There's a Big Thing coming. A big thing that involves lots of small things, working in concert. When the Big Thing comes then there will be no time for other things. So I've got a few weeks left to finish the play I've been toying with this year - still without a proper title. It's working title is still Portrait of a Singer which is dull and really doesn't get to the heart of the show. I posted earlier in the year that I'd organise a read through for it, to force me to finish it in time for a competition. But I was ill and no read through or finish of writing happened. So, with time again against me, I'm determined to finish the play. It's currently 14,534 words long (which is almost the minimum for a play to be no longer a one act and a full length beast) and I'm still transferring notes into the text - I'm in the middle of doing Act One, Scene Four, so there's still another six, seven scenes to do. By the time I've done that lot, the play should be to length and ready to enter the first draft / read through stage. So, I'll be advertising for readers very soon. Probably a little before the Big Thing starts.
The difficulty I'm facing with the first act is the temptation to do really horrible things. The reason the temptation exists is that, unusually, there are no consequences to actions from the first half in the second. I could kill half the cast and it wouldn't matter. So, my usual dictum, 'make things worse' is in danger of becoming an all consuming monster. How to balance the needs of the moment, the excitement of dramatic action, with the integrity of the play overall. Let's hope I sort it out before the Big Thing gets in the way.
But more on the Big Thing later.
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