I shouldn't overstate the importance of finishing a first draft of a new play, because after all, that's just the beginning of the work. Then, one must read it through out loud and fix all the clumsy parts one can find, and make sure it all flows together. Do a little timing to see how long it runs. Then let some folks read it over and make suggestions. Then contemplate a reading gathering to see what it sounds like in other voices and interpretations. Then, maybe, you're close to a finished draft.
But all that being said, it is still exciting to me, now on the third time through this process, to be within a few pages of having a complete story. (I'm not counting the ten-minute play, since that started off as just an exercise to see if I could do one, and literally, the first draft took six hours to write. There wasn't much time to even contemplate the "process" on that one!)
Anyway, "The Good Life" has almost been glued together. At some point, there will be reading and timing and editing, but I'm always thrilled when something in my head makes its way to being, for real, on paper. And it's almost there.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Starting to apply some glue
You just never know when the time, a clear slate and a visit from the muse will coordinate, but after some years, you learn NEVER to deny those factors when they happen.
On Sunday and Monday, I'm pleased to say that the writing karma was on my side and I was able to complete the first draft of the second scene of the first act of "The Good Life." What does this mean? As I envision it, it means I have one more scene in the first act, and the opening scene of the second act, left to complete. Which implies that I'm two-thirds of the way through the first completed draft of the play.
Given the way this play has come along (see earlier post), in bits and pieces, this also means that I'm beginning the process of glueing together the ending of the show, much of which was written BEFORE the beginning of the play, by adding words to the start of the show. Eventually, I see them meeting somewhere in the middle. Wouldn't that be nice?
Anyway, nearly all of the characters in the show have now been introduced or "used," as the case may be, with only one more yet to be rolled out, and she'll make her appearance in Act Two, Scene One. In short, I pretty much know what needs to occur in the final two scenes to be written, though of course, characters sometimes have a way of taking you to unexpected places along the way. But when you're this far along, you have that feeling of relief that the thing is actually going to come together as soon as you find the time, and the inspiration, to finish the glueing process.
On Sunday and Monday, I'm pleased to say that the writing karma was on my side and I was able to complete the first draft of the second scene of the first act of "The Good Life." What does this mean? As I envision it, it means I have one more scene in the first act, and the opening scene of the second act, left to complete. Which implies that I'm two-thirds of the way through the first completed draft of the play.
Given the way this play has come along (see earlier post), in bits and pieces, this also means that I'm beginning the process of glueing together the ending of the show, much of which was written BEFORE the beginning of the play, by adding words to the start of the show. Eventually, I see them meeting somewhere in the middle. Wouldn't that be nice?
Anyway, nearly all of the characters in the show have now been introduced or "used," as the case may be, with only one more yet to be rolled out, and she'll make her appearance in Act Two, Scene One. In short, I pretty much know what needs to occur in the final two scenes to be written, though of course, characters sometimes have a way of taking you to unexpected places along the way. But when you're this far along, you have that feeling of relief that the thing is actually going to come together as soon as you find the time, and the inspiration, to finish the glueing process.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Writing in bits and pieces
It may be only me, and it may only interest me, but the process of writing is a fascinating thing.
For a lot of my writing, the toughest part is getting that first sentence, or paragraph or two, on the page or into the computer (yeh, being old-fashioned, I still do a fair amount of writing, or at least STARTING writing, with a pen and pad of paper). For articles, short stories, press releases -- those can often roll right off after the "start" is done, even if I go back and revise the start later on.
Of course, a lot of the "head thinking" part is done by the time those first words get corraled.
But that process, and a lot of my writing in general, tends to be very linear in nature. Write the start, write the middle, write the end. Let sit, then go back and revise. Pretty straight-forward, even if sometimes it's very hard and other times very easy, and for no good reason in either case.
This latest writing permutation, plays, started off much the same way. The first play, "Conversations in a Cafe," was very linear, too. I started it at the beginning, worked through the middle, and came up with a closing, even if that was later altered somewhat, and expanded.
"All About Faith," play two, was also chiefly that way. I had a vision basically of how the play was going to end from early on, but still, it didn't get written until a lot of the rest of the play was in the bag. And even at that, a line or two was added to the original ending when it floated into my mind. It may be -- I don't recall -- that the original ending, though, was on paper or in the computer before Scenes Three and Four were fully fleshed out.
So perhaps there was a transition from "Conversations" to "Faith," and further to the latest effort, "The Good Life." Which has been just about anything BUT linear in nature.
