The Cartoon Me!

Goodness, I've been bored today! Does anyone else have days like that, where there's plenty to do, but you still feel bored anyway?

To try to combat my boredom, I "Mad Men"-ed myself (see pic left, looks like me, no?), have looked on Ralan for new anthologies I could try to write stories for, and have tidied my desk at work.

Reading through my first draft of Inter Vivos again is so depressing. It is not good. I still have an ounce of optimism that is telling me that I can make it good, but I also know that it is going to take me ages. Which makes me want to stamp my feet and through a hissy fit about it not being perfect now. Writing novels is a mug's game, that's what I'm starting to think anyway.

So, to give myself a treat whilst I'm angonising over IV, I'm going to try to write some drama again. My last play (Hoodies, if anyone remembers) was written in April 2007 - it's been almost three years since I've written any drama. That's actually quite scary. I hadn't realised it had been so long... Anyway, I guess there's no time like the present to jump right back in again. My problem is though, I don't really have any ideas about what to write about - what do I want to say? I'm feeling very blank at the moment.

So yeah, right, well, stuff is sort of happening, but it's all going at a snail's pace, and it's driving me crazy. Maybe that's why I'm bored?

Hoodies Redraft

In the shower last night, I thought of what to do with Hoodies in the new draft. I'm doing the Radio Edit, as well as rewriting it for the stage - the Naomi/Jase bit before was terrible, so I'm cutting Jase altogether. And I'm going to set it so it can be staged in the round, which means I can send it to the Bruntwood competition next year. Doing a radio edit of a play where one character doesn't speak though is very interesting to say the least!
After reading Alex's new play Son on Saturday, I'm really inspired to go to go back to theatre. Just the immediacy of it is appealing. Am still reading Inter Vivos. Chapter three is actually not bad. It's just taking a while to go through.

More Time Needed!

I've become a bit lazy again, in terms of the writing, and so it's time to kick myself up the arse and get motivated. Because I'm doing this rewrite of the Inter Vivos novel (am terribly embarrassed by how bad the first two chapters are, after putting it away for a while and now re-reading it!), it means that I've had to put other writing projects on hold. So my Tabitha story is on pause at the moment (though it was a nice stop-gap project), and I'm itching to do a rewrite of my Hoodies play, and also a radio edit of both Hoodies and High Street Aphrodite. But no, I need to focus.

The day job is getting more involved, which has meant that I'm working more hours and feeling too exhausted when I get home to do anything other than read or watch TV. I still have my second job too, although I don't work that often any more, so it's not going too badly.

Morph had an idea ages ago for our Semper group to do another night like 'Semper Sumo', only this time independent of LadyFest. It would be great to put on another little showcase, but if Morph ends up putting on his own production in October/November, and what with Mekon deciding he doesn't write anymore, Dec generally being uncontactable, Robin in Scotland and Sabrina 'spawning' (hee hee), then it doesn't look like it'll be happening any time soon.

Though I guess it would just be a distraction anyway, and I need to focus on IV!

Tick, Tock, Tick

I'm feeling really frustrated because I want to be a writer, but I don't have anything written! I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous, but that's just how it is. I've been reflecting on my own writing style and habits, and I've come to the conclusion that my weakness is story. Don't get me wrong, I can get Character A and Character B from X to Y with a few subplots inbetween perfectly well, thank you, but when someone asks me 'What's it about?' I get stumped. I vaguely have a notion of what I would like the story to say on a deeper level, but find it difficult to get my story to reflect that. I know, "practice makes perfect", but noone's getting any younger. I read in this book I got out of the library (can't remember the title right now), that having one child = two books (in terms of time, energy, etc). It was controversal when whoever said it said it, but I can kind of see what they mean - I have friends who have kids and they don't even have time to have a conversation with their husbands, let alone write a manuscript. I really want to get a book published before I have a child. Not that I'm planning on having children in the next few years, but it's something to think about (especially when everyone around me seems to be 'up the duff'). I feel better for ranting now, so hope you'll excuse me!
I've been thinking of radio, and so I emailed Amanda and asked her for her advice, as she's written quite a bit for radio now. She told me that radio is a lot more intimate than theatre, and sent me one of her radio scripts to look through. This is where story comes along, as radio is all about the storytelling. Think I might have a go and adapting Hoodies and High Street Aphrodite for the airwaves.
In terms of Inter Vivos - still not finished. Am thinking that maybe I should just trust my inital feelings and set it in the near-future, rather than in it's own dimension. Should not let people sway me before a) I've finished and b) they've read it.

