About... Granite - Play 31

Granite - script

Play #31.  Completed.  I will do a recap of the whole month in a later post, but for now...

I do actually kind of like where this one is going.  I was a little sad, though - I came up with a title off of the song I was listening to for this one ("Hold On" by Tom Waits), and I even started out by doing the title page with it; it was Bullet Needs a Gun - which I had no intention of that being literal.  But as I wrote and tried to tie these four people together, it became clear that Granite was a much more appropriate title.  Ah, well.

I had two images I found online - one of a European cobblestone street on a hill with storefronts and a large steeple-ish object at the top of the hill, the other an enormous carved stone block with a very tiny person looking at it; the roots of two of the stories.

About... Baling - play 30

Baling - script

This is the 30th play I've written this month.  There is one more and then it is over.
This is the hard part: being satisfied with having written this much, but not being satisfied with the writing.

This play felt awful to write.  It is not what I had in mind when I started - and I may need to take a good long look (psychologically) as to why I keep writing mobsters and Irish people.  At least it wasn't yet another love triangle.

I think this one came out Irish because I spent some of the day looking up information on a theatre festival in Ireland, then ended up looking at maps and images of the area.  (Visiting Ireland is on the bucket list)

And I won't lie.  I came up with a title because none of the other plays from this month started with B.

About... Leaving Circus Town - Day 29

Leaving Circus Town - script

29.

I did some web searching for images (I highly recommend Flickr's Most Interesting pics of the Last 7 Days).  I came upon a picture of a train, called The Circus Leaves Town - I twisted that around for a title.  I found a picture of two girls in a window, it was called Ines & Lisa.  I found a cool image of a wall of windows with colored panels, making the lobby area of this space brightly colored, and an image of paper lanterns on the ground.
I don't know exactly what Ines and Lisa are talking about (this happens to me a lot).  But somehow, Ines invents more drama than Lisa can tolerate any more, and if the circus is in town here, she'd rather be someplace else.

About... One to Ten - Play 28

One to Ten - script

28.  There's only 3 more scripts left to write.  I think I might actually miss doing this when it's over...

About... Loss of Faith - Play 27

Loss of Faith - script

Play 27, a day late.  Hoping to catch up tomorrow - but a lot of question marks about the next couple of days with Hurricane Isaac headed this way.  If we lose power, I may be switching to doing some writing long-hand.

Sitting in a class discussion, this idea came to me.  It turned out quite different from what I had in mind.

About... Wild Card - Day 26

Wild Card - script

Play 26.  Quick write.  listening to Bob Dylan's "Things Have Changed".

Just two dudes talking.  Really should have developed this more, but too tired.  Just having finished something is the accomplishment for the day.

There are now only 5 more plays to write.

About... Wake - Play 25

Wake - script

Play 25.  Sitting in the lounge chair, watching preseason football and listening to Radiohead's "15 Steps".  Gonna keep writing tonight -hopefully will catch up to pace.

About... Meant A Lot To Me - Play 24

Meant A Lot To Me - script

Play 24.

I had a really great idea.  I thought of it yesterday, I spent some time working it out in my head in the evening, went to bed thinking about it.  I even work up this morning, and I promise you that in my dreams I worked it out.  Then, as has been made necessary by my job, I read 5 short scripts.  and I took my son out this saturday morning for about 2 hours.  When i got back - you guessed it - gone.  So, the irony of the title is that this really didn't mean that much to me.  It took me a while to write this merely because I was fighting it the whole way - including stopping at least 3 times with the intention of dumping it entirely.  Despite all of that, this is not the worst script I've written this month.

I'll be trying to catch up to the schedule by writing again tonight.  Trying to clear my mind before then.

About... Forgiveness - Play 23

Forgiveness - script

Play 23.  Another mob thug.  This time, a different mark.  I like the scenario on this one; could be interesting with some more development - I don't like the title.
I started to write this one last night, but finished it today, writing during a little bit of down time in my office.

It is proving as hard as I thought it would be to keep up the pace now that school has started back up, but it is possible, so I'll keep moving forward.  Only one more week to go - 8 scripts by next friday.

