30 Days of Development: Lindsay is writing every day for thirty days, and submitting every day for thirty days, and blogging about it every day for thirty days. Whew! Can she do it? Well I guess she can….
DAY THIRTY
Writing: The Bee Play. First Draft Done. It’s not perfect (doesn’t have to be Lindsay) and I re-wrote the ending about four times today (doesn’t have to be perfect Lindsay) but it has a beginning, a middle, and an end. There are some nicely developed characters and character arcs. I learned a lot about them over the month, it was amazing how a simple question can open up a whole avenue you didn’t know was there. Still there’s lots of work to do. (be happy with the draft Lindsay). I’m very happy with the draft. It’s a great feeling to get that accomplished during the project.
Thoughts: Some days it was harder that I thought it would be, and some days it just flew by. There was really only one or two days when I seriously considered not writing and fudging about it. But I never did. And if I was feeling crappy I wrote about that too. Craig thought I should ‘revise’ that one zombie post when I was in Chicago and I consciously decided not to. It was what happened, warts and all. Hey, friend and fellow writer Allison Williams just called me! I told her what I was writing about, warts and all.
‘Isn’t it interesting when you’re writing about the truth,’ she said, ‘that you feel compelled to tell the truth?’
Very interesting. Writing is not some magical fairy la la dust. It’s work. (It’s not coal mining, but it is work) Some days the work is easy, some days it’s hard. Some days you don’t want to do it, and you do anyway. Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you.
This project has been a great challenge and a great inspiration. I’ve included at the bottom a short video to show you what a whole month of writing looks like. Lots of dead trees but I have so much material to work on now! That’s exciting to think about too.
Where do we go from here? Well, the writing doesn’t stop. Who knows I may get up tomorrow and take up where I left off. The work’s just begun. Beauty and the Bee will be workshopped in Florida in November along with the Sitting play if I figure out what to do with it. The work marches on, I just won’t be talking about it every day. My God. Who knew I had so much to say about writing.
Thank you to those who kept up, to those who kept me going and I’ll see you all here in a couple of weeks. I need a break! But I do think I’m going to have to do this again next year….
Submission: Leaves of Grass to The New Harmony Project.
Now, this was the part of the project that I was fully willing and able to shunt off to the side if I wasn’t finding submissions. Sometimes it’s a very dusty field out there. And you don’t want to send just anything off to wherever. And I especially don’t like to pay submission fees, it really sticks in my craw. So no fees this month, and mostly email submissions. Had a couple of bites, we’ll see what happens.
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30 Days of Development: Lindsay is writing every day for thirty days, and submitting every day for thirty days, and blogging about it every day for thirty days. Whew! Can she do it? Stay posted….
DAY TWENTY-NINE
Writing: Cooking with Gas on the Bee Play. Whee!
Thoughts: Working, working, working today. I’m a steam train, I’m a boiling pot o’ water. (What? Oh never mind) The end is near and I’m 100% confident I can finish the draft by tomorrow. ( I love those famous last words) I have five questions to address in the second act, and really I only need to get to three of them to finish the draft. It feels great and very accomplished. Yay me.
And speaking of great I got some very nice news today. I entered the one act version of Beauty and the Bee in TADA Theatre’s One Act Playwriting Competition and I was one of the winners! They choose three plays and along with a prize they do a festival of readings.
I’ve been thinking about my non verbal play a lot this week. Sometimes the act of writing isn’t just the typing and the pen and paper. It’s a lot of thinking. Letting ideas run around the brain. I think a lot about my work when I’m running, walking, watching tv, doing errands, out and about and so on. But never when I’m driving. I don’t think and drive.
As I’ve previously gone on about, I’m rather upset about some of the stories I’ve been hearing about people and organizations who are supposed to be there to support teens and could give a crap about them. I want to get those frustrations out in a play. The non-verbal just might be the place to do this; thematically it works well especially the idea of authority vs teenager, the idea of teenage obedience, the idea that authority doesn’t want anything to do with teenagers, other than see them sit quietly.
