I haven’t been updating often – and as much as I’d like to
say it’s because I’m having a creative breakthrough, it’s not.
I’m slogging through the first draft of Act One. It’s yucky.
I’m spending way too much time being a perfectionist with the intricate details
of staging rather than just getting it down on the page. The first scene seemed to take forever - though some nice moments are coming through.
A trip out of town last week threw off my schedule, then
got a cold, so wreaked a little havoc with my time in the writing room. I’ve gotten back on
track this week, but still about 15 pages behind where I would like to be. Here’s
hoping for a productive Friday.
The obligatory song for today is SOS by Rihanna.
And I have little else to add, other than no one should ever
write anything. : ) It’s hideously hard work.
I skipped a couple blog posts last week. I think at this point, once or twice a week is more realistic.
Today is the first day of the first draft of Act One. And I got my first blooms on my plant - so let's take that as a good sign.
I won't include first drafts normally, but I thought I'd do so today. It will most likely change, but this will give you a little idea at what I'm considering... This is probably too close to the book - and has too much narration, but it's a beginning.
Hopefully, I'll do about 5 pages a day for the next two weeks - that gives me 50 pages of material in the first Act - which I will eventually whittle down to around 30 before starting on Act Two.
Today's song was Like A Prayer by Madonna.
Below is the first 7 pages. Again - VERY FIRST DRAFTY :) (Which is writer-speak for crappy) And there are no tabs in blogger, so the reading will be splotchy - However, those who care to, can probably get something out of it. I'm experimenting with the idea that, instead of addressing the audience, the characters will talk with the STORYTELLER as their asides-monologues. We'll see if it stays.
AT RISE:
SCENE ONE.
The remnants of an ABANDONED SMALL TOWN. Storefronts and raggedly painted porches with debris - old washers, buckets and wheel barrows - littering the street. A sign hangs from one corner, swinging in the wind. It reads, VR DUNHAM’S Grocery.
The STORYTELLER enters, pushing through and sometimes climbing over debris to arrive in front of the store. He looks in through the window, then up at the building as if it were about to collapse.
STORYTELLER
(Looking around.)
There’s nothing left but the bones. Like an old Indian’s body the farmers used to unearth now and then plowing the fields out by Barfield Point.
(He traces the outline of the sign and then a rail.)
A protrusion. A ridge. The hardened remains of something long since gone.
(looking through the window of the store.)
It looks too small to hold all its memories. (To audience)
In 1812 the strongest earthquake to ever hit North America rocked the Arkansas Delta, causing the Mississippi River to run backwards for three days. Course there was nobody here but the Indians to feel it. Since then two other quakes have measured over 8.0.
LOLA, 17, beautiful, and heavily pregnant walks on stage with determined steps - as if the baby might fall out.
STORYTELLER (CONT'D)
The first, on a hot August day in 1967.
The men and women were out chopping cotton that morning. Working each row with hoes in hand, they gently pierced the ground at the root of each stalk and tore away the weeds with a precision that came from generations of practice.
The STORYTELLER goes and puts the VR Dunham sign back onto it’s hook. As LOLA crosses the stage, the lighting changes, the debris moves away and the buildings, though still drab, come back to life, such as it was, in the poverty stricken town.
STORYTELLER (CONT'D)
Had they not been so hard at work, the people of Lost Cain, might have noticed the tremors.
The sign and some other things hanging, almost imperceptibly shake. STORYTELLER sits at the oak table in front of the store and opens a newspaper.
STORYTELLER (CONT'D)
Noticed that not only the ground beneath their feet, but so much else in their world was about to shift.
LOLA approaches the small porch of a shotgun house.
LOLA
It’s hot as hell out here.
(She puts her hand over her mouth and looks around, embarrassed.)
(to STORYTELLER)
I’ve never cussed out loud. In front of real people, that is.
(whispers)
One of these days, I swear, I’m gonna say hell right out loud for the world to hear.
STORYTELLER
You don’t say.
LOLA nods. BRUCIE, an elderly woman with a shock of white hair standing straight up from her head, emerges from the home and goes to Lola.
BRUCIE
Has your water broke?
LOLA
Yes’m.
Brucie leads her up the steps and inside the house.
STORYTELLER
The death of a small town in America isn’t like the fiery swallowing of Pompei or the crumbling walls of Jericho. A death always begins with a simple act of God. An eruption, a flood, an earthquake - (The shaking is a little more pronounced.)
But some acts of God are less colossal in scale, although equally divine.
From offstage, LOLA screams and continues to do so.
IDA PICO, a tiny, nervous woman, 50’s, enters, carrying a pocketbook over her elbow and two large encyclopedias.
IDA PICO
Lola Jean McAllister, you are hollering to wake the dead! Now hush up before everyone in town hears you.
LOLA (OFF STAGE)
Yes, Ida.
IDA PICO
(Prickling, then to STORYTELLER.)
Both my girls refuse to call me Momma anymore. I blame their father. Truth is, I like to blame Johnny Pico for most everything. (holding up the encyclopedias)
Including these. I have trouble seeing over the steering wheel of most any car, particularly Pontiacs and what did Johnny Pico do? Up and die while we owned a Pontiac. I’ll never forgive my husband for that for that. (Puts down the encyclopedias.)
