Granite - a rewrite

Granite

Here is the rewritten version of Granite - play #31 of my submissions to the 31 Plays in 31 Days project.  I just submitted this rewrite for consideration for the project's Internet Staged Reading and for publication in the ensuing Anthology.

Since this was yet another play where I started writing not having much idea of exactly where I was going, the chance to consider rewrites and really dig back through the script was really helpful.  Since the main image of the script turned out to be the block of granite, I made some adjustments to the placement of Litha's speeches, so that she starts the play now.  I was able to expand and complete more of the stories of the other three, and put some more touches into the scene descriptions to clarify what it is we see on stage.  I definitely like this more after the rewrite.  Might almost be worth staging...

The drawing board

I've been churning over ideas for a new play for a couple of months as I often do - usually hoping that they go away, and if they don't then I move forward.  

Well, they didn't go away...

I'm not going to get into specifics until I have a little more, but it is a play that will be highly structured - so I'm working out the plot and characters, and then I'll start the sharpening process.  I feel as though I may have settled on a title, which always sets me in the right direction.

But coming off of this past month, I'm feeling very positive that I can get some solid work done on this and fairly quickly.  I'll share more if it develops...

Reflecting on 31 plays

113 people finished by the deadline.  31 plays, one for each day of the month of August.  Total: 4,599 plays were submitted.  I finished all 31.  232 pages.

I'm just glad that I made it through.

I learned a couple of things during this month.

1) Yes, I do have time to write.  I am as good as anyone about lying to myself (and believing it) that I don't have time to write.  Yes, there were some days where I was deliriously typing away at my computer at all hours of the night - but even on those days it was because I had chosen to not write at times that I could have.  And this is without neglecting other important parts of my life (family, job).  The time is there, I just have to decide to use it.

2) Somewhere in the middle of this month, because of the pressure of needing to crank scripts out, I started to get past the idea of 'being inspired'.  Some of the scripts suffer from that.  More of them do not.  (Most suffer from lack of rewrites...)  I came to the point of realizing that I could, in fact, find an inspiration in just about anything - a piece of dialogue, a picture, a song, an old lady on the street, a piece of historical fact.  And maybe my second most-used excuse of "waiting for inspiration" is just as invalid as the time excuse.

3) And I mentioned this before in posts about the individual scripts.  When I moved 8 years ago, I set up a writing space in a small shed behind our house.  I put in an AC unit, did some insulation, put in a table a wrote.  For a while.  Then I didn't write out there anymore, I switched to coffee shops.  But I'm now accepting that I CAN write at home, even during the daytime, with my two year old eating his lunch right next to me.  I've done it.  It can happen.  But I have to get more comfortable dining room chairs.

I woke up this morning, and I had the urge to write.  Not because I had to for a deadline.  Or because I had a fear that I would lose an inspiration.  I just wanted to do it.  Because I like to do it.

Someone asked me if I was going to keep going and do a 365 project a-la Suzan Lori Parks.  I think I'd like to, at some point, but I'd want it to be more purposeful - either do a calendar year (like 2013) or from birthday to birthday.  But all other writing kind of stops while this is going on, so I think I'll hold off on it for a bit.  I have a couple ideas I want to start working.

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.