Feeling Round The Edges

I've got a lot of fragmentary writing to do at the moment and it's doing my head in.  There's edits and re-writes for Ghost Storyteller (note it's no longer GhoStoryteller - it confused people and no one ever got it right, so it's Ghost - take a breath - Storyteller) as well as blurb and policy documents, re-writes on The Examiner of Beauty, planning the texts for the two new stories this year and I really want to write a play that's bubbling away...
Ideally you want to work on one project at a time, really get into it, finish it and move on.  Sadly, life gets in the way and my business model (did I just use those words in earnest?) demands a high turn around of material.  But... and this is what gets in the way, I have no solid deadlines yet.  So, all I'm doing is flicking on the computer / opening my notebook and doing little things.  The job doesn't get fully done and so I'm just feeling round the edges.  In a week or so there will be deadlines, a schedule, and I will have fewer outside distractions.
So, other than little gobbets of writing I'm researching equipment online.  I've already ordered a lectern for my readings (something I've always improvised into being before) and looked at sound and lighting things - mics, loop stations, projectors and the like.  The reason why I ordered the lectern and just looked at sfx/lx stuff is I could afford the lectern as it was very reasonable.  The sfx/lx gizmo's were a tad bit pricier and so need a. justification other than "but they're so cool!" and b. because I have yet to set a budget.
That's another element of writing for this week, writing the funding proposal.  Haven't started yet, that's this weekend, but I will soon be looking to go cap in hand for some hard currency.  I want to do some quite ambitious things with The Examiner of Beauty, or the 2012 loss leader as I affectionately think of it, and that will require more than a great script and a fantastic cast, it needs stuff.
I did also spend a fair amount of time looking at DVD's of The Clangers, so my time online wasn't wasted.

I've also done some light design work - including a rejigged poster for Ghost Storyteller.  It's a bit like the old one, just with a more inviting font.  Even though it's not coming back till October I do need to finish the rewrites on the show now as well as rewrite of the opening for the audio CD so that it's scarier for the listener at home.  Especially as that'll go into 'studio' hopefully quite soon.
Incidentally, if you know of or are any small venues that might be interested in some ghost story action in autumn I'm a gun for hire.  You don't have to be a theatre, pubs or other random places work well for the show.  I was thinking of libraries, but I doubt there'll be any left open by October.
I'll have another pass at The Pickwick Papers poster (see last blog) later, it's the right idea but it hasn't come out right yet.  Might change the font, which I don't want to do as it took ages to space it all out.  Again, that's not doing anything till May, but I'm already running through the text for an hour each day to hunt out good excerpts for the future. 
As I've been doing that I have had some discussion with myself over whether I want to do a reading of the Complete Pickwick Papers for my run at Barons Court Nov/Dec.  I like the idea of picking out sections for one off performances but the more I play with it the less inclined I am to go the whole hog and once again Nicholas Nickleby leaps ahead as a favourite for the job.  Luckily I am under no pressure to decide one way or the other until March. 
But then again, to return where this blog started, the lack of a deadline is perhaps the reason for the uncertainty.  If I had to decide tomorrow, I would have decided.
Next Blog - Adventures in Amateur Dramatics...