A lot of my writing is in bits and pieces, too, but by that, I mean that I write a sentence or a page today, and then it may be a week or more before I write the next part. Or I can get on a roll and write a scene in two days, as happened with "Faith," for instance.
With "Good Life," though, I have written bits and pieces all over the place in the course of the play. For instance, today, I "finished" the play. The final two scenes are more or less complete, and I know exactly how it will end. It might get adjusted, but the play essentially is "over."
However, I still have a huge hole in the middle of the play. I essentially know what will happen in those scenes, but the writing is still missing. And really, I had written most of Scene Two of Act Two before I ever went back and wrote Act One, Scene One and the start of Scene Two, which are done. But I still need the end of Scene Two, and a Scene Three if there will be one, and Scene One of Act Two.
What does this say about my writing process on this particular play? I have no earthly clue, except that at least it's getting written in SOME fashion, even if out of order. I do find it pretty exciting when I finally "glue" the scenes and pieces together into some kind of a whole. But maybe I should just smile and accept that things are not always linear, and maybe that's a good thing.
For a lot of my writing, the toughest part is getting that first sentence, or paragraph or two, on the page or into the computer (yeh, being old-fashioned, I still do a fair amount of writing, or at least STARTING writing, with a pen and pad of paper). For articles, short stories, press releases -- those can often roll right off after the "start" is done, even if I go back and revise the start later on.
Of course, a lot of the "head thinking" part is done by the time those first words get corraled.
But that process, and a lot of my writing in general, tends to be very linear in nature. Write the start, write the middle, write the end. Let sit, then go back and revise. Pretty straight-forward, even if sometimes it's very hard and other times very easy, and for no good reason in either case.
This latest writing permutation, plays, started off much the same way. The first play, "Conversations in a Cafe," was very linear, too. I started it at the beginning, worked through the middle, and came up with a closing, even if that was later altered somewhat, and expanded.
"All About Faith," play two, was also chiefly that way. I had a vision basically of how the play was going to end from early on, but still, it didn't get written until a lot of the rest of the play was in the bag. And even at that, a line or two was added to the original ending when it floated into my mind. It may be -- I don't recall -- that the original ending, though, was on paper or in the computer before Scenes Three and Four were fully fleshed out.
So perhaps there was a transition from "Conversations" to "Faith," and further to the latest effort, "The Good Life." Which has been just about anything BUT linear in nature.
A lot of my writing is in bits and pieces, too, but by that, I mean that I write a sentence or a page today, and then it may be a week or more before I write the next part. Or I can get on a roll and write a scene in two days, as happened with "Faith," for instance.
With "Good Life," though, I have written bits and pieces all over the place in the course of the play. For instance, today, I "finished" the play. The final two scenes are more or less complete, and I know exactly how it will end. It might get adjusted, but the play essentially is "over."
However, I still have a huge hole in the middle of the play. I essentially know what will happen in those scenes, but the writing is still missing. And really, I had written most of Scene Two of Act Two before I ever went back and wrote Act One, Scene One and the start of Scene Two, which are done. But I still need the end of Scene Two, and a Scene Three if there will be one, and Scene One of Act Two.
What does this say about my writing process on this particular play? I have no earthly clue, except that at least it's getting written in SOME fashion, even if out of order. I do find it pretty exciting when I finally "glue" the scenes and pieces together into some kind of a whole. But maybe I should just smile and accept that things are not always linear, and maybe that's a good thing.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Exciting news
I'm pleased to report that I actually spent a couple of hours working on play number three on Friday, but that's really not important at this very moment.
I will take a proud moment's step aside from play-writing stuff to announce that two theatrical individuals have announced their intention to be wed. Although we had some advance notice (though no level of certainty), our son, Andy, and future daughter-in-law, Sarah Denhardt, called us from Culpeper, Virginia this morning, where they were overnighting and enjoying a brief getaway from the nation's capitol to inform us that they were officially engaged. Andy is a working lighting designer, assistant lighting designer, electrician and other theatrical-lighting-related taskmaster mostly in D.C. Sarah has acted and directed and is now the manager of special events with renowned Arena Stage in D.C., a huge job currently as Arena is wholly renovating its spaces and preparing for a grand reopening in a year and a half or so.
We are just so excited for both of them. The wedding itself is anticipated in the fall of 2009. Wow!