But then there’s plenty blame to go around in this family. That one’s big sister, Trudy - it’s just like her to be down to Memphis shopping when you really need her. If she hadn’t run off and married that cripple, Leon McAllister, then none of this would have been laid on my doorstep at all. Lola would have never even met his little brother, Dip, who I knew was too handsome to come to any good the first time I laid eyes on him. Hmph. If I had to do it all over again, I’d have shipped Lola and Trudy both off to my Aunt Nema’s over in Calico Rock the minute they turned 13. (a martyred breath)
What I’d give to have birthed three plain daughters instead of two beauties and Glinda. Thank God for Glinda, my eldest.
STORYTELLER
You don’t say.
IDA PICO
I most certainly do say. Ever since I’ve had those kids, my whole life has been one long nervous breakdown. And now my little girl, pregnant with a honeymoon baby.
IDA gives the STORYTELLER a look that says, “Don’t even.” HE puts his head back in the newspaper.
Suddenly LOLA appears at the doorway, both her hands on the sides, up high, dramatically.
LOLA
My God, I’m on fire!
IDA PICO
(horrified, looking around to see if anyone can see.)
Lola Jean! You get back in that house right this minute, you hear me!
LOLA (running back and forth on the porch before sitting down on the swing upstage right.)
Oh Lord - it hurts! I’m so hot! I think I’m dying!
IDA PICO
I’ll make you wish you was dying if you don’t get--
BRUCIE, non-plussed, exits with a small stool and sits it down in front of LOLA on the swing.
IDA PICO (CONT'D)
Brucie, we got to get this girl over to the hospital in Blytheville. This baby’s come early.
BRUCIE looks at Lola, cocks her head to IDA with a knowing glance. IDA wills the thought gone from the atmosphere. BRUCIE goes back inside.
IDA PICO (CONT'D)
(To STORTYTELLER)
I know that baby hadn’t come early. But I been around long enough to know that as long as I act like I don’t know any better, there’ll never be another word about it. So as far public discussion is concerned, this is a premature birth and should be treated as such. Understood. (The STORYTELLER nods.)
One word to the contrary and that child will be labeled a bastard the rest of its days. Every blessed woman in the county will just pat me on the shoulder and nod their heads like they was so sorry for me every time the subject comes up. I’ll not have that.
(Back to LOLA)
Girl, if I had the strength I’d drag you back in that house myself. I hope you know how much you’re hurtin’ your momma. Lord know who’s gonna see us out here. I’m just petrified.
LOLA screams again. IDA goes to her, the first sign of compassion she’s shown and even that’s not easy.
LOLA
It hurts like heck.
IDA PICO (this is what indulging children gets you - language)
You watch that language, missy. That word's just a substitute for what you really mean. What’s someone liable to think if they walk by and hear you cursing like a sailor? They’d think you wasn’t raised right is what they’d think and they’d be absolutely correct. No one is ever gonna say that Ida Pico didn’t raise her girls right.
LOLA
Don’t be mean, Momma.
IDA PICO (softening, taking Lola’s hand.)
All I’ve ever wanted from you girls is to do right. To be happy and do right. But when in doubt, do right. (Lola screams again. Ida is scared.)
Brucie, we need to get this girl to a hospital.
BRUCIE comes back through the doorway.
BRUCIE
Don’t believe in hospitals. Every person I ever knew that went into one, never come out. Now, Ida, I’ve birthed many a baby at seven months and not lost one yet. (a gentleman’s agreement - I’ll go along if you’ll go along )
Go in and get something to cover her up.
IDA reluctantly gives up her power to Brucie and starts toward the door.
LOLA
Am I gonna die?
IDA PICO
One more word, Lola, and I swear --
IDA exits.
BRUCIE (to LOLA and to the STORYTELLER)She’s a nerve-eater, that one.
Neither disagrees.
The STORYTELLER gets up while IDA and BRUCIE tend to LOLA on the swing. IDA throws a lace tablecloth over the railing in front of LOLA and constantly brings out things to try to barricade LOLA from view.
STORYTELLER
The whole morning passed with all of them on display. By two o’clock Ida Pico had dragged out all of Brucie’s TV trays, three potted plants and a hanging macrame table onto the porch.
BRUCIE (as IDA straightens the cloth on the rail)
Careful with that, Ida, my momma give it to me.
(under her breath)
Woulda been polite to ask.
IDA PICO (to STORYTELLER)
Me and hers about to go round and round.
Several ladies, in casual skirts, some smoking, walk through and spend time with Lola and chatting with each other.
STORYTELLER
Despite Ida Pico’s best efforts at camouflage, several ladies from town stopped by to pet Lola with reassuring words. Telling her not to worry, that they had plenty of children without being in a hospital and that things always worked themselves out. Ida Pico was quick to tell them this wasn’t just any birth, but a premature one. However, Lola wouldn’t be talked into going inside, as her mother repeatedly pointed out -
IDA PICO
(to Lola)
Any sane person with an ounce of pride would.
I feel like I should write a blog post Monday - Thursday because I said I would. This is the bare minimum of that commitment.
I did mostly boring things today. Well - I made lots of scene notecards and patted myself on the back for having a good 'breaking point/fulcrum' at the end of the middle movement. (The defining moment that changes everything for each character - which all the action has been building toward and spurs the action of the final movement.) It's probably the only part of the novel that is tailor-made for a play. (Orange - First Movement, Blue - Second, Yellow - Third.)