More Deadlines

Well, I had a think, and decided, as all good girls do, to come up with a schedule of what I want to have written by when. Let's hope all goes according to plan!

Calypso short story - 21st April 2008

Inter Vivos first draft (so close I can almost smell it!) - May 12th 2008

Mouse short story - June 2008

Second draft of Hoodies - June 30th 2008

Tabitha Grubb short story - July 2008

And, obviously, Dorcas Grubb will be written in November 2008, to be completed on 30th November 2008.

Wish me luck then!

I've been doing a bit of writing each day, even if it's just 200 words or so, and I'm feeling better about it (although I'm feeling better about everything - I think it's the vitamins I've started taking, and I don't care what anyone says!).

I'm really close to finishing Inter Vivos, as I've said. Just had to invent three characters to house Nox in the snow, but aside from that little detour it's all going well. Calypso, on the other hand, has me stumped right now, and it's due in at the end of April. I bet it's going to be one of those 'night before' jobbies (see: http://lucyannwade.blogspot.com/2007/05/its-your-fault-guybrush.html!). Still, at least it gets done.

Post-Manchester

I shouldn't be allowed to go to the theatre. It's too distracting. I went away to Manchester for 2 and a half days for work, hoping to come back with plenty of Inter Vivos written, and I return with 2,500 words of IV, half a short story on Calypso, and two pages of dialogue for a new play. Well, I say 'new'; it's actually the Munitionettes story, but seeing as the novel wasn't going anywhere (and now that I'm a sci-fi/fantasy writer, darlings...) I am writing it as a play.
The Royal Exchange Theatre was a very inspiring space. It's in the round, with 2 galleries looking down on the stage almost like a telescope. Hoodies, in the way that it is written right now, couldn't be staged there, but if I changed the location of the play from loitering outside of a shop to loitering in a park on a kiddies roundabout, maybe add a swing set, it would look wonderful. It's great how you can take one thing you've felt has gone a bit stagnant and flip it and make it fresh again.
The play I saw on Wednesday, The Children's Hour, was a really good, strong production (though the first act was better than the last). As an aside point, it was also nice to have a play with a majority female cast that didn't make a point of the fact that it had a majority female cast, and the actors weren't there simply as someone's wife/daughter/sister/mother. Sometimes these days it seems like the playwright/director/marketing people are trying to Raise Issues when they do a play with women as the main characters, but this was a good story that just so happened to have women characters in it. Kate O'Flynn was particularly impressive as the manipulative school girl Mary.
So anyway. Theatre = good. Inter Vivos is coming along - Nox has met Thaddeus and learned a bit more about The Maiden, so we're edging closer to the start of the final act. I'm getting close to writing one of the scenes that I've been imagining in my head for the past two years, which is exciting. Aside from my day job being knackering, I'm in a really good place creatively so far. I will keep my fingers crossed that it stays that way.

Wet!

At the moment, I have wet legs up to my knees thanks to the downpour outside; hard, icy rain that seemed to be impervious to my umbrella. Good old English weather!
I am currently working on rewriting the second chapter of Inter Vivos. It is not going very well. I know what I want to write, but I just don't seem to be very disciplined at the minute. It's the same old story with me, unfortunately. I am too easily distracted, or busy doing other things to give 100% of my time to it. Writing is hard work. Don't let anyone ever tell you any differently!
I haven't written any theatre for ages, and I'm thinking that I should start up again soon, especially if we want to get our Semper Festival project off the ground. I don't want to be distracted though by too many projects, so I think I'm going to just concentrate on IV now, and perhaps have another bash at Hoodies or Red in a couple of months.
Here is a link to a game I saw posted on Neil Gaiman's blog journal: http://www.freerice.com/index.php It improves your vocabulary and helps third world countries all at the same time. I am ashamedly poor at this quiz, though I'm hoping that if I do it every day, I will begin to educate myself (and feed starving folks around the world too!).

