovering in her window and stares, speechless.)
PETER. Girl, why are you crying?
MARY. (wiping at her still-wet cheeks) I’m not crying.
(PETER flies closer to peer into her eyes and MARY takes a step back.)
PETER. Yes, you are. You’ve got more of those wet things in your eyes. Are you sad? Why?
MARY. (as if it’s obvious) Today is my thirteenth birthday.
PETER. (alighting on a toy chest) What is a “birth day”?
MARY. You don’t know what a birthday is?
PETER. (indignantly) I know lots of other things. I think I do know what a “birth day” is, but I just have a better name for it.
MARY. A birthday is a celebration of the day you were born. You have one every year.
PETER. I’ve never had a birthday.
MARY. Of course you have. Everyone has. How old are you? You ought to have had as many birthdays as you’ve had years of your life.
PETER. I don’t know how old I am. I climbed out of my pram when I was just one day old and ran away to live with fairies. Then I went to Neverland. No one ever told me I had a birthday of my own. I think I’d like one.
MARY. Then you may have one.
PETER. Really? Could you give it to me?
MARY. (after a pause) Only if you tell me about this “Neverland”. You lived there with the fairies?
PETER. No, silly girl! I lived with the fairies before I went to Neverland.
MARY. You are quite a rude boy. If you continue in this manner, I shan’t give you your birthday. (She folds her arms and turns away from him.)
PETER. (flies over her head and landing in front of her again) I’m sorry, girl-
MARY. My name is Mary.
PETER. I’m sorry, Mary. Sometimes I can’t help myself. I’m not clever like you, so I have to pretend I am. Please let me have my birthday!
MARY. Tell me more about Neverland and I’ll think about it.
PETER. Neverland is a place where pirates and Indians fight on the open sea while mermaids swim below. Where fairies flit about in the air like dancing lights and there is never a day without adventure. It is a place where you never have to grow up.
(Now he has MARY’s attention.)
MARY. You never have to grow up?
PETER. Never.
MARY. My mother says everyone’s got to grow up.
PETER. Your mother?
MARY. Yes.
PETER. Well, what does she know?
MARY. She must know something. After all, she did it herself.
PETER. Yes, but she chose to grow up, which means she knows nothing about fun. If she did, she would have stayed a child, wouldn’t she?
MARY. (thinking) I suppose you’re right. Whenever I watch grown-ups, they never seem to be enjoying themselves. Maybe they just never knew what fun was and so weren’t sad to grow up. (Beat) But I know about fun, and I don’t want to leave it behind. (Beat) Could I go to Neverland?
PETER. Only if you give me my birthday.
MARY. All right, then. Close your eyes.
(PETER does. MARY looks around, uncertain of what could be representative of a birthday. Finding nothing, she thinks for a moment. Then she steps up to PETER, snaps her fingers twice and then makes a motion as if cracking an egg on top of his head, letting her fingers run over his hair.)
MARY. There. Now you’ve got your birthday.
PETER. (smiling brightly) It feels wonderful to have a birthday! Does this mean ours are on the same day?
MARY. (realising that this is true) I suppose so.
PETER. We will have great fun celebrating them together in Neverland. Are you ready to go?
MARY. I’m really going?
PETER. Of course. But only if you hurry. (He runs to the windowsill and jumps up) Come on!
(He holds out his hand. MARY hesitates, looking around her lavish room. She considers what she would be leaving behind by going with Peter. Then she takes PETER’s hand and steps up with him.)
MARY. Let’s go.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Just Do It!
That's something I have trouble with in life... actually making the move to do something. I'm fine musing over all the "what-if"s, good and bad. I like to make plans. I like to talk over my options with other people. But actually embarking on a task? Not so easy for me. I am the queen of cold feet. Most of the time, I work through them and get on with whatever I need to do, but sometimes, I don't always pull through or, worse, I decide I do want to do whatever it is and realize that I waited too long and it's too late.
My proposal for the Peter Pan project is due on Monday. The form we have to turn in is actually quite simple and I could have it filled out by now, ready to hand to my teacher. But I wanted to get a better feel for what I wanted/needed first. I sat around and thought. I went to the park and thought. I went on Facebook a lot and stopped thinking for awhile and then I thought again.
Thinking is a wonderful and essential step in writing, but there is an even more important step that, had people not taken it, would have resulted in no books being written- ACTION! Though I was thinking a lot, I was too scared to put anything down in a document. I am so afraid of failure in this project that I just did a lot of staring when I brought up a blank page. I collected a good amount of research, which helped me a lot and gave me invaluable peeks into my characters, but what if I tried to apply that knowledge and it fell flat?
