Friday, August 27, 2010

Update

Don't you hate people who neglect their blogs? I mean, what's the point of getting all emotionally invested in a blog only to have the writer blissfully ignore you? Doesn't the writer understand that you have needs?

Well, here's the deal: For the past few months I've been wearing my playwrighting hat, almost to the exclusion of everything else. I'm like that four-year-old who will only wear his Elmo t-shirt. Only the Elmo t-shirt. I WANT MY ELMO T-SHIRT!!! Only right now it's with my play.

I don't dare share any real details about the play at this point because it's at the stage where I'm beginning to ask myself what right I have to ever think I have the intellect or authority to create a play. Who am I to take up the work of Williams and Shakespeare?

But then when I either slip out (or into, depending on your point of view) madness and get back to work.

It seems to be going well. There is never a question of what needs to be done, and always a question of how to do it. But all of the characters have been named, which is an epic event for me because that means they can finally start to take ownership of the play. I can tell you that there are six characters. Three of them have made radical transformations since the beginning of this process, which I think is good. The story has been fully told - all of the dramatic beats are in place, and now I'm working backwards to make sure that the high points for each of the characters is in place and to make sure there is a logic to the flow. Then the next step is to go through the text as each character and make sure there is an inner logic for each. For me the final step will be to polish the language, because right now all of the characters sound like me. That's the part the frightens me the most because of the six characters, only two have distinct voices right now. And the character I believe to be the most difficult to play is also proving to be the most difficult to write.

Oh, and just between us -- as a little reward for your attentiveness and loyalty -- I'll announce the title here.

The Void Dance.

But that's all you get. That will have to hold you until after the first reading, which with any luck I'll have in September.

But until that time, I'm not likely to take off my playwrighting Elmo t-shirt and put on my photographer equivalent.