Almost Christmas

It's almost Christmas, and this may possibly be my last post before the New Year.
I would never have imagined that this year I would complete the first drafts of not one, but two novels. Thea Gael, my NaNoWriMo effort, is not too bad as first drafts go, but nothing really happens in it, and so I don't really want to spend time editing it at the moment. I finished The Dragon Prince last week, which is possibly the first book in a series, aimed at children aged between 7-10. I'm still playing with the tone of the story, but the essentials are all there. Now all I need to do is to finish Inter Vivos and I'll be set!

So I will be starting the New Year with two first drafts to work on, as well as a semi-completed first draft of IV, and two budding ideas - one for a stage play and one for a novel (Dorcas). Also, I was thinking over High Street Aphrodite this morning as I got up late, and also Hoodies.

I think next year looks to be a busy, but productive, year, and that's just the way I like it.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Panic Over

Panic over, I'm writing again! I haven't done a lot, only about a hundred or so words, but I'm in the right frame of mind, so that should keep me motivated for a while.

I received some good feedback from Sarah Francoise about 'Hoodies' a few weeks ago. Some extracts include: "I was hooked by the dialogue" and "This is a very promising piece". It concludes with "I would definitely encourage this writer to pursue the idea, because once the bones of the play are in place, this could be a very powerful piece". I haven't touched the play since I sent it off to TWP back in May (I think?). I do want to go back and continue with it, and actually work out what's going on and what it's about, but I'm worried that by doing this I'll lose momentum on my novel. I'm sure with some organisation I can manage to do both, but it might have to wait until after Christmas (or at least until after NaNoWriMo) before I tackle it again.

I really like creating characters and the worlds in which they live, and I like to think that I'm good at it, but it's the follow-through, the actual writing down of the story, that I find difficult. I can write background on characters until the cows come home, but find it hard to keep motivated when it comes to writing the narrative. One good thing is that, with Inter Vivos, I feel I'm now writing the "good stuff", by which I mean that I've written the introduction, have settled into the world. and now my story is really starting to take off. It's nice to be finally able to write the scenes that I've watched in my head over and over again for over a year. I'm going to be sad when I have to put it aside for a while for NaNoWriMo (though at least NaNo should hopefully give me a follow-up story to plunge into when IV is finally finished!).

Back online again

After my holiday from work and the bank holiday weekend, this is my first day back at a computer with an internet connection, and after going through the 57 emails I had received since Wednesday (most of which were spam), I've just gotten around to posting on my blog. It's been a busy few days. I'll try to recap here what I've been up to.

Wednesday: Awoke with acne (I'm 26 for Pete's sake!). Had to catch an early train to Beeston, to get to Nottingham University for the first day of the Momentum Festival. I attended a workshop by some people attached to the Royal Court, which was ok - basically there was a Court writer there called Alex and we had to read a couple of scenes from her published play and then write our own version. This struck me as a bit egotistical on her part and a bit embarrassing on mine (what if she was outraged by what I had done to her play?). Anyway, that was all ok. And then there was some lunch (thank God for Boots) and then there was the 'Script Slam' session where everyone got about ten minutes with the director and two pro-actors and they basically performed the extract of your play for you. Mine seemed to go well; the director was really good, and the actors kept saying they liked the extract (the male actor kept reading lines from my script at inappropriate moments saying he liked the language, which I found a bit embarrassing, though I guess it was a compliment). Then I even got to act in Sabrina's play, because she needed three actors and the director designated me the 'confident person' to do it. That was weird, receiving professional direction whilst being pulled about by two actors. So all in all the Script Slam was great. I have more of an idea of what to do with Hoodies now. I knew before that I needed to rewrite the Naomi and Jase scenes, and the Mouse=wood glue thing is so cliche it's ridiculous. But now I also need to figure out what happens to Brick and Sandie too, and what their journey is. After that, it was time to jump on a train back to Leicester, and then into a cab (with the world's slowest cabbie who didn't know where Fosse Park was) to go to the Short Story awards thing, where I received a 'commended' certificate and met loads of cool people (including my secret blog idol). I was a bit disappointed about not winning, seeing as it would have meant I could paid off some credit card and afford to have a haircut (finally), but I didn't really expect that I would win. Glad I didn't have to read my story out though, as it's quite rude.