I had already been thinking about using human sounds as well as music as the background and then I started thinking about using screams and then this came to me:
HORROR PLAY.
Sometimes you come up with ideas that make you step back from your brain. You put the words on a piece of paper and you stare at them. You put the paper aside. Hmm. Could I do that? I think I could. Could I? Hmm. Would it actually be scary and not cheezy? Hmm. Students would love the style but would the style overwhelm the theme? Hmm. Could be an interesting challenge. Hmm.
I had this particular idea two days ago and I still haven’t got past those two words. They’re still running around in my brain. Can’t wait to see where they go.
Speaking of running around in my brain. Only one more day to go!!!!!
Submission: Saved with a reprieve from the Governor. Didn’t have a submission when I set down to write this post, went to my playwright binge site and there was someone looking for a two-hander for two freshman high school girls. Those I got! Emailed three shorties: Sandy is an Eggplant, Remember the Burrito, and Plain Girl Pretty Girl. Whew.
30 Days of Development: Lindsay is writing every day for thirty days, and submitting every day for thirty days, and blogging about it every day for thirty days. Whew! Can she do it? Stay posted….
DAY TWENTY-EIGHT
Writing: Bee play. Two more days….
Thoughts: Today was the epitome of relaxed. A relaxing night’s sleep. A relaxing morning with tea and left over pizza. A relaxing run ( no, really). And a relaxing afternoon typing out my notes, adding changes, compiling my list of changes. Very soothing (no, really).
Spent a half an hour coming up with a new name for my Has-Bees. They started out as one thing, ended up as another and now the name doesn’t fit. Got to a point where actually thinking would be an asset and stopped in a relaxing manner. Another good night’s sleep and I think I’ll be good to go. Really looking forward to tomorrow and having my butt glued to a chair all day long. Can’t wait.
Running has been a part of my life since 2002. I started out in a 30 second run, 30 second walk program and have slowly worked my way up to longer distances. There have been ups and downs, I’ve trained for three marathons and none of them turned out. Conversely, I’ll never forget the intense joy of a 30K that turned out exactly as planned, exactly perfect.
The best part of running is the realization of vision: deciding on a goal, putting the steps in place to reach that goal and achieving it. Running has taught me that anything is possible, and when the brain says otherwise…. the brain is wrong. Imagine that.
Running has had a profound effect on my writing. 2002 was the year I really started to focus on my youth writing. It was the year I decided that being a playwright was possible even when my brain said otherwise because I wasn’t following a ‘traditional’ path. Running allowed me to define the difference between the vision of becoming a playwright as opposed to the intangible dream. If ‘I” could run, couldn’t I do anything?
Just as with writing there are good running days and down right horrible days. Nothing makes you hate the world more than a sucky run. But when it’s good, when you’re breathing and moving and putting one step in front of the other; it’s wonderful. Running and writing will always be a part of me and I’ll always be grateful to both.
Submission: Stained Glass to 6 Women Play Festival.
30 Days of Development: Lindsay is writing every day for thirty days, and submitting every day for thirty days, and blogging about it every day for thirty days. Whew! Can she do it? Stay posted….
DAY TWENTY-SEVEN
Writing: Nice work today on the Bee play. Finished my going back review of everything I have so far. I have a lot of ’stuff’ to address, it’s all a bit jumbled but I really like the ’stuff’ so that’s positive. Still feel confident that a first draft will be completed by Tuesday.
Thoughts: I cried twice today at the conference.
Hmmm. Maybe we should start with something happier. I talked to a teacher yesterday who’s doing my version of The Canterbury Tales. She has the whole football team in the play. I just love imagining what that looks like. It sounds like they’re having a great time with the show. Which is saying a lot seeing as it’s The Canterbury Tales…
Ok, back to the crying. Oh maybe it wasn’t that bad. The second time, was while our friends Bob and Marti Fowler, (shout out to Interactive Educational Video) received an award recognizing their longstanding commitment to theatre education. It is a well-deserved honour. These two are retired theatre teachers who have developed a line of technical theatre DVDs for school use. The whole room (filled with teachers) lept to their feet when Bob and Marti were introduced. It was warm and heartfelt. Then they thanked Craig and I in their speech. That’s what made me cry. They’re such dearhearts and believe, as we do, in the importance and place of theatre education.