About... The Heat - Play 22

The Heat - script

Play 22 done.  I actually wrote it last night, but waited to post it so I could make some tweaks.  It's ok - a little mobster/thug scene.

There are less than 10 plays left now.

About... Red Looking At Iris - Plays 21

Red Looking At Iris - script

Play 21.  Wrote this one a day late - yesterday was a long day...
Dining Room Table.  Listening to U2's "So Cruel".  I may have to try happier music.

To get back on schedule, I wrote this really quickly in the morning.  I'm planning to try to get back to something a little more realistic for #22, but who knows what will come out when I get there.

About... Jokes and Insults - Day 20

Jokes and Insults - script

Day 20.  Can't say that I'm wild about this one - not even the title.  I was trying to write something that included several lines of dialogue given to me by some friends.    Hey, I tried...

On a better note, I'm caught up.  We were informed that as of Sunday, only 41 people had turned in one play for each day - I'm happy to have been one of those 41.

About... One Thing I'm Sure Of - Play 19

One Thing I'm Sure Of - script

Play 19.  Just plugging along.

I really like writing in this style - a three person free-flowing scene.  I also enjoy attempting to stay away from questions of any kind - i find that trying to restate any question as a statement keeps the scenes much more energized.

This time, I'm downstairs on my lounge chair, sort of watching the movie Ronin.  Really has no impact on what I'm writing at all, as far as I can tell.  But I do think I'm going to try to write play number 20 before going to bed.  I missed a play yesterday, and with a busy schedule this next week, I want to get caught up in case I fall behind later.

About... Christmas Card - Day 18

Christmas Card - script

Day 18.  Today's script was following a suggestion from the 31 days 31 plays prompt - no stage directions.

About... The Three Sisters - Play 17

The Three Sisters - script

Play 17:  Not the Chekhov play.

This one came from an online image of a trio of peaks that were called "The Three Sisters."  I think they are in Australia.

I wanted the story to be dangerous, and I wanted to keep the end at least marginally surprising.  It's still a little sketchy, but a fun write for a Saturday afternoon in the dining room, listening to Coldplay's Prospekt's March.

About... All the Way Home - Day 16

All the Way Home - script

Day 16.  Did some recruiting for inspiration.  Invited people to send me images, phrases or songs that might inspire a play.

Got a photo of a young girl, maybe 7, sitting on a bench by a large window, holding a ceramic cup - which looks enormous in her tiny hands.  Chose the jazz tune "Tenderly" played by Chet Baker to go with it.

Back to the late night writing, and the dining room - which has quickly become the most creative room in the house, apparently.  Once upon a time, I had set up a 'writing studio' in a shack in my backyard - which is now full of storage and broken lawn equipment.  I did write there for a while, but that was now years ago.

Wasn't drawing on anything from my own experience for any of this play.  Other than that I always enjoy it when I come home and my kids are excited to see me.  Doesn't happen with the older ones much any more, but I can count on the two-year-old to just about explode with excitement every time I come into the same room with him.  Even if I was just in the next room

About... A Good Time - Day 15

A Good Time - script

Day 15.  Just at the halfway point of this endeavor.  Well, technically, halfway through tomorrow's script is half way, but you get the idea.  but I'm just happy to write something during the day this time, and not at 1am.

Had nothing going into this one - just had the time and sat down and did it.  "If These Are the Things" by Tracy Chapman was a big help.

About... Tout a L'Heure - Day 14

Tout a L'Heure - script

Day 14.  And now, I'm writing French people.

I had someone send me three pictures so I could have some inspiration for this script.  What came were an image of a woman with red hair and an ornately designed pattern on her sleeve; a woman with wings on a trapeze hanging high over a mostly empty room of wooden chairs, with one lone man watching; and an image of two women in a cafe eating a breakfast - French writing on the window next to them displaying the menu, all under the title A Toute Heure.  I looked up the meaning of the title, and it came up with "tout a l'heure" meaning in a general context "in a moment", but literally meaning "all the time" (thank you, internet).  Just trying to combine the images into a single story, and attempting to connect both the general and literal meanings of the phrase.

