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!

Dilemma

I received a letter in the post on Saturday morning letting me know that I'd been shortlisted for the Leicester/Leicestershire Short Story contest and was invited to go to some sort of awards do at Borders on 22nd August. This is really cool, and I would be really excited and ranting about what shoes I should wear, etc, except that this is also the date of the one-day writers' residency for Momentum in Nottingham (yes, and my diamond shoes are too tight!).

I can probably make both, if I leave the Momentum day early (which would mean missing Declan's play), though there's no guarentee that I'll make it there on time to the do, and I'd probably be covered in grass and mud and half eaten pork-bears. Alternatively, I could give the do a miss and stay in Nottingham, as I've got a 50% chase of going home without a prize anyway. But it would be good to go and meet some new people, plus I've never been inside the Borders in Fosse Park before. Oh, decisions, decisions!

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 :-)

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.

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.

Rejection

Well, I didn't get accepted for TWP's 'Playwright's Studio'. I don't know whether it's me or my work that they don't like. Sometimes I wonder whether I'm wasting my time, but then everyone on the forum's been really nice to me and have come up with some pretty persuasive arguments, so perhaps not. It would be nice if people at TWP would just say what they mean, rather than talking jargon and flat pleasantries all the time. I say, call a spade a spade, I can handle it. In terms of my playwriting, it's time to go back and reflect on my work so far, and identify things that could be improved, etc. I mean, I've not done too badly for myself, considering I've only ever written two stage plays. Mental note: Must do better in future. I've also not heard from two jobs I applied for before Christmas, so that on top of my TWP rejection is making me feel a bit shite.

Seb's too loved-up to write and I'm so anti-living things at times I can't even bring myself to buy a goldfish because I can't be doing with its ever-presence.

At least today's almost over.

Routine

I have decided to get myself into a new routine this year so that I manage to write something every week and make progress with my work. I have devised a two-week system (to accommodate fortnightly momentum sessions) and we shall see how long it lasts. Luckily Monday is rehearsal night, so the rota doesn't kick in until tomorrow.

I still haven't decided which play I want to write for Momentum, and Inter Vivos still hasn't hit the 20K mark. My excuse for this weekend is that I have been working, but it is still a pretty lame excuse. Hence the reason for the rota.

On another random note, my sister has bought herself two New Forest foals over the weekend. I'm not even sure this is legal, although my mum assures me that both horses have passports and 'stickers on their bums', whatever that means, so my family now owns 5 horses! My dad has been very quiet on the subject, which means he's not pleased (or he's trying to locate a horse meat trader on the sly...).

Politics

This first week back at work after the holidays has been tough, but at least it’s almost over now! I think I’m finally getting back on track with my writing, and I’m feeling inspired and slightly confident about Inter Vivos and the couple of play ideas I have floating about for this year’s Momentum. So far so good, 2007!
I have a feeling that Inter Vivos might start to become a little political in content, and I don’t want it to be. I mean, I certainly don’t pertain to know how to govern a country properly – I can barely govern myself at times – but I’m starting to think that you can’t base your world in a dystopia without actually explaining why it is or how it came to be. Very tricky this sci-fi stuff.

'Inter Vivos' and Gunman story

I have been thinking about my NaNoWriMo novel, Inter Vivos. I know that the month is over, but I really liked the characters and story premise that I created, so I'm going to continue on with it, in the hope of completing a first draft by April. When writing prose, I always get stuck at the point when my characters need to travel from one place to another. I find it really hard to get them from point A to point B. I want my characters to go from the mental institution to one of my other characters' house, but I feel like I need to document the journey there. So they are now stuck, having just escaped from the asylum, and are standing there, tapping their feet impatiently at me (like Sonic the Hedgehog used to do if you made him stand still too long). I think that as I'm currently writing it in first person, I can skim all the boring details and have my narrator be retrospective on the trip so, "before we knew it we were there". It's annoying, because I know pretty much how the whole story is going to be mapped out, apart from the 'travelling' bits. Grr!

Have just written my Momentum homework, for which we had to take a news story and come up with a couple of scenes and some characters. I've taken a story about a man in Germany who went back to his old school, shot some kids and then killed himself. I've called the gun man Shaun (taken from Shaun of the Dead there folks!), and have given him a love affair with his former teacher, Jess. When things start to go wrong, he finds himself losing control and the only way he feels he can regain some control is to go into the school with a gun. When he accidentally kills one of the students, he then kills himself (leaving poor old Jess to deal with the mess). I'm not sure if I will try to develop this into a full-blown play (I actually see it in my head as a TV drama), but I quite liked my character Jess - she's a very strong woman, very moralistic, very sensible, but incredible lonely, and she does really connect with Shaun. So we'll see where it goes.

Tuesday's child is full of grace...

...Well, supposedly, but I was born on a Tuesday and I fall over and bump into things a lot. I wonder who came up with that rhyme?

Anyway, it's Tuesday, and it's my night off from working/singing/rehearsing/Momentum-ing, so I'm in a pretty good mood, except that I have a property inspection tomorrow so have to give the place a once-over with a duster (and do all the washing up...). Never mind, I'm sure I'll find time to write this evening.