Happy break! A teacher shared with me her vision about her upcoming production of Circus Olympus. She’s thinking about all the great visuals that happened in the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies. She has a huge cast and is determined to have everyone be a part of the action. She’s using Greek letters. It sounded so great! I want to be in her show.
The first incident of eye socket leakage happened five minutes before the second time. I caught the tail end of the keynote speaker (while waiting for the award presentation) and I believe he was talking about the statistical evidence of the importance of theatre in the classroom. And how to advocate theatre using statistics. That’s what administrators and boards respond to.
The last slide in his presentation was of a poem a teacher had written which was about ‘what schools should be, ‘ the last being:
Schools should be a place of hope.
That made me cry. Those of us who work with students have such opportunity. We have a chance to be a part of someone’s hope, we can spark hope, and I want to be a person who offers hope. I want to lose the part of me that spends too much time navel gazing and creating imaginary complaints.
And I have just heard so many horrific stories in the past two weekends. Of people, of schools, of administrations, of organizations, all of which are supposed to help students, help teachers, help students, yet they make me feel that ‘the school’ is a rather hopeless place.
Happy break! A teacher told me how, in her school, every student in grade nine has to be involved in a one act play and she needed to stock up on new material.
I had a fair amount of time between the end of exhibiting and my flight. I’m beat but not completely brain dead today. The Hyatt had a TON of comfy couches and I just lounged and worked. When I got to the airport, I had this very surreal, hee hee, moment: I’m in one of those places that’s not a restaurant, but one step up from fast food, and EVERYONE in the place is watching the college football game on the numerous TVs. They’re all glued to the game. I think I’m the only one not watching. And I think, I’ll bet no one knows I’m writing a play. Hee hee hee. Hmmm. It sounds less funny when I type it out. I was seriously giggling to myself in Miller’s Pub. Someone needs a nap.
Submission: Galileo: The Starry Messenger on request to Otago University in New Zealand. The internet makes the world so small…
30 Days of Development: Lindsay is writing every day for thirty days, and submitting every day for thirty days, and blogging about it every day for thirty days. Whew! Can she do it? Stay posted….
DAY TWENTY-SIX
Writing: I don’t know. Some Bee play. Sleepy.
Thoughts: Well, I would really love to lie and talk about all the good work that happened today. Or I could have said, ‘you know, twenty five days in a row is pretty good does it really matter if I didn’t write EVERY day?’
What was I talking about? Why are their keyboard imprints on my forehead. Let’s start again. Herein lies my hour of “writing.”
I sit with the Bee play on my lap. I hold a pen. I hold paper. I feel sadness watching Lindsay Lohan in The Parent Trap. I open the play. I manage a small monologue, which……won’t work, new page. I flip through many channels of debate. Boy it’s on a lot of channels.
Today was a long day. Exhibiting started at 7am, and in the afternoon I taught a three hour workshop on creating a playwriting unit in a drama program. It was good, but funnily enough too short really. If it was longer I could have done more practical work. The day ends at 5pm.
Where was I? Sitting with the play in my lap. Ok, I commit to go through five more pages. I write another small monologue for Cosette. This one will stay. It’s all about how another girl ‘looks’ at her and makes a judgment of her based on her appearance.
Oh, good. Entourage is on. I very much liked the first four seasons. And then I didn’t. This new season isn’t sparking me much. Of course I’m four seconds from a coma so, maybe it’s not a good time for judgments.
There’s a moment in the play where we see Cosette’s winning word from the spelling bee. I want to contrast this with Catherine cheering at a game and no one comes to watch her. I have her talking about this, but always better to show. That’s a good idea.
What time is it? Thank God. 8:58. That’s it.