But then I read Tony Kushner's Angels in America for a little while and its brilliance made me embarrassed to write anything. But I'll keep going tomorrow. :)
I took off Friday-Sunday. I’m not going to do that again. It put me in a cranky mood has taken me the whole day to get back into the
swing of things. That coupled with just letting things get to me that shouldn't. Too many annoying people this weekend.
Remember kids, words never let you down or hurt your feelings. (Yeah, there's nothing unhealthy about that.) :)
Tried going to the gym, which got me a little pepped up.
So – A quiet day. I’m outlining the “first movement”. I’m
not calling it an “act” for now… But basically it kind of is. Breaking
out the notecards and pushpins.
I start the first draft of this movement next week, so I was
hoping to get a precise outline of the structure. However – since I did some
rearranging last week, I’m a little worried that I’m getting too tied up in the
final “performance” outcome and not letting myself explore the scenes.
Translation - I’m telling them which scenes should be in the play instead of writing and
letting THEM tell me.
Which highlights one of the oldest “writer problems” in the
book. How much structure prep vs. how much first draft inspiration? The
saving grace with an adaptation is that at least there is a structure
in place - when you don’t have that, it’s really hell-ish.
I’ve spent the last two weeks mapping possible outlines –
but until I put them to the test and begin to form these scenes, I’m not sure
which path the play will follow. Will it be Cain’s story?Lola’s?Miss B’s?None
of the above? All of the above?
This week, I’m setting no specific goals (other than the work schedule, gym, abstaining from Ding Dongs, etc., which are now implied weekly
goals) and let things take me where they will. First draft starts next Monday.
And for relief of crankiness – Donna Summer always helps. There Goes My Baby.
Reflection on Week Two Goals:
Flesh out two outlines – Check. (Though may have done more
harm than good.)
4 Blog Posts- Check. Enjoyed every one of them.
Screenwriting – Part One (bahahahaha) Ridiculous goal. I
barely made it through Chapter 2, much less Part One. Silly rabbit…
Office Schedule – Check.
Read 2 plays – Read Ruined and 2/3 through Fun Home. Could
have done better.
Gym every day- Check. The gym is keeping me sane, yet
amazingly NOT making me alarmingly skinny. WTF? (Happy hours may have a little
to with that.)
Ding Dong Limitation (3x) – Yes! Damn things. But I only ate 3 this
week. (Well, 6 if you count them individually, but then what kind of horrible person does that?!) :)
Wonk - a person preoccupied with arcane
details or procedures in a specialized field; broadly : nerd <a policy wonk> <a computer wonk>
Today’s blog entry is going to be very “Writer Wonky”.
I’ve been dancing around some outline work – hesitant of
jumping in, for fear of what I may find, or not find, as the case may be.
First some Wonk… These aren’t all the parts, but the ones
I’m concentrating on today…
Inciting Incident – Sets the stage, sometimes the opening scene- often
before the play begins. (Think Hamlet’s father’s death.)
Plan of Action (Goal identified) – Hero/Heroes set forth with a
goal or mission
Intermission Act Cliffhanger – Keeps the audience from going
home during intermission.
Complications toward goal – obstacles, distractions, shifts,
etc. Basically the middle (and most of the play, really).
Crisis – The thing that changes everything for everyone.
Climax – Great forces coming to battle. Somebody wins.
So in mapping out what I have today… some were easy, some
not…
Inciting Incident – Birth
Plan of Action - ??
Break Cliffhanger – Macy’s arrival? (little weak)
Complications – Getting saved, Dance, Bushes, Affairs,
Photographers, etc.
Crisis – Found kissing in the Baptismal
Climax – Drowning and Peggy/Neil/Lola confrontation.
No plan of action, no clear Cliffhanger. Uh-oh.
So initially I’m thinking this idea of finding “Beauty”
could be the plan…
A need to be seen/validated that Miss B and Cain share. She
in the culture/people/land, he in the sense of seeing his experience reflected.
And beauty is definitely a central theme. What makes
someone/something/some place beautiful?
However, that’s a pretty passive goal. It has to be more
concrete. But I’ve got so many scenes setting up the characters that I don’t
have a clear plan early enough. The Plan of Action needs to be within 10 minutes or so of
the inciting incident. And as much as I love the details of the novel that unfold life with Momma Jewel, the store, etc. They aren’t theatrical moments.
So – Think more. Get lost in a little music. (I love not
knowing what song from my past is going to play on my random list.) Today we have Livin' La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin. However your breeze blows, there's some eye candy for everyone.
Fix Lunch. Make some notecards. Play around with Structure.
What if I do the Prologue (Arrival at the abandoned town),
then the Birth (inciting incident) and then instead of going through Cain’s
childhood, open Scene 2 with Cain waiting to see Brother Neil at the church to
make sure he really got saved?
There may be ways that he could tell/reveal the backstory of
his childhood. The storyteller could come through and you light up Cain, as a
child, underneath the Oak Table hearing the men talking about ‘bits and pieces’
of Dip being sent home. Lights up on the bus, the humiliation, exile, etc.
Anyway, the goal would be to somehow give that background
and push up to Scene Two the REAL plan of action… Cainfinding
a best friend. Concrete, universal, active, consequential - especially for a bullied kid.
If I do some more rearranging, Cain could have the conversation
with Miss B about beauty and the pictures in the magazine before he goes to see
the preacher.
