Saturday, March 22, 2008

First Draft Done

Done like a dinner. Like a dog's dinner, perhaps. But I've written 'The End' and am taking a pause.

It's Easter Sunday and the house is quiet, the only sound is the wind in the trees and the hum of traffic. I miss the children and doing the Easter egg hunt. But I've finished this draft. Hurrah!

I've doubled the length of the play, which is what QTC wanted. I haven't re-read it yet. That will be this afternoon's mission. To find the holes and the loose threads. And to see whether these characters have arcs and journeys.

I've been plagued by doubts. Fearing that it's all too melodramatic and huge. That the fairy stories within the stories will be repetitive and boring. But I've kept pushing through. Because this is just the first step in the process. This draft (or the draft that I'll have after a week of working on this one!) will be workshopped at QTC and then I'll go away and write another draft, and that draft will be workshopped, and then there'll be a final draft and that's the one that will be performed and judged. So, if this draft is flawed, which I know it is, and even if it turns out that I've gone in the wrong direction and it's worse than the original, it won't be the end of the world. I still have time and two more drafts to get it right.

I'm a little bit of a perfectionist (ha! understatement of the week), so it's important for me to give myself room to fail.

And now to find a chocolate egg and celebrate ...

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