I will take a proud moment's step aside from play-writing stuff to announce that two theatrical individuals have announced their intention to be wed. Although we had some advance notice (though no level of certainty), our son, Andy, and future daughter-in-law, Sarah Denhardt, called us from Culpeper, Virginia this morning, where they were overnighting and enjoying a brief getaway from the nation's capitol to inform us that they were officially engaged. Andy is a working lighting designer, assistant lighting designer, electrician and other theatrical-lighting-related taskmaster mostly in D.C. Sarah has acted and directed and is now the manager of special events with renowned Arena Stage in D.C., a huge job currently as Arena is wholly renovating its spaces and preparing for a grand reopening in a year and a half or so.
We are just so excited for both of them. The wedding itself is anticipated in the fall of 2009. Wow!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Talking is Good
Despite my chief drive and desire to be mostly hermetic in nature, shunning company and chatting to myself and my cat throughout the day and my wife when she can escape the office, there really are times when company and talk can be beneficial (as long as the talk isn't politics or specifics of religion).
Saturday was a good evening, with a number of volunteers and performers of Kernersville Little Theatre gathered for their annual banquet/meeting/ awards ceremony. It was a good year and the awards were quite inclusive, which I think is great for all concerned. Support your volunteers, and they will support you.
Afterwards, some folks gathered to wet their whistles with a beer or two, food, snack or whatever. It's this kind of meeting of those with a theatrical bent (or who are theatrically bent, either way is fine) that gets my discussion and creative juices flowing. And since then, I've had my head back where it belongs -- focusing on what is going to be happening, and what needs to be done to make those things happen, in the new play script. Yes, I have a couple of articles on assignment, but not much more can or needs to be done on either at this particular moment. So, the re-focusing at this point is quite helpful. Thanks, theater folks! You know who you are.
Saturday was a good evening, with a number of volunteers and performers of Kernersville Little Theatre gathered for their annual banquet/meeting/ awards ceremony. It was a good year and the awards were quite inclusive, which I think is great for all concerned. Support your volunteers, and they will support you.
Afterwards, some folks gathered to wet their whistles with a beer or two, food, snack or whatever. It's this kind of meeting of those with a theatrical bent (or who are theatrically bent, either way is fine) that gets my discussion and creative juices flowing. And since then, I've had my head back where it belongs -- focusing on what is going to be happening, and what needs to be done to make those things happen, in the new play script. Yes, I have a couple of articles on assignment, but not much more can or needs to be done on either at this particular moment. So, the re-focusing at this point is quite helpful. Thanks, theater folks! You know who you are.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sometimes, interviewing is fun
At the risk of this sounding as odd as it actually is, I'm a freelance writer who periodically writes magazine articles about people and events, which in turn requires calling people on the telephone (as a stranger) and asking them questions.
I am also a person who doesn't really like calling up strangers on the telephone and asking them questions. It almost always turns out just fine, and productive. It's the act of picking up that phone that bothers me, until I actually do it.
Today was one of those days that the end result was just delightful. I am working on a piece about Piedmont Opera's upcoming production of "The Light in the Piazza." Earlier this week, I chatted on the phone with the author of the original novella, from 1960, on which the musical was based. Who set the hometown of the family in the story, for reasons all her own, in Winston-Salem, N.C., which of course makes the musical a perfect choice for Piedmont Opera based on setting alone. (The story's action takes place in Italy, however.)
Today, I got not only to chat with the artistic director and resident conductor, Jamie Allbritten (he's currently in Colorado, however), but with Adam Guettel, the musical's composer, who was kind enough to give me time to talk about how he found the story and made it into a six-Tony-award-winner of the 2005 Broadway season. For a smalltown resident in N.C., it's just not every day I get to do that. And how wonderful is it to get to write about the theater as part of my paid work? Among other things, I've been able to do a three-part article on NCSA's "West Side Story" production in Winston-Salem Monthly, and more recently, a Triad Stage profile of "Bloody Blackbeard" in Greensboro Monthly.
It's totally excellent, that's what it is!
The only downside to this whole experience is that Piedmont Opera did not consult with me when scheduling this production, and the three dates in mid-October fall right in the middle of the time Kathy and I will be out of the country. Darn it! Though I will probably make up for it by seeing a Samuel Beckett play in Dublin, so that should work out as a fair compromise.
I am also a person who doesn't really like calling up strangers on the telephone and asking them questions. It almost always turns out just fine, and productive. It's the act of picking up that phone that bothers me, until I actually do it.
Today was one of those days that the end result was just delightful. I am working on a piece about Piedmont Opera's upcoming production of "The Light in the Piazza." Earlier this week, I chatted on the phone with the author of the original novella, from 1960, on which the musical was based. Who set the hometown of the family in the story, for reasons all her own, in Winston-Salem, N.C., which of course makes the musical a perfect choice for Piedmont Opera based on setting alone. (The story's action takes place in Italy, however.)
