I’m a little behind on my blog updates, but this one will be long to make up for that. I feel like it’s been forever since the day I workshopped my completed first draft. We had no class last Tuesday because BU had Monday off and then followed a Monday schedule on Tuesday, but I’ve had plenty of work for that class to keep me busy in the meantime. We have to read a book called Backwards and Forwards about how to read and analyze scripts from a theatrical rather than strictly literary point of view. It is such a great book for anyone interested in theatrical production. Although it’s about how to read a script rather than how to write one, it’s so helpful to see how a script is constructed and what elements need to be there in order for something to work well on stage. And I could see it being equally as helpful to directors, actors, or designers. Plus it uses Hamlet for the majority of its examples, and that is one of my favorite plays of all time (yes, I am being the stereotypical English/Theatre double major nerd right now).
We also, for this coming Tuesday’s class, need to write a monologue, which is something I have very little experience with. We’re supposed to think back to a time in our lives when someone hurt or betrayed us, and write about that moment from the other person’s point of view. As in, write about the hurtful experience from the perspective of the person who hurt you. It gets you thinking about how to convincingly create characters who are mean or even villainous and what might motivate them to behave the way they do.
Last Thursday, I met with my professor before class to discuss my play and the workshop from the week before. We talked about how to focus on tightening up some areas in the next draft, and she also suggested a potential plot twist that may complicate the situation near the end of the play more. I’m still trying to mentally play that situation out and see if it might be something that would work. I agree with her that a more complex situation would be much more interesting, but I just have to figure out how it will work. She also gave me back a copy of my script with notes written all over the margins. The wonderful process known as revision has officially begun. The celebration and sense of relief from finishing the first draft is always short-lived, because soon afterward it becomes time to start ripping things apart, moving scenes around, tightening up dialogue, removing or adding entire scenes… you get the idea. “Writing is rewriting,” as that saying you learn in your first Creative Writing class goes.
Last weekend though, I did get to take a little break from my work and celebrate the fact that my first draft was done and successfully workshopped. My Holy Cross roommate, Jen Baker ’04, came to visit me over the long weekend. She’s also been very busy recently too, so we haven’t had as many opportunities to hang out, even though she only lives an hour or so away. On Monday, a few hours before she was going to head back home, we drove to a pet store so that I could pick up some food for my two cats. The store had a display full of little guinea pigs, and they were so adorable. I love animals, but obviously with two cats a small animal is out of the question (not to mention too much work). Jen, however, did not have any pets. She thought it over while we picked up my cat food, and not long afterwards she became a proud owner of a new pet guinea pig. Jen was with me when I adopted both of my kitties last year, so it’s fitting that I was with her when she brought home her new pet. Her name is Blossom, after one of the icons of our 80s childhood. Below is the only picture Jen’s been able to take of her—guinea pigs can be shy and withdrawn when they first come home to a new environment—and a photo of my two cats too just for fun (their names are Oskar and Marmalade… no 80s references there). Now it’s time once again to focus and think about what I want to write my monologue on.