Thursday was a bit less manic, and acne had mysteriously cleared up over night. I attended a presentation about the development of a short film, led by EM Media, which was really interesting. I've never really thought about getting into film before, but the process of pitch to finished product was really inspiring. There was also a session on promenade, or site specific theatre, which again was really good, as it's sort of like the opposite of regular theatre writing, and you're really encouraged to think big. So I spent the afternoon setting the myth of Echo and Narcissus in the grounds of University of Nottingham, which was good (though I think I was a little too bossy, sorry Alex!).

Friday: Early start again, but only because we felt guilty for skivving the 'Bottomless Coffee' session on Thursday. Attended a session held by the Gob Squad about performance art and installations and about generating ideas, which was good, and then a really excellent session by Jack Bradley about how to structure a play and about finding your story and the elements of a play you should really consider. I think this session is going to help loads when I come to redraft Hoodies. Also went to see Dec's play, which had a professional performance in the main theatre, and it was really good, so much better than the first draft. Well done!

My weekend was pretty lazy. I met up with Cat to talk about the event at Sumo (she will be performing the story I wrote for the Short Story awards at the Ladyfest fundraiser event at Sumo on Sat 1st Sept), and had barbeque, and made some really lovely double chocolate chip cookies which I'm now wishing I had bought to work to munch on this afternoon.

Rehearsals for Witches of Eastwick are going well. I'm a bit nervous because we're running act two on Wednesday, and we've not practiced my solo bit in the gospel number and so I'll be doing it for the first time in performance-like conditions, and I'm not really sure what note it starts on!

So that's about it really. As you can see, I've also figure out how to do that link thing in my blog, so you can reference anything I've written about. Well, I think it's cool anyway, but I have a feeling I'm easily pleased!

Momentum 2007

Well, I received my letter from TWP in the post today - no feedback yet, but I've got an invitation to go to a one-day residency which will include a 'script slam' so that some of my work can be performed by professional actors. I wonder how many people will be on this one-day residency, as it will affect the length of the extract and amount of time we can spend on our pieces. I'm looking forward to the festival though, although a few of the sessions look similar from last year. I've just got to try to get some time off work now.

With the letter from TWP firmly stashed in my bag, it's time for a re-write of Hoodies, I think. I'm not happy with the Naomi and Jase storyline, and so need to rewrite that definitely. Also, I think it's a little flat at the minute, so need to add some more conflict/points of tension to make it more dramatic. Not really sure what to do though. Perhaps having the bits I think are the 'best' read by pros will shed some more light into what's not working.

I've decided that I'm going to turn my Munitionettes story into a screenplay. The novel never really took off, but I think there's enough there to make a really good TV drama or something. Maybe even a film.

Lara's story is going nowhere at the minute, so I really need to refocus on that. I think I'm going to write the 'real' story first, and then add the magical/fantasy elements later. At least then I can make sure the heart of the story is strong.

Lucy :-)

Back

Right, hello, hello! Sorry about the delay in blogging, but I’ve been on a self-imposed exile from work and the internet, and so have not had a chance to post until today. I’m finding it a bit difficult to type at the mo’, due to the fact that my guts feels like I’ve swallowed a helium balloon (damn you IBS!), but I will bravely carry on. :-)
So, I have been a hermit for a whole five days, venturing out only to rehearse (dance rehearsals recently), go to the bottle bank, and buy mobile phone credit.
What have I been doing with myself? Well, I wish I could say that I have finished Inter Vivos, and that it’s already doing the rounds with publishers, agents, etc. but the truth of the matter is that I managed to write about 1,500 words of that, plus some of my children’s novel, and not a lot else. I cleaned, I baked, I became addicted to MTV’s Cribs, I slept, I developed an unhealthy ant-killing obsession (they go pop if you crush them, hee hee!) but that’s about all. I am sorry that I didn’t get more done, but I don’t feel too guilty about it. I didn’t realise how sleep deprived I was until I unset my alarm on the first day of holiday and woke up at 2pm the next day.
Anyway, Inter Vivos is getting there, slowly but surely. I pretty much know what’s happening now, which is good. So now, as always, it’s just a case of writing it!
Still haven’t heard from TWP/Momentum about Hoodies. I already know that I’m not going to be chosen for a reading (my play has too many characters, and I’m not one of their golden favoured few), but some feedback would be appreciated. I already know what I want/need to change in terms of story and characters (namely the Naomi-Jase bits), but another critical eye is always appreciated. They have to let us know soon though, surely, I mean, the festival is in about 6-7 weeks time!