Today, I got not only to chat with the artistic director and resident conductor, Jamie Allbritten (he's currently in Colorado, however), but with Adam Guettel, the musical's composer, who was kind enough to give me time to talk about how he found the story and made it into a six-Tony-award-winner of the 2005 Broadway season. For a smalltown resident in N.C., it's just not every day I get to do that. And how wonderful is it to get to write about the theater as part of my paid work? Among other things, I've been able to do a three-part article on NCSA's "West Side Story" production in Winston-Salem Monthly, and more recently, a Triad Stage profile of "Bloody Blackbeard" in Greensboro Monthly.
It's totally excellent, that's what it is!
The only downside to this whole experience is that Piedmont Opera did not consult with me when scheduling this production, and the three dates in mid-October fall right in the middle of the time Kathy and I will be out of the country. Darn it! Though I will probably make up for it by seeing a Samuel Beckett play in Dublin, so that should work out as a fair compromise.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Learning by playreading
Given some of the past stories, it was with at least a little bit of trepidation that I signed on as one of a group of volunteers who undertake reading, and then advising, the Kernersville Little Theatre board concerning plays worthy of the theatre group's consideration. But thus far, it has been an enlightening and educational experience.
As has been noted earlier in this blog, Kathy and I are "active" playgoers, so yes, we do see quite a few plays on stage. But the interesting thing for me about the KLT playreading assignments is finding one's way to plays hitherto unknown to me. A good example is "Dinner With Friends," a script that won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize -- perhaps a year or two before I was paying as much attention to theater as nowadays, but still, I suspect I should have heard of it. It's making the rounds of the committee right now, though my personal opinion holds that it is not a KLT type of show. Nevertheless, I liked it very much and would enjoy seeing a production of it somewhere, some day, in the right hands.
Equally, some works that are not (IMHO) destined for Broadway greatness are entertaining to me and, by extension, the average current-day KLT audience member. Some are older (Headin' for the Hills, "a hillbilly comedy," dates to about 1950 but still has a humor I think our audience would "get," along with accents they would accept versus, apparently, British accents) and some are newer, but that's OK, too.
We are not destined to agree in all cases, either. One member saw Neil Simon's "Dinner Party" as a good opportunity for us, not perhaps his greatest comedy, but certainly adequate. I on the other hand saw its original production on Broadway, in the hands of name actors such as John Ritter and Henry Winkler, and thought it was flat and not really all that good. Was it just that production? Or would KLT founder on the same problems that the pros faced? Again, it's a matter of opinion. I'd be wary of it; others may well feel differently.
Choosing plays that will hopefully be successful in production takes a group effort, and compromise. We may not always get it right, but I feel this group has the best interests of the overall organization in mind at all times. Naturally, we try to be realistic about the interests of the audience as well.
And it's a learning experience, too!
As has been noted earlier in this blog, Kathy and I are "active" playgoers, so yes, we do see quite a few plays on stage. But the interesting thing for me about the KLT playreading assignments is finding one's way to plays hitherto unknown to me. A good example is "Dinner With Friends," a script that won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize -- perhaps a year or two before I was paying as much attention to theater as nowadays, but still, I suspect I should have heard of it. It's making the rounds of the committee right now, though my personal opinion holds that it is not a KLT type of show. Nevertheless, I liked it very much and would enjoy seeing a production of it somewhere, some day, in the right hands.
Equally, some works that are not (IMHO) destined for Broadway greatness are entertaining to me and, by extension, the average current-day KLT audience member. Some are older (Headin' for the Hills, "a hillbilly comedy," dates to about 1950 but still has a humor I think our audience would "get," along with accents they would accept versus, apparently, British accents) and some are newer, but that's OK, too.
We are not destined to agree in all cases, either. One member saw Neil Simon's "Dinner Party" as a good opportunity for us, not perhaps his greatest comedy, but certainly adequate. I on the other hand saw its original production on Broadway, in the hands of name actors such as John Ritter and Henry Winkler, and thought it was flat and not really all that good. Was it just that production? Or would KLT founder on the same problems that the pros faced? Again, it's a matter of opinion. I'd be wary of it; others may well feel differently.
Choosing plays that will hopefully be successful in production takes a group effort, and compromise. We may not always get it right, but I feel this group has the best interests of the overall organization in mind at all times. Naturally, we try to be realistic about the interests of the audience as well.
And it's a learning experience, too!
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