Hmmmm. Now I have to type a blog post… oh wait. I’m already at the end…
Submission: Leaves of Grass query to Timeline Theatre.
30 Days of Development: Lindsay is writing every day for thirty days, and submitting every day for thirty days, and blogging about it every day for thirty days. Whew! Can she do it? Stay posted….
DAY TWENTY-FIVE
Writing: Bee Play. And a random half page on the Nano play. I swear I’m not trying to work on it. It came into my head of its own free will.
Thoughts: So, here I am staring at the end of the first draft in the face. The end is in sight, I just need to write two, three more scenes and I can call the Bee Play ‘complete for now.’
But as I may have mentioned, I’m a serial re-writer. I don’t like to get to the end. I like to go over and over and over the beginning. I can’t help myself. Great for the beginning, not so great for the end. Especially if one is trying to finish a draft in the next five days. But I couldn’t help myself. Today, instead of going forward, I went back.
Now, this is not completely crazy. It’s not so crazy to review as opposed to come up with new material. Today was a travel day. I’m in Chicago. I also spent most of the day preparing for my workshop. My brain is not in optimal creation mode. More half-baked, more - boy would I really like to lie diagonally across this king bed and drool as the Charmed marathon plays.
But, I didn’t do that dear readers. Instead, I went back, way back to the start of the play. I’m doing so for two reasons: First, I’m cataloging the journey of the two main characters. It’s been awhile since I’ve been back to the start of the play and it’s important to see who the characters are, and what happens to them over the course of the play. It’s easy to miss things or change paths when you’re deep in the woods of Act two. Characters say and do things differently after you’ve been working on them for awhile. Some factions say that when you’re working on a new play that when you get to the end of the first draft, you should throw out the first act and start the play with the second act and go from there. While I’m not that dramatic, and I won’t be tossing out 40 pages of anything, it’s a sound theory.
The second thing I’m doing is seeing what unanswered questions still need dealing with. This will actually be very helpful over the next few days when I’m ready to turn back to the end of the play. (And you will, right Lindsay?) It’ll be rather handy if I have a list of questions to refer to, to answer, to decide which get answered and which stay a mystery.
I’m somewhat alarmed that I have two pages of questions halfway through the first act. But this is not the final draft, this is the first draft and I do not turn into a pumpkin on September 30th. The play will move on and continue to be worked on.
I don’t sound like I’m trying to hard to convince myself of this do I? Hmmmm.
Submission: Stained Glass to the UMBC Playwriting Competition.
30 Days of Development: Lindsay is writing every day for thirty days, and submitting every day for thirty days, and blogging about it every day for thirty days. Whew! Can she do it? Stay posted….
DAY TWENTY-FOUR
Writing: 15 more pages on the Bee play, but truth be told, half of those pages came ready made from the pre-written one act. But still, it wasn’t an insert job, everything needed to be sewn into place….
Thoughts: Writing is often taking patches of material and stitching them together. The sewing needs to be done slowly, carefully and thoughtfully so the finished product is a pretty quilt and not a mess of threads. It’s a delicate operation.
As a complete side-note, I have no idea how I passed Home-Ec in the seventh and eighth grade. I’m positive I never sewed anything to completion. And she made us freeze macaroni salad.
Today was an achingly slow sew job. I started out on the project I described yesterday - the paring down of the two monologues and halfway through that the threads started knotting up and I knew it just wasn’t going to be pretty at the end. Tossed it to the side and started anew.
It was interesting to weave the scene from the one act (which really now has to be totally re-written. Ergh) into the full length. Some dialogue remains exactly the same, some has to change based on the path of the characters up to this point. The transition in and out has to be sewn together to make it all fit naturally. You don’t want Frankenstein, you want seamless beauty. Or something like that.
I’m back on the road tomorrow (I don’t want to gooooooooooo) But, baring a complete mental breakdown (don’t rule it out) I should be able to piece out the rest of the act while I’m gone. That’s the plan. And plans never go awry.
Submission: Stained Glass (the ten minute nano play!) to the Biotech Performance Festival.
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