Long Silence

I haven't written a post here for a long time.

There've been a few reasons; the illness and then death of a much-loved family member; and also a feeling that I'm saying the same things over and over again.

I have been writing, but it's not that heady surge of writing, where you discover new things and feel euphoric as you get to know your characters. This is the painstaking, steady work of rewriting.

I have submitted my 'final' draft to QTC. I've put final in inverted commas because there will be more changes made. We have two weeks of rehearsals and I'm sure I will be tweaking and changing words as we go.

I knew I was ready to send it when I read through the play three times, once for each character. (Thank heavens I don't have more than three characters in my play!) I read the character I was looking at out loud and read the other characters in my head. This helped find repetition and words that didn't fit in people's mouths. It took me all day to do the three reads and, at the end of it, there were probably only ten lines I changed. This is where it starts getting silly and I worry about the placement of a comma.

There are still big changes I could be making. (I've written an alternate ending and sent that in as well - just because I have such troubles with the natural ending for this play. Why can't I write something happy and cheerful?)

I could start again and change everything. I think there are at least three different plays within the situation I've created. But I've reached the end for this version. The play is done. I think!

If you're reading this, I hope you can make it to the public readings on 1 August. Here's a link: https://www.qtix.com.au/show/QTC_tinder_08.aspx