Today's writing location:  back to the dining room table.
Today's music: Bill Evans Trio

About... Commercial Break - Day 13

Commercial Break - script

Day 13 (the lucky one).  sitting on the sofa this time - mostly while my wife was watching LOST on netflix.  I've never watched the show other than catching moments as she's watching....

Not a lot of inspiration on this one - I'll try to do better.  Of everything in here, I think my favorite part of this one is the title.  Sure, it's a little on-the-nose, but it works for me.  Maybe the title could get a better play...

About... Find and Replace - Day 12

Find and Replace - script

Day 12.  Still writing in my dining room, late at night.  I'd really like to change that - time and place.  Today's song: One Headlight by The Wallflowers.

So I've been playing with this flowing scene form for a while - all characters occupying the stage and just easily flowing in and out of scene.  I've not actually gotten one staged, so I don't quite know yet if they work at all, but writing them is an enjoyable process.  Essentially micro-scenes, they force me to get right into the moment and don't let me linger too long - they demand to keep moving.

No forethought on this one - just started with the song and picked some starter dialogue.  Looking back, maybe the first scene ends up being the most disconnected from everything else going on, but working on that would take revision time that I don't have.

I generally try to avoid writing about writers anymore.  But in this quick-writing process, sometimes the discovery just kind of falls out.  Didn't set out for two of these three to be writers - and maybe in reality only one of them is.  Writing this really felt like scratching the surface of something a lot deeper.  I could have kept writing for hours - things kept occurring to me to add into the play, but it would have taken more time than I have allotted for it.  And, of course, tomorrow is another play.  I can imagine that trying to re-capture this story would be pretty hard, so I won't assume that I could come back to it next month.  Sorry, Khandi, Ed and Paul.  Your story just might have to stop here.

About... Gary's Family Photos - Day 11

Gary's Family Photos - script

Day 11, script 11, back on track (other than finishing after midnight)

So, yesterday, I was out having a first day of school milkshake with my family at a local restaurant where a friend was working, so we had a brief chat, and mentioned that she'd seen photos of my kids on facebook, but never actually seen them live.  We joked about how someone could just say they have a family, but not have one, just photoshop a bunch of pictures.  She laughed when I said I'd write a play about that.

No music this time.  Just me, sitting at the dining room table.  late at night.  typing away.

The submission confirmation email that I got back after I turned in this script pointed out that I'm now over a third of the way done with the 31 days.  I should feel pretty good about that - but I'm looking ahead at the calendar for the next 20 days; a lot of stuff is coming my way.  Just hoping I can keep up the pace.  Wisdom might say that I should write ahead a little bit while I can....

About... One of These Days - Play 10

One of These Days - script

Play 10, written on the morning of Day 11.  I'll be caught up by tonight.
Written sitting at the dining room table, no music this time - extra challenge: writing while the 2 year old is eating lunch.

It's another abstract little play - 3 men who may or may not be sitting on a bench all at the same time; may or may not be hearing each other, but are in counterpoint.

It's a balance - the desire to go, an attempt to divine the immediate future, the longing for the comfort of routine.  It reminds me of a time in my life, living in a rural area, having a plan to move away in a year. A fair amount of staring off into the sky, of grumbling about the todays, romanticizing both the tomorrows and the yesterdays in turn.  One of the many times where I know I didn't make as much of my time as I could have - when getting on the bus doesn't have to mean leaving, just living the today.

The reason that rewriting is important: the above paragraph, getting more of any that into the script, is what might make this play better.

About... June Leaving Mule put Galaxy in a Precarious Position - Day 09

June Leaving Mule put Galaxy in a Precarious Position - script.
*contains strong language

Day 09 - a two play day.  I got into this one.

I'm generally not a fan of writing really strong language - I usually avoid it if I can.  Often when doing a free-write (the way all of these plays are for me), I'll come across a moment where the language seems appropriate at the time, but it will rarely make it through any kind of revision - either by changing the dialogue or ultimately abandoning the play.  But without the time for much of an editing process on this project, there it is...