I have achieved something marvellous - I have broken the 10,000 barrier in my NaNoWriMo. OK, it's true that I'm behind in my targets and should be nearer to 20,000 at this point, but I still think it's a tremendous achievement for someone who is as lazy and as easily distracted as I have discovered I am.

I'm still trying to come up with an idea for Momentum this year, but can't think of anything that involves three or less people. Maybe if I talk sweetly enough they'll change the rules to 4 people this year instead (I won't hold my breath though!).

I'm also working on my Tripod submission (the story about 'Mouse' my silent Shilton chav). Does anyone know how many words they are expecting it to be?

Momentum Sessions

Well, the momentum playwriting sessions have started up again, and because they don't want to lose us, they have extended the age limit of the group, so I can still go! I'm going to try and give it a really good go this year, as I'm not counting on them upping the age limit again next September. But now I'm thinking, what shall I write? I'm obviously working on a couple of projects at the moment, but none of those fit in with the Momentum guidelines (unless those get changed this year too). Our exercise for this week is to find a newspaper story that you could dramatise (yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have homework) so perhaps that might give me some ideas. Got quite drunk actually after the session was over! Spent a good portion of the time at the pub spouting on about Christopher Marlowe to some unsuspecting BA English final year student. Hope I've not scared him off coming to Momentum now! Could have been worse though, I could have been drinking rose...

Word on my work PC is being stupid and keeps crashing; I was going to do a bit more towards my NaNoWriMo this lunch time, but now I'm not sure that I want to in case the whole thing crashes and my words gets lost somewhere in cyberland. Tonight I'm having a dedicated writing night, as I'm hoping to get through another couple of thousand words for NaNoWriMo, and also to start my story submission for Tripod. This may be a bit over-ambitious, as I may end up doing all the washing up and playing the Sims 2 instead, but you never know! An ode to the Sims 2 - now that would be easy to write.

Umbrella

NaNoWriMo update: 5775 words so far. I'm below my word target by about 4000, mainly because I didn't feel very well on Sunday so spent the day not doing anything. Stupid sick body!

I received an email today from someone who runs the Umbrella Stories website to say that she liked the story I submitted, and will be putting it online shortly. The site is really cool - odd structurally at first, but I like it. It also houses Sabrina Smith's wonderful short story, so now my little piece will be there to keep her's company. I will post the link to it when it's published.

Momentum starts again tomorrow, with Amanda Whittington again this time (Emma Rosoman is living it large in London). I'm so caught up in prose right now, it's going to be interesting to see what dialogue I come out with! Well, it's all about keeping versatile, isn't it? I am looking forward to it, and to seeing who is new this year. Still haven't thought of an idea for a one-act play with only three or less people in it, though I guess there's no rush right now.

I think November is going to be a busy-crazy month, what with all the writing and rehearsals for my play. I moan, but I love it really. Just wish I had a little bit more time. I deprive my body of sleep and pump it full of crap in the bid to make each day stretch that little bit longer, but now I'm feeling rubbish. I'll get NaNoWriMo out of the way and sleep all through December I think...

Momentum Festival

I've just spent two days at this year's Momentum Young Writer's festival, and I found the sessions I went to really informative. I attended sessions given by representatives from the Soho Theatre, Paines Plough, BBC radio and Nottingham Playhouse/Theatre Writing Partnership. Was nice to see everyone from last year again. I've posted a picture that my friend created of our Leicester writers' group going off to Momentum - it's supposed to move too, but I can't get it to on here. I'm the one with the big L on her chest, and in the moving version, I fall over a lot!!!

Red

Right, back to the writing. The play which I developed as part of this year’s Momentum Young Writer’s workshops with Emma Rosoman was ‘Red and the Wolf’, which examined the relationship between Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, and looked at growing up and why we may be tempted onto the wrong path (if there is such a thing). I really wanted to give Red a voice, rather than her just being this passive little girl who had to rely on granny or the woodcutter to come and save her from her own naivety. I researched the origins of the tale and found that the original story saw Red outsmarting the wolf by herself, and also, over the years, I discovered that she has lost her name ‘Biddy’ to become ‘Red Riding Hood’, so again, she has become a mere symbol rather than a rounder character. Anyway, the play itself is about 20 minutes long right now, so I’m going to try to expand the characters themselves, and add a couple of new scenes, possibly expanding on ‘the seduction’ and then one for ‘the morning after’. I’m also not 100% happy with the ending, which I wrote on the same day that I posted it to Momentum for the festival, so it’s a bit hasty.

I also had an idea to perhaps create a full length play, and write a companion piece to be the second Act of ’Red’. What I am initially thinking of at the minute is to write maybe a short monologue based on Snow White as a separate piece in the middle, between the two acts, and then write another one-act play based on a fairy tale for the conclusion, although perhaps do a contemporary version based on a tale, rather than take the characters themselves. The problem is finding another story that will tie in with the themes that I’m developing in ‘Red’ – which had the alternate title ‘Lost’ earlier in the day. Currently I’m thinking of Rapunzel or Rumpelstiltskin, but again, it would have to be a story that I could identify with. Might have to read my collection of Grimms’ stories again…

Lucy :-)