Geekdom

My friends all seem to be having relationship problems at the moment, either breaking up or arguing insanely, and so I'm feeling a bit like Dear Deidre right now, as well as secretly being really pleased that I'm single and don't have to deal with all that bollocks. Other people are weird.

In terms of writing, I haven't written anything since Hoodies was sent off, and I'm really enjoying the break from not having deadlines looming over my head. Going to get back to work over the bank holiday weekend though I think.

Right now, thanks to IcarusGirl, I am listening to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on my mp3 player. It's really nice having Stephen Fry reading to me. I can't wait until the last book comes out - I was thinking about having a party to celebrate, but don't have a venue. Have already planned out my weekend when the book is released, so don't expect to hear from me then! I'm such a geek.

(picture of Snape by Laura Freeman, from immeritus.org)

Creative Writing courses create crap novelists

...Or so this article argues. http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=9276

It has a number of good points. Tragedy does seem to be held in higher regard than comedy, not just in novels, but in playwriting too. The Guardian called some of it's points about religion influencing the bias towards the tragic as 'controversial'. I hate it when people label something as that, when really they mean "I agree with these views but am scared by what my peers might think of me". Stupid Guardian writer. Anyway, it argues that you should write for your peers, not to please academics. And don't write "wangst".

In other news, Hoodies is whizzing it's way over to TWP hopefully as I speak, so with that out of the way, I can concentrate (for a bit anyway) on writing a new short story and beginning my new play. Oh, and my novel. Must not forget about that!

Deadline Looming

Hoodies has to be sitting on Sarah Francoise's desk by 9am Monday morning, and it's just about ready. I want to go over it again another couple of times and make sure I'm happy with it as it is. I would ideally like to turn it into a 'full-length' play, but for now I think this will have to do. We're all meeting up tonight and hopefully the others will give me their thoughts on it, and I can spend tomorrow making any adjustments that are needed. Mouse now opens the play, which I quite like, though I'm not sure if it will stay that way. I also have to pen a letter to TWP explaining why I went over their 'only three characters' quota and beg them to consider my play anyway. Hmm.

I'm itching to get started on my fantasy play. Thanks for everyone's comments on my previous post about it. It seems that everyone is really enthusiastic about it, and I really like it. I've been mulling it over since January, so now I will hopefully be able to dedicate time to write it.

So then, what next? Life after Momentum. There's a weird thought. I've been part of the programme for three years now. Wonder what it'll be like to be deinstitutionalised and working independently for a while? Quite daunting really.

Magic

I've had a new idea for a play, which I hope I can write in time for the Vertiy Bargate prize, but I probably won't get it done in time. It's a fairy tale about a girl called Lara who lives inside her imagination and who doesn't cope with the real world very well. It sees Lara falling in love, but she is unable to deal with the relationship and ultimately she has to decide whether to stay in her fantasy world or enter reality. I am putting this play on the backburner though, as I've got to finish my Hoodies play first, which, I think will officially be called "Hoodies" from now on, unless I have a sudden flash of inspiration before I post it off.

The picture is by Zindy S. D. Nielsen

The sun is out, but it's still cold

Yes, it is. I feel deceived by mother nature because it is so bright outside, but when I go out, I have to wear my winter coat. Of course, this could just be a phenomenon experienced by me with my abnormally cold blood, but I still feel justified in complaining about it.

Anyway. I should be working on the second draft of my play (deadline 30th April), but instead I am playing the Sims and reading Harry Potter (yes, I have the mental age of a twelve year old). My audition was unsuccessful for the leads of Witches of Eastwick, so at least I don't have that to distract me anymore.