I am satisfied that it is within a story that has an overall understanding of the idea of grace, and the result of a failure to forgive.  After the month of August is over, this is a piece that I might try to do something with - a rewrite, or an expansion of the idea (and perhaps find another way to express the disgust that is intended by the language).

Names just kind of came to me.  I don't know if I like him being called Mule, but I couldn't think of any other name I liked for him.  Makes me pity him even more.

I'm more and more drawn to these kinds of scenarios - dealing with the past, characters who are there and not there/ versions of the way one person remembers them.  I think I'm going to lock into this style for the next couple of days...

This one was written at the dining room table - with the help of the song Give Me Strength by Over the Rhine.

About... Quixote - Play 08

Quixote script at scribd.com

Play 8.  Behind again.  Full days and so many things going on make it hard to keep up.  I'm actually intending to write another play tonight, then I'll be back on schedule.  This one wasn't hard to write (or come up with), but it amounts to just a little more than a skit.  It'd really like to do better.

I've always liked the idea of Quixote.  I've even just liked the word.  I've tried to name a band I was in Quixote - but it sounded like we might be a mariachi band.  We were not.  But still, the story of Quixote is one that is, for me, the right mix of heroic and idiotic, foolish and noble.  It has connection, for me, to the Absurdists, and to Ecclesiastes - other favorites of mine.  So when I sat down on my lounge chair with my laptop and looked for a song for inspiration, finding the Toad the Wet Sprocket song Windmills was a great fit.  Locked into having Quixote on stage - convincing someone to pick up the fight.

Not much more than that from me on this one.  Since I'm planning to write another one tonight, I'm just going to charge ahead.

About... Wannabe Fanboy - Day 07

Wannabe Fanboy script at Scribd.com

Day 7 proved to be difficult.  I've been staying up too late writing these things.  I had to go to bed early.  So I wrote script 7 on the morning of day 8 - unsure if I'll actually get to write script 8 today.

Also proving difficult was the lack of inspiration.  About the only thing I was going on was enjoying watching the web series called Comedians in Cars getting Coffee - Jerry Seinfeld picks up a comedian friend and they go get coffee.  It really is just them chatting and being conversationally funny as they sit in a car, then a coffee shop.  So I was going after that kind of flow of conversation; lighter and amusing.

I do often wonder about the fanboy impulse.  There are a lot of things that I really enjoy, but I would never get a tattoo of it, or dress up like a character at a convention or movie premiere.  I would never paint my body to attend a sporting event.  I do buy a fair amount of books about a subject I like (maybe a playwright, or director), but I'm not going to go out and re-enact something, or look on ebay for authentic Elvis paraphernalia.  There's something I admire, and maybe even slightly envy, about that kind of fan support - and maybe I wish I had it.  Not enough to paint my house the Pittsburgh Steelers colors.

About... Communication - Day 06

Communication

Day 06 and I'm back on track.  Except that it is far too late at night right now.  Seriously, the Olympics are killing me.  Maybe I have a shot at writing in the morning tomorrow...

So this play is another tough one - three characters all talking on phones but not necessarily to each other... or are they?  Not so far as I can tell at this point.  If I ever come back to this idea, I may try for that a little more.  But much like some of my other work, I'm intrigued by juxtaposing two halves of conversations next to each other to make an almost-connecting third conversation.  I'm also fond of making things I do at random sound like important exercises and research.

The names came from nowhere, just that when I'm writing a lot of short things like this, I hate to repeat names, so eventually the names become random collections of letters and punctuation symbols that approximate names.

These late night writing sessions seem to all happen at the dining room table.  And let me tell you, these chairs are not at all comfortable after about an hour and a half.

I was listening to The Hand That Feeds by Nine Inch Nails for a while during the writing.  I took a break and stopped the song, and when I came back to writing I forgot to restart it.  I don't know what it contributed to the play, perhaps nothing.