Instead of learning from Brother Neil at the end of their
conversation that he has a son around Cain’s age, as happens in the book, it could be that Cain knew of
Mark beforehand and has set out to find someone who “won’t know any better,” - won’t know that Cain is the town outcast.
Maybe that’s why Cain went down the
aisle in the first place when he didn’t really understand what “getting saved” meant. And was so frustrated to be siphoned off to a Deacon instead of getting to pray with Brother Neil.
This could put a whole new sense of purpose on several
scenes that I enjoy – Billy Ray flipping him the bird, Miss B and the
magazines, Lola at the church.
Making Cain have a plan beforehand gives those scenes a more
theatrical purpose.
So…
Inciting Incident – Cain’s Birth
Plan of Action – Finding a best friend (a connection for a
person lost)
Cliffhanger – Now, this puts Macy’s arrival on a new level.
If we’ve seen Cain manipulating, finding, gaining this friend – then the
arrival of Macy and her big old boobs does create a little bit of a cliffhanger
(If I’ve gotten the audience to really care about Cain.)
Complications – Sparring with Macy, Sunday School betrayals,
graveyard visits, the bridge, the Dance – Becoming friends with Macy. Kissing
Macy…
Crisis – The discovery of Cain, Macy and Mark kissing in the
Baptismal by Brother Neil – where everything changes and they are set down a
path none would choose.
Climax – Macy’s suicide attempt and the drowning lead to the
final confrontation in the church.
I’ll have to add something to show the real buildup of
Cain and Mark’s friendship. Difficult, but doable. And I’ll map out similar
plans for each of the other characters who will be on a journey – Miss B, Lola,
Macy, etc. They get their own 'plan of action' and complications threaded throughout.
With the clarification today, I think figuring out how I fit
the other journeys into this overarching one will be easier. Still a lot of
sifting, but some of that will have to wait until the first draft stage. The
foundation seems sturdier now.
So, that’s a little of my day’s work. I may or may not take off tomorrow. If
I do, I’ll still post a fun Friday song. : ) (For those who’ve sent an
encouraging message about enjoying seeing the process – thank you!) (This has
been fun and has really been helpful in adapting to my new schedule. It
definitely keeps me honest.)
It was not a stellar creative day. I blame the snow. For some reason when I spend the night in, I get lazier. I'm always more productive if I stay busy because my natural state is SEDENTARY.
If left to my own devices, I could piddle for months - trust me, I have. I think there was an entire year in my 20's that I basically couch-surfed around the country. (NYC, Virginia, Nashville, Memphis, Berkeley, Las Vegas, Laguna Beach, etc., Thanks Friends!)
So, once I dragged myself out of bed at noon, had lunch and staggered upstairs, it was 2:00. And what can you really do with 3 hours? So, it was another reading day - and jotting down a few ideas.
I finished a play called Ruined by Lynn Nottage about the devastation wrought, particularly on women, during the civil wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 2009 Pulitzer Prize Winner. A good read. Nothing I felt passionately connected to, but interesting enough, with a traditional structure. I'd go see it if it was up.
The nice thing about going to a play - which I don't do as much as I'd like - is that even when I see a bad one, I learn something new. Either an interesting set design, trick or particularly effective illusion. And sometimes just what not to do.
Plodding along in the new books - and they're really helpful. A lot of highlighting.
Also monitoring the progress of my first ever plant - pictured here. So far, so good. It's a paperwhite. It drinks vodka and they say it's hard to kill. Both good qualities to have in a living thing under my care. : )
I love the sound of the squirrels running on my roof. Very relaxing. But I have a feeling that after another month or so I'm going to feel more like Chevy Chase in Funny Farm. He starts out loving the birds singing outside his window...
So - not too much excitement or plotting today. Identifying "inciting incidents" (the birth), points of attack (??) and climaxes (the river/church). As it is, the book does not easily lend itself to a play - but I knew that going in. If I'm not careful, I may just have 20 actors reading the book in a circle. While I'd enjoy that, I don't think it's quite the point.
Trivia of the day - I have 1, 419 songs in my iTunes library - 3.6 days of music.
Today's song fits the mellow mood - in honor the upcoming family trip to Hawaii in May. Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakowiwo'Ole.
I’ve discovered that I’m definitely ADD when it comes to
outlining/brainstorming. I get up, walk around, run downstairs, take a nap, go
play with the dog, etc., every 15 minutes or so – sometimes every 5 minutes.But I’m coming back, which is all that
matters in the long run.
On one diversion, I spent about 10 minutes getting my $750
Herman Miller chair in JUST the right position so that I can lean back and
type. (I bought this chair when I was rewriting the book with my agent for about 9 hours each day after work and it was the best money I’ve ever spent. I
love it.)
Anyway – Today I’m doing a little research (The Art and
Craft of Playwriting) and playing around with outlines. I’ve begun a list of
scenes that are “Needed” “Maybe” or “Not”. This list will change a lot, but
it’s important to map out this week and next.
For example – When Bobby Lee attacks Cain on the bus. Not a bad scene (for a
book or a movie) but really not realistic for the play. Bobby Lee made a good villain in the book, but for the play, much of that will probably be backstory/off stage. We’ll cover the memory of
what traumatized Cain in another scene, but that’s a fairly easy one to know
won’t be in the play. The birth scene – Needed. It’ll set the tone and
characters, but I may bring in more characters and it may change form. Things
like the Dance – Maybe… We’ll have to see once we get more focused on the
details of the outline.