So I didn't actually write any more of the script until today. After slacking into the early afternoon, I finally got my stuff together and went to my school library to work. Really, I need to get out of my room sometimes to write. I just get too comfortable there, too familiar with my surroundings. I need stimulation in the form of a new location every now and then.
And I actually wrote some stuff! It's been slow going, as the lurking fear of failure pops up at me at every turn like that fuzzy orange monster in the Weight Watchers commercials. It's also a little bit harder due to the period language- finding the right word to go certain places without going modern.
But as scared as I am, I really want to write this adaptation. I want to share it with my class and my teacher. And- dare I admit it? One day, in the far future... I want to mount it on the stage. Obviously, this will take a lot of work- even just making it good enough in my eyes to show my class is going to take a lot of work. But I'm passionate enough about this project to do it.
My proposal for the Peter Pan project is due on Monday. The form we have to turn in is actually quite simple and I could have it filled out by now, ready to hand to my teacher. But I wanted to get a better feel for what I wanted/needed first. I sat around and thought. I went to the park and thought. I went on Facebook a lot and stopped thinking for awhile and then I thought again.
Thinking is a wonderful and essential step in writing, but there is an even more important step that, had people not taken it, would have resulted in no books being written- ACTION! Though I was thinking a lot, I was too scared to put anything down in a document. I am so afraid of failure in this project that I just did a lot of staring when I brought up a blank page. I collected a good amount of research, which helped me a lot and gave me invaluable peeks into my characters, but what if I tried to apply that knowledge and it fell flat?
So I didn't actually write any more of the script until today. After slacking into the early afternoon, I finally got my stuff together and went to my school library to work. Really, I need to get out of my room sometimes to write. I just get too comfortable there, too familiar with my surroundings. I need stimulation in the form of a new location every now and then.
And I actually wrote some stuff! It's been slow going, as the lurking fear of failure pops up at me at every turn like that fuzzy orange monster in the Weight Watchers commercials. It's also a little bit harder due to the period language- finding the right word to go certain places without going modern.
But as scared as I am, I really want to write this adaptation. I want to share it with my class and my teacher. And- dare I admit it? One day, in the far future... I want to mount it on the stage. Obviously, this will take a lot of work- even just making it good enough in my eyes to show my class is going to take a lot of work. But I'm passionate enough about this project to do it.
Friday, April 16, 2010
However Many You Discover, There is Always One More.
This will be a short post, as I'm in the throes of writing, but since I have lamented much about this project, I'll give you an update:
The adaptation decision actually made itself. Though, because I'm me, I'm still constantly worried it's the wrong one, the signs were there. The Sleeping Beauty one is still something I want to work on over the summer, but whenever I went to work on either of the adaptations, I always opened up Peter Pan. As I've said, I really love my premise and it keeps drawing me in.
So I've been taking a lot of notes in my new found free time (I was cast in another student film, this time at my own school, and was supposed to be filming now, but some location scouting was not well planned out and so I have the afternoon off. First shots tonight!) I've been using both Barrie's play and his novel, and though I've read both in full, recently, I am finding some true gold in these rereadings, wonderful stuff I overlooked before this plot was created. I'll leave you with a few that are really feeding my inspiration:
"He got all of her, except the innermost box and the kiss." (If I had to choose a tagline for this project at the moment, it would be this.)
"Her romantic mind was like the tiny boxes, one within the other, that come from the puzzling East, however many you discover, there is always one more."
"Children have the strangest adventures without being troubled by them."
The adaptation decision actually made itself. Though, because I'm me, I'm still constantly worried it's the wrong one, the signs were there. The Sleeping Beauty one is still something I want to work on over the summer, but whenever I went to work on either of the adaptations, I always opened up Peter Pan. As I've said, I really love my premise and it keeps drawing me in.
So I've been taking a lot of notes in my new found free time (I was cast in another student film, this time at my own school, and was supposed to be filming now, but some location scouting was not well planned out and so I have the afternoon off. First shots tonight!) I've been using both Barrie's play and his novel, and though I've read both in full, recently, I am finding some true gold in these rereadings, wonderful stuff I overlooked before this plot was created. I'll leave you with a few that are really feeding my inspiration:
"He got all of her, except the innermost box and the kiss." (If I had to choose a tagline for this project at the moment, it would be this.)