I really want to write some prose again, and I was thinking this morning about getting back to Inter Vivos. One of the things that put me off writing it was that I had to come up with all this science and politics to explain events in my story, but I'm now thinking that if I make it more into a fairy tale, I don't have to worry about the correct procedure for heart transplants, and historical guerilla movements, and I can just make it up. I still want to finish this first NANOWRIMO draft, but then after that I can go back and rewrite most of it again. Also, because I chose to write in first person, it means my feisty heroine isn't in fact feisty; she's more passive because the narrator role has made her the observer rather than the doer. So I plan to fix this too.

I'm having a serious financial crisis, so am having to work at my second job every weekend to try to scrap some cash together, which does not give me a lot of free time to write. Time to hide The Sims 2 disc I think. Right after my pet cat gets a promotion...

B*stards Finally Got Me!

Darn it! This blog is now Beta, after months of underground resistance work. Suppose I knew they'd catch me in the end.

Well, I've started on my second draft for my Hoodies play. Amanda says she likes it, and is going to tell me the details of some people to send it to after Momentum is finished, but Amanda said she liked High Street Aphrodite and that was a bit pants, so I don't know if I can trust her completely.

I've also had another brainwave about Inter Vivos (the novel I started for NANOWRIMO), specifically about the character of the Maiden, who I think is becoming 'me' in a distopian universe. She's this cold, ruthless Amazon-esque warrior woman, but now she has a back-story. So it's all good.

I have realised that I spend most of my time wishing that things were different. But I've just realised that instead of waiting for my Fairy Godmother to pop along (Disney has ruined me), I should actually get off my arse and do something about it! I can't just sit here and wish that my life was better, or that I was doing a job that fulfilled me. I have to actually work at those things and make it happen. I'm so lazy though. Anyway. So I'm coming up with a vague rota to see if I can get my arse into gear.

Hola!

Ok, so if you hadn't gathered, I am back now from doing my show, Company, which was a rip-roaring success. There is a bit of a crap review of it on the Leicester Mercury site (I get a mention as one of the highlights though!), but the link to it won't work, so to read it go to www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk and in the search box, type in 'Concordia' and it's the story posted on 23rd March. Auditions for the next show, Witches of Eastwick are next Sunday, so I'm busy practising trying to be sexy and hitting a high C.

In terms of writing, well I haven't really done anything more to my Hoodies play, but will be attempting to complete my second draft before the last Momentum session on Tuesday. There's a few changes that need to be made, but I think I can get those done in time. I'm actually quite happy about the shape it's in currently, and when those changes are made, I think it'll probably be the best script I've sent to TWP, so that's something. Of course, it breaks all their rules and they'll probably hate it, but I think I've developed quite a bit in terms of style and dialogue since those patchy 'High Street Aphrodite' days.

I've also posted a picture of me (and Robin!) in Cows the Musical. Found this photo the other day and so I thought I'd put it here so I never lose it again! I played the martial-arts wannabe 'Badly Dubbed Cow' and Robin was 'Laughalot'. That week in Edinburgh was probably one of the best weeks of my life, so thought I'd commemorate it here!

Hoodies Play

Well, my first draft is completed! It's only 18 pages though, so I know it's going to need expanding. The Jase and Naomi scenes are a bit basic right now, and I think there is room for more dialogue between the whole group, but it's definitely taking shape now. Hooray!

It's weird, because I really know these characters, like what happens to them after the play, when they all met in the first place, stuff like that. I know all this intuitively, I didn't have to sit for hours doing character work or anything. I just hope that they seem real on stage (but theatrical too, if you see what I mean).

Once again, I'm struggling for a title, so any ideas are welcome. Think it should have the words 'Earl Shilton' or 'Shilton' in it, though. My other idea was 'Waiting for Whitby', but that a) draws parallells with another (much better) play and b) doesn't really set the piece for me. Feel free to leave comments as to what I should call it (nothing nasty please!).

So with my first draft written, everything is set for me now to gear up for Company, which starts on 19th March. Anyone out there who would like to come, please do! We've only got 42% capacity for Monday night! It's going to be a really good show, but the reason it hasn't sold well is there's loads of politics at the theatre, and because the director hand-picked his cast, those who weren't picked are apparently boycotting it. The director had permission to cast it like this, which is unlike a lot of the other directors there who pre-cast anyway but just don't tell you about it. So annoying, because it is really going to be brilliant. Well, that's amateur theatre I guess.