Yesterday was a good writing day. Today, not so good. I didn’t get any writing done in the early part of the day and it’s likely that I’m not going to meet today’s target. Okay, scratch that. It’s inevitable that I’m not going to meet today’s target. Avoiding the self-flagellation, I can examine this and see that I really need to get some writing done in the morning or at the very latest during lunch. I have to commit to getting part of it done on the way to work. Otherwise, there’s too much pressure to do it after dinner and there may be other commitments to fulfill.
I officially commit to writing a little bit in the morning. Just “starting” to write is enough to get me going and getting a page in.
My challenge is that I tend to procrastinate and then binge write to get the play finished. But, I’m going to be performing this, so I’d like the script to be as good as I can get it. So, I have to focus.
I’m reading The Success Principles by Jack Canfield. (Have I mentioned that I’m a self-help junkie?) Anyway, it’s reminding me that I should probably be visualizing the process – not only of writing, but of performing this piece. I find that when I am completely focused on a project, I see more things in my life that can be incorporated into it. I come across stories, anecdotes or images that can be pulled into the piece that I’m working on.
One of the good things about yesterday’s writing session is that I had gotten a little stymied writing the play chronologically. So, I just jumped ahead to a scene I had worked on before and wrote from there. Although the piece takes place chronologically, there’s no reason why I need to write it that way. At this point, it’s really important to get the writing in, so jumping around is fine, as long as it keeps me productive.
Of course, maybe the play doesn’t need to be chronological…
That’s when a program like Scrivener is good because you can outline different scenes and maybe type up some ideas and move back and forth a lot easier than when writing in Final Draft. But that’s just me. I find Scrivener is the closest computer application that lets me think similarly to how I think when I’m writing in long hand. I can easily jump to a different part of the page to write an unrelated note or tangent.
I’m hearing a nagging voice that this idea may suck. But I’m committed to it, now. If it does suck, then hopefully I can learn something from it. I’m feeling like I should read a one person play. As mentioned, I saw a couple of them this year, but maybe seeing one written out would inspire me. Or maybe I should just shut up and write. I do have a tendency to want to read instead of writing.
And before I discourage myself, I have to remember that I thought it was a good idea to start. Until I finish a draft, I don’t really know what I have. And if the draft sucks, then I will at least have an idea of what doesn’t work and it will help inform my rewrite. It’s all good.
Another reason to stop second guessing myself is that I really don’t have a lot of time to worry about it. It will be what it will be. And I will learn from that and hopefully grow from it. I’m going to be pretty busy in mid-July because my other play, Minced is going to be in the Hamilton Fringe Festival. And there’ll be other shows to see and people to visit with and audience reactions to gauge.
Maybe I should just giving up sleeping for the next couple of months.
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