"Her romantic mind was like the tiny boxes, one within the other, that come from the puzzling East, however many you discover, there is always one more."
"Children have the strangest adventures without being troubled by them."
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Making Choices
You know that artist (and by "artist" I mean writer/actor/painter/director/any other art form) phrase "kill your babies"? If you don't, it basically means that though a person loves an idea or a creation or what have you, sometimes you just have to leave it behind, nix it from the program, or realise that it's just not realistic.
I've killed a few of my babies (God, that sounds so morbid) in years past, and I find myself in a similar situation right now. I don't really have to kill my baby, but I do have to choose one over the other and I have to do it, like, yesterday.
My final is coming up in Children's Theatre, and instead of choosing a normal project like profiling a children's playhouse or chronicling the history of a popular show, I've decided to be crazy and either continue with one adaptation or write a completely new one... all for my final presentation in a month. A month seems like a long time, but I need to choose my project by this weekend because we have conferences about the project in two weeks and I need to have something to show.
So, my two choices:
1) Create an new adaptation premise for a fairy tale and present the story, visuals, and script excerpt.
or
2) Continue with my Peter Pan adaptation and, since I've already done the above for this project, write enough of the script to fill a ten to fifteen minute time slot, in which I will do a sort of staged reading.
There are pros and cons to each of these choices, and I'm having a really hard time figuring out which I should do. So, because you totally care (and I need to hash it out for myself), here are the pros and cons to each:
NEW FAIRY TALE (Sleeping Beauty):
PROS
-Because it's a well-known fairy tale, I have a strong foundation plot.
-Have a nice skeleton of a new version of the plot already, as it's based on an improv I did when I was being a camp counselor last summer.
-I'm finding it quite easy to set it in modern times.
-I could probably pull off a pretty good presentation.
-It's looking like it'll be a comedy, and I enjoy writing comedy.
-I like the plot enough that I may continue with it afterwards.
CONS
-I want to do a script excerpt and I have no idea which scene is stand-alone enough to present.
-Obviously, nothing but the plot is written yet, as I just started tonight.
-I'm not sure if it'll turn out to be for young kids, which might be a problem if I find this out two weeks before the project is due.
PETER PAN ADAPTATION:
PROS
-I really like my premise and I'm going to write this play, whether I do it it for class or not.
-I have the skeleton of a plot.
-The class has already seen my presentation of the basic plot, so I can just expand.
-I get to write more of the script.
-I had a nice talk with my teacher and basically asked her if she thought the plot was even worth developing. She said yes and gave me a lot of great suggestions.
-With her guidance, I have ideas of how to make it more of a children's piece than the more high-school-kids-and-up way it was going before.
-Though it's not modern day, I know the era I'm setting it in (Victorian) very well, and definitely well enough to set a play there.
-It's a drama and I like writing drama.
-I lurve staged readings and would looooove to stage one myself.
CONS
-I don't want to bore the class with the same play they already know.
-I'm worried I won't be able to come up with good enough new material to show them.
-It's really, really, REALLY dramatic.
-I care so much about this project that failure might be devastating.
Augh, I don't know! Anyone out there have any opinions?!
I've killed a few of my babies (God, that sounds so morbid) in years past, and I find myself in a similar situation right now. I don't really have to kill my baby, but I do have to choose one over the other and I have to do it, like, yesterday.
My final is coming up in Children's Theatre, and instead of choosing a normal project like profiling a children's playhouse or chronicling the history of a popular show, I've decided to be crazy and either continue with one adaptation or write a completely new one... all for my final presentation in a month. A month seems like a long time, but I need to choose my project by this weekend because we have conferences about the project in two weeks and I need to have something to show.
So, my two choices:
1) Create an new adaptation premise for a fairy tale and present the story, visuals, and script excerpt.
or
2) Continue with my Peter Pan adaptation and, since I've already done the above for this project, write enough of the script to fill a ten to fifteen minute time slot, in which I will do a sort of staged reading.
There are pros and cons to each of these choices, and I'm having a really hard time figuring out which I should do. So, because you totally care (and I need to hash it out for myself), here are the pros and cons to each:
NEW FAIRY TALE (Sleeping Beauty):
PROS
-Because it's a well-known fairy tale, I have a strong foundation plot.
-Have a nice skeleton of a new version of the plot already, as it's based on an improv I did when I was being a camp counselor last summer.