Once I determine the locations/scenes to include, I’ll
analyze each to determine which interaction is the backbone of the scene and what
other threads could be included. For example - the scene where Trudy tells Miss B that there is "room in the human heart" for more than one love. I think it will be here and I think it'll be substantial, but it may not run as a single scene but be part of a larger scene that includes Cain, Lola, Ida and Leon dealing with Trudy's illness. So the backbone of that scene may be the Trudy/Miss B conversation, but there could be other interactions and interuptions that delay the gratification/suspense, but hopefully still spur the story forward on their own.
And as always, several times today I've thought, "There's no way this can be a play." Oh well, It may not be a good play, but a play it will be - come Hell or high water.
Hopefully, by Feb. 1st when I start the first
draft of Act One, I’ll have each scene outlined in pretty good detail – then let
the characters start talking to each other. Much of what they'll say is already in the
book, but if this adaptation is like some of the others I’ve done (The Carter
Family, Alienation of Affection and Marty Mann) there will be new
combinations and revelations as well. I have to say that I do love these people. I'm lucky to get some more time with them.
It’s an absolutely perfect day for writing. I’m sitting up
here watching it snow and feeling pretty content.
And the song for today was Vogue... : ) So life doesn't get much better than that, does it?
8-10 Structure Outlines - Yeah, that didn’t happen.
Particularly the two “outside the box” and the experimental one. But honestly,
I knew it was lofty. I’m happy with the 4-5 I’ve got to work with this week.
Blog Posts – 4/5. That’s fine. Fridays should be off anyway
– there’s no sense in being fanatical. (FYI – I’m at 360 page views this week.)
20 Hours in the Room – Check. And then some. (Some days I
did better than others about leaving the phone OUTSIDE the Writing Room. )
Fun After Each Completed Day – Check. I had a pretty fun
week. Some interesting developments in life.
Gym Every Day – Check. At least the days I was working and
not on the road.
Dancing – Check. Our song list this week was, Juke Box Hero,
Ballroom Blitz, Run Joey Run, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, and Missionary Man.
Screenwriting – Check. I’m about 18 pages in on the
scene-by-scene adaptation. (End of Chapter 2 - this is going to be a long screenplay)
Goals This Week
Flesh out two full outlines. I really need to know by the end
of this week that I have an outline that will allow me to begin the first draft
of Act One on Feb. 1. So far, I’ve
been doing very loose outlines, but this week I have to start deciding which
story threads stay and which go. Not very fun work.
4 Blog posts – Just something every day (except Fridays).
Screenwriting – I’d like to get through “Part One” of the
book – which is basically the point up to when Macy arrives. But, the screenwriting is a secondary
goal… I have to be careful that I don’t get sucked into it because it’s easier
than the playwriting part.
Keep the same office schedule. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Keep up with the songs – It’s nice when one strikes. Today was – Cotton-Eyed Joe.
Subgoal
– Figure out how to post videos within the blog for easier viewing. (That was easier than I thought.) Enjoy...
Read 2 plays. Last week I did Our Town and August: Osage
County
Gym – Every day I write/read, I workout. Period.
Subgoal
- Limit Ding Dong intake to THREE times this week – instead of daily, as was
the case last week. There’s a
little store RIGHT outside the gym and it’s so unfair!
Reading the rest of the day, then gym… then burgers, then
wine… Happy Monday! (No Ding Dongs!)
Today was less productive than the others, but that happens
too.
I got to thinking about all my “great ideas” last night,
then – as anyone who has written anything tends to do – I ripped them apart. (Every writer is something of a masochist at heart - and a sadist, I suppose.)
There will be a ‘storyteller’ character. That part of the
structure idea works – and it may be the only way to do this thing. However,
I’m now not convinced that it should be Cain and/or Macy.
The reason the “stage
manager” works in Our Town is because he is detached from the people. I’m not
sure it’s not some kind of trickery to use characters in the play as that kind
of a voice. You want to manipulate the story for maximum effect, but you never
want to manipulate the audience.People resent that – well, at least the people that I want to love this
thing do.
One of the things about
the novel that makes me proud, is that I never milked a moment. My agent called
it "wonderfully unsentimental writing"– which, is not my particular style (I love me some melodrama) – but I think that lack of manipulation allows the
reader to feel the force themselves, without me intruding on it.
Anyway, now I’m writer-rambling…
There will be more thought and next week I’ll make a few
more outlines… There’s an answer out there, I just have to stumble across it.
Like anything traumatic, the unraveling of what, at first,
seemed like a great idea calls for some time to recuperate. So, today I just
read.Mainly August: Osage County.
How’s that for uplifting?: ) (I’ll
have to check out the movie again now that I’ve seen it in a better light.) (Great
stuff –Dark as hell – but great.)
Still, I count the day as a good one.
I let myself get a little derailed by an unexpected lunch
invitation. I typically can NEVER have lunch with people, so now I know that
spur of the moment lunch dates provide me too much opportunity to blow off my schedule. Duly
noted. But it was a lovely lunch, all the same.
The song for today made it just under the wire… Missionary
Man by Annie Lennox.
The plan is Friday off – I’ve done pretty darn good this
week.(Lots of reading tomorrow and over the weekend, but no office
hours!) Go have some fun!
Another good day –some hurdles, but small ones and some that
I don’t yet have to jump.
Half of writing is knowing when NOT to jump hurdles.
