Week 8 - And The Winner Is...

Hello all.  Apologies for the lateness of this post.  I got sucked into last night's Academy Awards and fell down on my blogging duties.  Mea culpa.  Mea maxima culpa.  I think I should take this moment to celebrate, however, that I've been doing this project for EIGHT WEEKS, that's TWO MONTHS.  Yay!  I feel like I should celebrate somehow.  Maybe you guys will have some suggestions for a proper way to celebrate (besides looking at my growing stack of plays).

This week's play is called And The Winner Is.  And yes, it's about the Academy Awards.  I was struck while watching the Oscars how few movies I had actually seen this year.  I don't think I'm alone in this.  A lot of bloggers and writers have been talking about how the Oscars are out of touch.  That's kind of what happens when the voters who decide who should win are almost unanimously white males over the age of 50.  It's pretty much the same demographic that makes decisions about women's health in this country.  Oh my. It's funny 'cause it's true.  Anyway, my play examines what would happen if the Academy Awards didn't turn out as planned.  I guess we can all hope, right?  It sure would be more interesting than the snorefest that happened last night.

Week 7 - Blocked

This week's play was probably the most challenging one for me to write so far.  I've been dealing with some personal issues that have made me very angry.  When I sat down to start writing this week's play, I could not get started.  The anger was clouding the creative part of my mind.  I had the dreaded Writer's Block.  I started feeling a little panicky that I might not make my deadline.  What if this was the end of 52 plays?  So, I stopped.  I stopped staring at my laptop, went downstairs, watched the news, ate some dinner, and then came back to my computer.  And I started to write out the anger.  And it felt good.

This week's play is called Blocked.  It is about a writer struggling with writer's block and the disapproving voices in her head that are all too real to her.  But this time, instead of simply listening to the voices, she talks back.

Well, they say "write what you know."  I was angry and struggling this week, so I wrote about it. :)

Week 6 - Good

Okay, I've made it to week six.  So, I think it's safe to say that I have gotten into the habit of writing.  Yay. :) Now, to keep it going...

My Week 6 play is called Good.  It's a bit hard to summarize.  Basically, it's the story of the growing up that happens when you find out that someone you revere is fallible.  And human.  The play sort of poured out of me today.  After I finished writing it, I had that odd moment when life imitates art, as I found out that someone I have long admired and respected did something unforgivable.  Part of growing up is watching your heroes fall.  That happened to me today.

Week 5: Kissing Frogs

Welcome to Week 5!  Is it five weeks that it takes to make a habit stick or six weeks?  If nothing else, this project is getting me into the habit of writing, which is precisely what I wanted.  The downside, of course, to knowing you have a play due by 10 p.m. every Sunday night is...well, that you have a play due every Sunday night.  This week has been challenging for me.  I've been in a bad mood and the weather, the news, really it seems everything has been conspiring to keep my mood down.  Truth be told, I was tempted to blow off writing the play this week.  I wasn't in the mood to play, to create.  I couldn't think of any ideas.  The old Bonnie would have blown it off this week, gotten out of the habit of writing, and this project would have been stopped dead in its tracks.  The new Bonnie, however, doesn't go for the old excuses.  So, I wrote.  Even though I was tired.  Even though I didn't want to.

This week's play, Kissing Frogs, is a fresh look at some old favorites.  I've been reading The Annotated Grimm's Fairy Tales this week, on loan from the public library (yay libraries.)    The stories, in their original, non-Disneyfied form, are a lot more grim(m) than I remember.  My play revolves around three Grimm heroines: Snow White; the Princess in The Frog King; and the miller's daughter in Rumplestiltskin.  Trapped in an abandoned cottage and on the run from their husbands, they long for a different fate...