-I'm finding it quite easy to set it in modern times.
-I could probably pull off a pretty good presentation.
-It's looking like it'll be a comedy, and I enjoy writing comedy.
-I like the plot enough that I may continue with it afterwards.
CONS
-I want to do a script excerpt and I have no idea which scene is stand-alone enough to present.
-Obviously, nothing but the plot is written yet, as I just started tonight.
-I'm not sure if it'll turn out to be for young kids, which might be a problem if I find this out two weeks before the project is due.
PETER PAN ADAPTATION:
PROS
-I really like my premise and I'm going to write this play, whether I do it it for class or not.
-I have the skeleton of a plot.
-The class has already seen my presentation of the basic plot, so I can just expand.
-I get to write more of the script.
-I had a nice talk with my teacher and basically asked her if she thought the plot was even worth developing. She said yes and gave me a lot of great suggestions.
-With her guidance, I have ideas of how to make it more of a children's piece than the more high-school-kids-and-up way it was going before.
-Though it's not modern day, I know the era I'm setting it in (Victorian) very well, and definitely well enough to set a play there.
-It's a drama and I like writing drama.
-I lurve staged readings and would looooove to stage one myself.
CONS
-I don't want to bore the class with the same play they already know.
-I'm worried I won't be able to come up with good enough new material to show them.
-It's really, really, REALLY dramatic.
-I care so much about this project that failure might be devastating.
Augh, I don't know! Anyone out there have any opinions?!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
But... But...
The other day, I mentioned that I would get my Peter Pan adaptation grade back by e-mail from my teacher. Last night, I got back to my room from rehearsal and my roommate said, "Our teacher e-mailed us!" I got very excited and immediately booted up my computer. I was sure that there would be a few good comments, as well as some constructive criticism that would spur me on to write the entire play and then one day it would be produced! And then published! And then-
It didn't exactly work out that way. The good news is that I got a decent grade on it, probably mostly due to the fact that, as I covered in Monday's post, I did have a good rewrite of the devil dialectic scene, and my project, in its written and presentational form, was pretty well done. But in my world, none of that matters if the storyline isn't well-recieved... and it wasn't in a way.
The comments basically stated that my teacher wasn't sure what the action of the plot was, what the body of the story is, and that if the story follows pretty much the same line as Barrie's, it's not terribly important.
Getting these notes upset me on a few levels. On the grade-grubbing level, I wanted more points out of ten. On the shallow level, I wanted to impress a teacher I admire. On the skill level, I wanted to be seen as a good writer. And on the make-excuses level, I wanted to e-mail her back and say things like, "But... I didn't explain my whole plot well during my presentation! It's so much more than that! But... you only saw one scene from the entire play! I have more! I have them right here! Read them!"
I didn't do this last thing, of course. My grade is what it is. My presentation, in all its okay-ness, filled with my nervous babbling, was what it was. I can't change any of that. I do believe that my story is important, that it's a different look into the Peter Pan story we all know. But it's a fault of mine that I didn't get that across in my presentation. I had ten minutes and I didn't use them as well as I could have. Making excuses will do nothing. However, I plan to write this play. It may never be produced or published or even read, but I want to write this play for myself because I am interested in the story. It's true that I want my teacher to think I'm an awesome writer, but even while I'm composing this play, I can't harp on that, because then I worry too much about what I'm doing to actually do it! And I want to do it. Getting those disconcerting notes just made me want to do it more. And I plan to.
On a separate note, I discovered an essay contest on a board at school yesterday. You either write about your all-time favorite book and how reading it changed your life, or write about e-books and the future of bound books and literature. Both of these topics are excellent ones that I feel passionate about, but I think I may write on the latter. I have neither the time nor the money to do this (I'm on location for the film from noon to midnight pretty much every day this weekend, starting right after my Shakespeare midterm today, and the entry fee is $25. And I am poor college kid) but I really do want to write these essays. Perhaps I'll bring the topics with me to the set, since I'll be sitting around for awhile. If I win, I get $500 and that would be kind of awesome.
It didn't exactly work out that way. The good news is that I got a decent grade on it, probably mostly due to the fact that, as I covered in Monday's post, I did have a good rewrite of the devil dialectic scene, and my project, in its written and presentational form, was pretty well done. But in my world, none of that matters if the storyline isn't well-recieved... and it wasn't in a way.
The comments basically stated that my teacher wasn't sure what the action of the plot was, what the body of the story is, and that if the story follows pretty much the same line as Barrie's, it's not terribly important.