Anytime I look at this thing it seems pretty overwhelming…
So much to fit into 100 minutes and so many transitions and details that will
be lost in the translation.
The trick at this point is to not think of the details, but
see the bigger picture.
I’m structuring a story – not telling it.
Later, when
the first drafts start, it’s all about the details, but not now.
Now that I’ve settled into the idea of Cain and Macy as “narrators/stage
managers,” I spent some time working on a couple outlines.Just as an idea – the thought is Cain
and Macy coming into the abandoned town during the prologue. A playful
combination of characters in a scene interacting with each other, but addressing the audience as
well… the goal being to make their relationship a little mysterious and their
perspectives distinct.
I finally got in all 12 of my plays and will be filling the
cracks of time in my writing day with reading. I went through the prologue of
August: Osage County today and it’s pretty brilliant. I wasn’t a fan of the
movie, but I do admit that it’s hard not to see Meryl in every word. Though for
some reason I kept picturing Tom Skerritt instead of Sam Sheppard as Beverly.
Just to give you a little idea of how Our Town opens… and
what I’m thinking for in this approach with Cain and Macy.
STAGE MANAGER:
This play is called "Our Town."
It was written by Thornton Wilder; produced and directed
by A. . . . (or: produced by A. . . . ;
directed by B. ...). In it you
will see Miss C....; Miss D....;
4 ------ Miss E....; and Mr. F. ...; Mr. G....; Mr. H ....; and many others. The name of the town is Grover's Corners, New Hampshire-just across the Massachusetts line: latitude 42 degrees 40 minutes; longitude 70 degrees 37 minutes. The First Act shows a day in our town. The day is May 7, 1901. The time is just before
dawn.
A rooster crows.
The sky is beginning to show some
streaks of light over in the East there, behind our mount'in.
The morning star always gets wonderful bright the
minute before it
has to go,-doesn't it?
(He stares at it for
a moment) then goes upstage.
Well, I'd better show you how our town lies. Up here-
That is: parallel with the back wall.
is Main Street. Way back there is the railway station;
tracks go that way. Polish Town's across the tracks, and some Canuck
families.
Toward the left.
Over there is the Congregational Church; across the
street…
That character goes on to make witty and profound
observations throughout the play, sometimes interrupting the scene and sometimes playing characters
within a scene.
I’m making lists
of which characters Cain and Macy may play and then thinking about what people
and/or events we combine. For example, I think the birth scene and the news of
Dip’s death, gathering at the store, etc. will all be covered in Act I, Scene
I.
I imagine, Cain, as stage manager, stepping in to fill the
gaps and not being able to continue as he talks – Macy takes over so that’s
it’s clear that whoever they are, these are two people who protect each other.
A friendship forged in the fires of a difficult childhood.
For some reason, I see this protectiveness playing
throughout the play. Somewhere at the end, I picture a soldier, in uniform,
standing silently in the background.
Dip, the father never known, but whose presence (and
absense) has hung so heavily over the entirety of Cain’s life.
Macy sees him first and her first instinct is to reach out
to Cain and shield him until she knows he can handle it.It’s their job to protect each other
from harsh realities.Perhaps
that’s a moment to reveal that the two storytellers are the two children in the
play. Maybe. Anyway, these are the ideas swirling at this point. And just using the
word “storytellers” here gives me my title to use for them instead of “stage
manager”.So that’s a days worth
of work right there. : )
Off to the gym! (or for a drink, but the goal as of the writing of this sentence is the gym, so that should count for something!)
Today's song was....Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B - Andrew Sisters version.
I spent the morning re-reading some characterization
techniques. 10 is about as many actors as you’d expect a company to typically
be able to perform… So I made a list of everyone in the book I could think of –
there are 22 so far.
So there’s that. Then I got to thinking about Our Town again
– which, by the way, has 22 characters even with the stage manager playing
several others.So it’s not
impossible – but still.
Since I’m considering Cain will be the ‘stage manager’ at the
opening, he could then play several other smaller roles throughout the play –
the mayor, Dulan, Odell, etc.But
there are also a lot of female peripheral characters (Belle, Miss Caroline,
Macy’s grandmother, etc.).
SO – My immediate thought is that perhaps Cain and Macy
could both open the play and play all the minor characters, male and female
throughout. There’s still too many characters overall – because we’d also have
YOUNG Cain and Macy, but it’s a thought.
It could be interesting to have them both at the opening –
the town is abandoned. The audience won’t necessarily know what relationship
this couple has… married? siblings? cousins? Exes? It’s always good to engage
curiosity as soon as possible. And Macy could bring a little more bite to how
she explains things… Cain is more sentimental and nostalgic while she’d be a
little jaded – so that could be a good contrast.
So – then I decided to read all of Our Town again. It came
out in 1938, but is set in 1901-1913 (again – 12 years, 22 characters - cue spooky music).Reading it again, still made me cry and think about the
first time I saw it on
stage.It’s a minimalist set,
which is interesting – only chairs and ladders really – no real props. You may
remember it as the play that Woody from Cheers was in where he climbed the
ladder to talk to the girl. : )
Anyway, after reading it, I spent a couple hours on the screenplay to let my mind absorb it all. I’m
currently 16 pages into a screenplay - and only at Dip’s memorial at the store. This is going to be a LONG screenplay
– but the goal on the screenplay is to do it verbatim from the book – just to
keep the juices flowing. When I have the humongous final product I can whittle it down to the best parts.
