Play rewrite

For those following my efforts at writing a play I have just completely rewritten it, adding scenes to explain what I cannot show as I have taken out the second set and  all action now happens in the same flat or in the front of the curtain ( or in some woods – either screened or potted!)

Pity I had to get rid of a violent scene but maybe that’s for the best. We don’t really want to see people beaten up on stage, do we? I still have the water throwing. I can’t think of anything to take its place. That should be fun to try and stage!

Anyway, I think it’s ready for the competition. Then I’ll have to look for something else to write. I had two King books that the library got for me and I’ve read them both. Funny, though, I must have had one in my subconscious because it was set in an amusement park just like much of A Lesson for the Teacher.

Getting Out There

Exciting times! The new play has gone to a beta reader and I have finished a short story for a competition.

Sea Scribes are planning a newsletter with interviews, book reviews and puzzles. With the wealth of talent in the group this might be a fascinating venture. We have already published two anthologies which sold well locally and hope to do more as well as promoting our fiction and nonfiction books.

Social media

The Sea Scribes group met yesterday and had another discussion about the use of social media. I came away feeling hopeful until I realised I never subscribe to anything on social media that looks as if someone is trying to sell me something. There must be hundreds of folk who feel the same and, honestly, we were trying to sell something, our books!

If we don’t have something to give that people want there will be no point trying a newsletter  or an email list and, personally, I have yet to find someone on line who says ‘ I have read one of your books, can I buy another?’ Sure, people I meet always ask when the next one is coming out but that’s person to person, not social media.

So it comes down to what do we have to offer – advice about how we published, stories about the characters in our books, free chapters, reviews of books we have enjoyed? Is it a mistake to promote ourselves as a group or will it help us to find more readers? Is there anyone reading this blog who has read one of our books? I wonder.

 

New Play 3

The play is now typed out and I have seen the errors. Still, it’s good enough to read to Sea Scribes and I’m sure they will help me to improve it.

I also have a short story on the go for another competition. Thank goodness for Writing Magazine. They keep me going, along with Worthy Words where Wendy gives us homework. This month it made me delve into my past and I found out my memory of fifty years ago is inaccurate. It’s a good job I’m not writing an autobiography.

Looking at photo of our wedding day can be quite a shock. We can never look like that again. Still, it’s better than just having photos on line. I’m glad we have an album.

The new Play 2

Another day and now up to 2660 words. I have just put in  an interval to give time for a scene change. I’m about two thirds of the way through and once I have it all down I’ll read it out loud and time it. It is supposed to be about 40 minutes long for the competition.

I guess then I may need to separate the parts, It depends whether it is going to be performed or just read. SWWJ have a play reading group and it might end up there. It should be ready for editing this time next week.

How much clothing can one take off on stage? It’s the end of a scene so it could be left to the imagination of the audience…..

The New Play

I’ve got 1735 words on the computer which is the first three scenes. So far, so good as it’s all in one place. It’s very exciting as I see things I need to make clear as I go along and I will have to add a lot more action when I’ve finished the script. The more I write the more real the characters become.

Now I have to decide whether to move the story from where it was in the book to somewhere the audience will know so that they get the feeling of familiarity.It might change the plot, but , who cares, this is a new play. it doesn’t have to be the same as the book.

Continues later…..

Writing a play

Well I started. I wrote some scenes in rough and then got out the template. So they want the names in bold capitals, the stage directions in italics and the rest tabbed to fit! For someone who is useless on the computer that makes hard work. One scene ( 0nly one page) took over half an hour. ( two finger typing) How long will a whole play take – and will it be too difficult to stage with two different sets?

I look at the instructions for the competition. It all looks very modern and minimalist. When I get time I may view some of the previous plays but if I do it now it may put me off altogether. Besides, even if I don’t enter this competition I still want to write the play.

What I really want to do is read it out loud to myself and see if I can introduce some humour. People always enjoy something that makes them laugh. I’ve got a month. I’ll let you know how I get on.So far the title is “A Lesson in Love”but that might change.

Review

With my teacher’s hat on I have constructed a positive review for the book I have just finished. I still haven’t the heart to point out what I first considered to be flaws but, on reflection, think they just might be quirks that add something to the writing. The odd bits of present tense make the action more immediate and the change of viewpoint gives the reader an insight into the mind of the child. It made me uncomfortable but suited the story.

At least he is writing, whereas I have come to a complete halt. I don’t feel too well at present and still need to get back into a routine after Christmas.Once I’ve checked emails and posted a book for a reader who lives abroad I’ll put a Christmas picture on. I am trying very hard to think visually.

Reviews

 

This is a test of my sensitivity towards new writers and I may be failing.

What do you do when you see that a book has been given a load of five star reviews, including one by the author?

What do you do when a book has been edited by a professional editor but has glaring changes of tense and viewpoint?

What do you do when it is a first, self published, book and you can feel the writer has invested a lot of themselves into it?

I think, maybe, I’ll keep quiet now I’ve had a little rant. Maybe I’m just being pedantic.

Maybe I’ll just do nothing.

 

Back catalogue

Exploring the new wordpress and hoping to promote my previous books at the same time. This is me a few years ago when I launched the first ‘Never’ book about a married woman who ran away to Worthing and found herself in a mysterious house. It isn’t as dark as most of the other running away books written at the time. My writing is known as easy and gentle reading, but it moves along. Hope you like it.