Getting these notes upset me on a few levels. On the grade-grubbing level, I wanted more points out of ten. On the shallow level, I wanted to impress a teacher I admire. On the skill level, I wanted to be seen as a good writer. And on the make-excuses level, I wanted to e-mail her back and say things like, "But... I didn't explain my whole plot well during my presentation! It's so much more than that! But... you only saw one scene from the entire play! I have more! I have them right here! Read them!"
I didn't do this last thing, of course. My grade is what it is. My presentation, in all its okay-ness, filled with my nervous babbling, was what it was. I can't change any of that. I do believe that my story is important, that it's a different look into the Peter Pan story we all know. But it's a fault of mine that I didn't get that across in my presentation. I had ten minutes and I didn't use them as well as I could have. Making excuses will do nothing. However, I plan to write this play. It may never be produced or published or even read, but I want to write this play for myself because I am interested in the story. It's true that I want my teacher to think I'm an awesome writer, but even while I'm composing this play, I can't harp on that, because then I worry too much about what I'm doing to actually do it! And I want to do it. Getting those disconcerting notes just made me want to do it more. And I plan to.
On a separate note, I discovered an essay contest on a board at school yesterday. You either write about your all-time favorite book and how reading it changed your life, or write about e-books and the future of bound books and literature. Both of these topics are excellent ones that I feel passionate about, but I think I may write on the latter. I have neither the time nor the money to do this (I'm on location for the film from noon to midnight pretty much every day this weekend, starting right after my Shakespeare midterm today, and the entry fee is $25. And I am poor college kid) but I really do want to write these essays. Perhaps I'll bring the topics with me to the set, since I'll be sitting around for awhile. If I win, I get $500 and that would be kind of awesome.
Monday, March 22, 2010
When I Least Expected It... Success!
In two areas!
This morning, my Children's Theatre teacher gave us back our Peter Pan adaptation projects. I really wanted it, but she's doing so much in addition to her teaching that I didn't know if we'd ever get them back. But this morning, we finally did! She said she is going to send us our grades through e-mail but that she had written some comments on the papers we had given her. I had handed in a nice, covered copy and flipped through it... no comments. I was rather upset. But then I thought to check the copy that was just stapled, which I had given to the second judge. Lo and behold- comments! Only two, but they were both great. She really like the vocabulary I chose for George and Mary Darling, both, particularly the lines, "Your sister is the very embodiment of sloth," and "The verdure of England is hardly my chief concern at the moment." I was happy to see this comment because, as I stated before, I like to give characters their own ways of speaking.
The second comment was the one that made me happiest- at the end of the rewrite of that terrible scene that gave me so much trouble, she wrote, "What a great rewrite!" and underlined it four times. Hooray!!!
A non-writing success surprise: after eight months of being without a real production to act in, I was cast in a student film yesterday! I am soooo excited, especially since it's something completely different from anything I've ever done before (a slasher film, in which I play a violently raised, murderous teenager.) I'm not exactly sure what this film will entail besides four days of filming- I haven't gotten the script or the shooting schedule yet. But I can't wait to get started!
This morning, my Children's Theatre teacher gave us back our Peter Pan adaptation projects. I really wanted it, but she's doing so much in addition to her teaching that I didn't know if we'd ever get them back. But this morning, we finally did! She said she is going to send us our grades through e-mail but that she had written some comments on the papers we had given her. I had handed in a nice, covered copy and flipped through it... no comments. I was rather upset. But then I thought to check the copy that was just stapled, which I had given to the second judge. Lo and behold- comments! Only two, but they were both great. She really like the vocabulary I chose for George and Mary Darling, both, particularly the lines, "Your sister is the very embodiment of sloth," and "The verdure of England is hardly my chief concern at the moment." I was happy to see this comment because, as I stated before, I like to give characters their own ways of speaking.
The second comment was the one that made me happiest- at the end of the rewrite of that terrible scene that gave me so much trouble, she wrote, "What a great rewrite!" and underlined it four times. Hooray!!!
A non-writing success surprise: after eight months of being without a real production to act in, I was cast in a student film yesterday! I am soooo excited, especially since it's something completely different from anything I've ever done before (a slasher film, in which I play a violently raised, murderous teenager.) I'm not exactly sure what this film will entail besides four days of filming- I haven't gotten the script or the shooting schedule yet. But I can't wait to get started!
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