About... Silverware and the Strip - Day 05

Silverware and the Strip

Yeah - I'm catching up.

Straightforward little piece, writing by just following my nose.  I've always been a fan of the image of a table of silverware getting overturned - like in American Buffalo.  Didn't have much of anything else in mind in terms of images or symbols.  Like I said: straightforward on this one.

Still sitting in the same place from writing the last play, dining room table.  No music this time - but for some reason, I'm still wearing the earbuds.  (don't understand it myself)

Well now it's incredibly late, and I will definitely pay for this tomorrow.  Let's try not to get behind again, shall we?  (it's the Olympics.  too many interesting stories to be told there...)

About... Dead Wedding - Play 04

Dead Wedding

Right up front - I'm behind schedule.  And this one is really long for a one-day write.  This is why I say play 04 and not day 04...

So the idea of a dead wedding is something I got from theatre artist Tadeusz Kantor in his piece called Weidepole Weidepole, where is deceased parents (images he borrows from old photographs) are experiencing their wedding day.  I've rolled the idea of someone marrying someone else who is already dead round for a while.  thought I'd try it out here.

Some of the details in the play are vague - like exactly why this is all happening.

The idea of the priest as a former associate of the groom was something that just occurred to me as I was writing.  It became central to the play, oddly enough.

to write this one, I am in my usual spot, at the dining room table, headphones in.  Listened to the Swell Season song "I Have Loved You Wrong" on repeat - possibly about 30 times.

And I rushed the ending.  Just had to get done with it.  It's really late right now.  And, ideally, I was going to write #5 tonight as well and get caught up...

About... Pyramids - Day 03

Pyramids

It's hard to know what to say about this one.  I purposefully took abstract to the next level, perhaps past any measure of sense.  There's a couple of connections probably worth mentioning, so I'll give it a shot.

The jacket thing is something that's been rolling around in my head for a while, so I'm trying it out here - it came from sitting behind a kid in a long event in a room that was hard to temperature control, so it'd be really cold for a while, then it would get hot; but he took it to the extreme.  The domino thing is something that's from an activity of my day today - not too much to say about it, it was just what came to mind.  The names were the first words that came to mind; no idea why.

And yes, the pyramid speech is the first section of the Wikipedia article on pyramids.

Anyway, it's really late right now, and I wanted to finish this before I went to bed.  Bad idea?  Possibly.

About.... Cassiopeia's Story of Leo and Gemini - Day 02

Cassiopeia's Story of Leo and Gemini - a fable about searching for love on one's own terms.

OK, truth time.  This was supposed to be for day 2, but I wrote it on day 3 - first thing in the morning.  Day 2 was the first day of a teaching assignment I was doing (teaching drama to students from China) - and was too nervous about it and doing last minute prep to even think about writing even a short play.  but I got it written the next morning.

I wanted to write a more abstract play after writing a realistic scene yesterday.  I had a vision of a particular action to happen on stage (a strange stage kiss) - somehow it didn't actually get to happen in this play, but maybe it will still find its way in sometime this month.  but it led me down the path of thinking of this story of searching for love.  I like to keep staging simple, so I wanted no set, just the lighting effect.  I started with Cassiopeia coming on, thinking that she was IN the story, but she started TELLING the story, so I just went with that.

I know there's more to this whole fable, and maybe in September I'll go back to it.  I'll probably say that about all of these...

About... House of Cards - Day 01

The first of my 31... plays is titled House of Cards - a period piece where a husband returns after being gone for months to earn money to pay a debt, and discovers that his wife has moved on.

Shannon and I had gone for breakfast at Brent's Drugs - a great little diner in Jackson (it's in the movie The Help).  I stuck around afterwards to write, and with the mid-century vibe and 1940s big band music playing, it seemed only natural to write it in period.

As with most things I write (especially these short, quick writing stints), I don't have any grand vision of where the story came from or what it means.  I like the tension of the piece.  Not sure I'm crazy about it - I think I was trying to hard to twist it back on itself and try to make it surprising, only ending up not making it that surprising.

But it's day one, and hopefully we only move up from here.