I'm fine Swann, thanks for asking. Having recovered from my profound depression of last year, I'm now well in to my new phase of 'taking things as they come/living in the moment/seizing the day/making the most' etc. I must say it makes life a hell of a lot easier...and more successful! I'm busy busy again with my old pattern of doing lots of different creative jobs for lots of different people (gets a bit confusing sometimes, but I like not being pigeonholed) and WRITING-WISE...still looks like my one-woman play (not starring me I hasten to add!) is getting a 3 week run early on next year in a well-known London theatre - will confirm here when it's all set in stone...and I seem to have entered the rather unusual arena of sci-fi writing in recent months as well as am now on my second commission for an audio drama episode! Yes, they've actually PAID me - peanuts - and my first episode will be recorded later this month and released by the end of the year. Hurrah!
How the hell are YOU my dear? Still fighting the good fight with creative demons? How strange it is to have friends like this 'out there in the ether'....
I am still fighting indeed but managed to finish the play and get it out. It may be that is all that happens with that one and I need to just start the next one, but I continue to learn and grow in this field while making enough money in my day job to get by.
Will always remember your kind words, Sadie Sadie in the dark days of the beginning of this year.
The one-woman show sounds great - please keep us posted.
It is strange having friends out here in the ether but I don't have any other friends who actually write . . .
Great to hear you finished your play! Feels good, don't it?!
As for kind words, I've found reading EVERYONE'S words on here so helpful and comforting at various times - and I think one of the best things about being on a forum with like-minded creative folk is that we can most definitely empathise with those times of despair, confusion and frustration. "The ability to reason is the instrument of the devil" as my father always says and I guess it means that being blessed with intelligence and imagination means we're also cursed with fear, insecurity and dissatisfaction! Oh, how many times I've longed to be blissfully ignorant and content with an unambitious life! But hey, think how boring that would be....
look forward to hearing how things progress for you Swanny and will definitely invite you all to my play if/when it falls into place. Not used to things coming this easily, so will believe it when I see it!
Hullo again my lovelies Gosh, well it's just like last year all over again! Here we all are....
Hmm, so how have I got my play out there? Sadly I must confess it's down to that boring old cliche - CONTACTS. Having been an actress for all these years, I do come into contact with some useful people sometimes. All four of my commissions over the years have been via people I've met on acting jobs. This recent play (by far the most complete and polished thing I've written) began life when I chatted to a well-known TV actress I was working with. She mentioned she was also a director/producer looking for new writing. I duly sent her a copy of the play which was rejected by TTPT (!) which she was interested in directing but which didn't come off. We then lost contact for some months, then I emailed her to touch base and she emailed back asking me to write her a play. And the rest, as they say....
One of the most satisfying aspects of the process was the fact that the play which prompted the commission will probably never be produced (having 10 characters 'n all!) but it was worth every moment of effort writing it as it's led on to something so exciting. I'll also add that, though my other commissions have been via acting contacts, they've ALWAYS been on the basis of the person concerned reading something else I've written and liking it enough to ask me to write something else!
I do think it's a possible 'in' to write for a specific actors. We are all, after all, massive egotists. I'd say it's probably best to pick someone who isn't HUGELY well-known as they're inundated with scripts. Maybe focus on someone who was successful in the past and now wants a new vehicle? Or someone up-and-coming who wants to make their mark. Aside from that, I have no secret recipe. For those who may feel a little cheesed off that I've got my 'in' via my other work - if it's any consolation I've never had a single sodding 'in' for my acting, so please do feel happy for me that it's come via my writing! Don't forget that I really have devoted my entire adult life to pursuing that elusive 'break'! xx
One point you make interested me deeply - the idea of writing for someone specific. I've often thought that penning a play for 'B' list stars who were 'A' and then sending it to them could work (I've always thought of Little N Large for some reason!).
But again (*sigh*) it seems like it's as much who you know as what you know!