Calling it a day now. By the way – my random dancing song today
was Run Joey Run, by David Geddes. A classic. lol
Though technically it was more of a
performance than a dance.
It’s always nice to have a little breakthrough on the first "official" day of writing. I feel like I had one today. : ) But, let’s not get ahead of myself.
I kept on my schedule pretty well, though I did veer off to
pick up some supplies (legal pads) and then dilly-dallied. (Office Depot only
had them in bulk – so now I’ve got a lot of legal pads – holler if you need
one.) Even so, I got a good solid
5 hours in today – about half of it semi- productive – so all things
considered, a success for any writer. Woohoo!
I started with a couple structure outlines and hit a road
block on the 2nd one.That’s how it works at the beginning – you stumble quickly and often.
The first one used the current structure of the novel and
was pretty easy, but still hard to see how it was going to give the audience the thread needed to tie it all together. (I had to make a scene list once I realized how much of
the book I had forgotten.)
Then started the 2nd outline that focused more on
Cain, Mark and Macy.Opening not
at the birth, but at the church before Cain meets Mark.In attempt to turn the beginning of
Mark and Cain’s friendship into an Act One breaking point – where Macy is
introduced as an obstacle to Cain’s goal – “finding a best friend/escaping
isolation.”(Character + Goal +
Opposition = Conflict, FYI).
Anyway, it was all a big pain in the ass.Without the birth and the introduction
of the family, it just didn’t feel right.I was stuck for a half hour thinking there’s no way this book can be a
play.And I’m supposed to come up
with 8 more outlines?! This sabbatical is a sham! I'm a fraud! Why is this house only three #*(&$*& * floors?!
This is when dancing comes into the writing process.My dance song for the day turned out to
be Ballroom Blitz by Sweet.And
that song is sweet!
(I’ve got my music library playing randomly in the
background when I’m reading, brainstorming or taking notes. Usually not when I’m doing
dialogue, but on everything else the music helps.)
And when the timing is there – like it was today – I hit a
block, I hear a great song – and I just dance it out. Then when I sit back
down, I’m sweaty, happy and laughing at myself, because let’s be honest – old people
dancing is funny.) Here's a link to the video if you haven't heard it lately - feel free to cut loose... I won't tell anyone.
So after the disco interlude, I decided to read a little. I only have 2 of my 12 plays (thanks slow-poke
Amazon) so to stay ‘on task’ I did a time frame analysis of the two I do have…
A Streetcar Named Desire – 6 months elapsed and American Buffalo – one day
elapsed. (Eek - Lost Cain takes 12 years.) Then the playwriting book I was reading mentioned Our Town.(I limited my 12 plays to the past 25
years as much as possible, so I hadn’t ordered that one.)Hopped online and found a manuscript –
and BINGO.
Cain as Stage Manager. (If you’ve not seen Our Town lately – the Stage Manager
introduces, interrupts, illuminates and guides the play over a span of 12 years.) (Sounds like destiny to me.)
Derivative perhaps, but then most of my work has been
derivative – and as long as it derives from something great, like Our Town --- to quote a funny friend whose answer to every suggestion, now matter how
outlandish - “I don't see why not?”
It clicked and I think we’ve got our basic
framework.Cain – as an adult –
coming into the opening when the town is abandoned and demolished – introducing
the history before we really know who he is.Which then lends itself to lots of possibilities as the
character and story unfolds.
There you have it - Day One is on the books. Tomorrow I’ll
take that skeleton and see how different outlines could start to put some meat
on the bones.But at least now
I’ve got some bones.
It’s quittin’ time.Hope your day has been good! : ) I'm off to the gym... then Burgers... then wine.
The last couple days have been less about researching
and writing, more about preparing.
Preparing for the all the distractions… those little things you run to
when trying to escape a blank page (or screen as the case may be).
Cleared in-box. Check.
Cleaned house. Check.
Mopped floors. Check.
Paid late property taxes (whoops). Check.
Organized my computer desktop. Check.
Installed Final Draft. Check.
Wondered what I've gotten myself into. Check.
Come Monday, no excuses and no busy work.
Here’s the timeline…
Jan. 30 – Outline structure and set choices completed.
Feb. 15 – Act One first draft completed.
Mar. 15 – Act Two first draft completed.
Mar. 30 – Act Three first draft completed.
April 30 – First full revision completed.
May 15 – Second full revision completed.
Fall 2016 – Staged Reading
Goals for Week 1
8-10 Structure Outlines. These will be mapping out several possibilities. One that follows the current structure, Several choosing possible main characters; Lola, Cain, Macy, Miss B., etc. *At least 2 that are outside the box and uncomfortably new - these may be the same characters, but stories outside the book. *At least 1 that is CRAZY - Experimental Theatre type stuff - just to get the creative sparks going. Practically no chance I will do the play that way, but sometimes being crazy takes your writing to a new level.
5 Short Blog Entries (did I spell that right?) I can't let myself spend too much time on the blog, so in preparation I'm not even going to look up if it's spelled correctly. I'm only allowing myself a first draft and 2 quick edits - no obsessing over quality. (Sorry folks!)
Full 20 hours IN the Writing Room. I'm keeping my same class/office hours schedule this week to see how that works. Anytime I would have been in the office or class, I'll be working in the Writing Room. (I'm not counting how many damn administrative meetings I'm usually in - that would kill me.)
Fun after each completed day. Happy Hours galore! (after I've served my time for the day.)(a la Ernest Hemingway - wait, that didn't turn out so well, now did it?) (Don't worry, all things in moderation and moderation in all things.)
Gym every day. It helps. At the end of the semester, I'll have a play, a screenplay AND I'll be ripped. : )
One songs worth of unrestrained dancing from a random song in my play-list, like even God ain't watchin' - Today's was "Juke Box Hero".
Screenwriting draft, as time allows. I'll be working on a first draft of a screenplay that literally follows the book, scene for scene. I could write screenplays in my sleep, so this is just a way to prime the pump. The scenes are almost all 'cinema-like' as many of my snotty literary MFA colleagues were wont to tell me all the time!
The first two weeks will be some of the most difficult and
most important work.
And if tradition holds, the least pleasant.
I get tired just thinking about the possible directions to take at the beginning of a project.
For now, I’m waiting on my 12 "exemplary dozen" plays from Amazon – and
heading out to the gym.
I’ve been to the gym every day of 2016.
I’ve also been
hungry every minute of 2016. Doesn't going to the gym every day excuse stopping by QT for a King Dong? - So much for ripped! : )
The sun shines through one window in my room every morning
and hits me directly in the face. Being in the path of a direct sliver of the
sun at least once a day seems to me, a good thing... A moment when it seems to
be poking me, specifically, on the shoulder -
“Hey – I’m here, what you up to?”
To be honest, I’m glad the holidays are over. The week was
too filled with parties and festivities to be very productive.Still, I’ve had some ideas for the play swirling
around in my head.
Two Specifically… Asides and Still Photographs.
Since the book is multiple 1st person, I thought
that theatrical asides – where the character directly addresses the audience –
may work.(Knowing that a little
bit goes a long way when you’re using asides and monologues.) Ida, Trudy and
Peggy all have some fun observations that may not be easily accessible through
the action of the play.
“A woman over the age
of forty shouldn't wear a ponytail, ever.” --- Ida Pico
“They’re pretty and
all, but the number of angels that girl had in her house at any given moment
was downright apocalyptic.” ---- Trudy
McAllister
“All those church
folks act like sex is the worst sin there is. But you go down to a strip club
in Memphis or a Holy Ghost revival in Jonesboro and tell me one ain’t just
another way of saying the other. People's got needs that's gonna get met.”----Leon
McAllister
“Before choir practice
last week, Belle had confessed to me that she listened to every word of Brother
Neil’s sermons with an enthusiasm that bordered on arousal. I admitted I found
myself using the program as a fan more than I was entirely comfortable with. At
every Baptist Young Women’s meeting, we couldn’t help but note Brother Neil’s
sensitivity and sincere devotion to the Lord. It had inspired each of us to
take up the cause of Christ with more fervor than ever before. LeAnn Hester had
started a new Lottie Moon soup can drive. Tammie Johnston was going door to
door witnessing to migrant farm workers down by the river. Even Rhonda Mason
had volunteered the use of her van to pick up retarded children and bring them
to church every Sunday. And everyone knew how ticky Rhonda was about her
upholstery, what with the drooling and all.”--- Peggy Leggett
“As we passed, the
men’s eyes fell to the floor, one after the other like a line of soldiers
drawing down their swords at the sight of her grief. After a while, like it usually did at times like that, came stories of other days and other people, lost and gone. Whenever a lull came up in the ceremony at V.R.'s, and make no mistake that's what it was, somebody else would kick in. Later, on the porch across the railroad tracks, I could still see the light from the store and the stark shadows cast from inside. Like most of their kind, the men of Lost Cain grieved only through laughter. Sitting there in the quiet of the front porch with the baby in my arms, I could hear them well into the night and it comforted me.” ---- Trudy McAllister
“As much as I loved
Lost Cain, the attitude toward anything or anyone different was downright
shameful. As individuals, the people were as generous loving and kind as any you’d
find in this world. However, we were a southern state and had all the baggage
that came with our geography.” –--- Mrs. Odell Brinkley
The idea of freezing the background scene during moments like these – like a
photograph - as one particular character does an aside seems interesting.
In my mind, I picture the birth scene - Brucie’s arms lifting the baby into
the air (too Lion-King?) and the ladies all gathered around the porch. Mrs.
Brinkley, in her Sunday-best, does an aside.“Absolutely enthralled, I took one step and then another,
toward them, my new white satin pumps sinking in the freshly turned dirt of the
flower garden. Honestly, I tried to pull myself away, But I just
couldn’t.”
Everyone else frozen in place, like an old black and white
photo while Mrs. B moves toward the baby.“My heart lept with so much excitement that I feared it would
burst.”As she’s saying this she
moves through the “photo” until the earth quakes and Lola reaches out and pulls
her back into the scene as the chaos continues.
This got me to thinking about a possible recurring motif of
still images throughout the play and singular characters moving within them.
There are several possibilities with the church and the river.BUT – I’m not going to get too caught up
in technical possibilities just yet.Next week I’ll start mapping out several structural outlines and see
what is calling to me the most…
For now, it’s back to some reading…
Today’s focus – reading some scenes from Moliere, Goethe,
Wilde and Ibsen. Covering the Six Elements of Drama: Conflict, Characters,
Complications, Crisis, Catastrophe, and Conclusion. Monday writer fun…: )
