STEPHEN KING 'GIVEAWAY' ONLY 3 DAYS TO GO...

Just a reminder to get voting.  Ony three days to go.  See original post here...

Voting poll is on the top right-hand side of this blog.

I will choose the most original reason given for the title you have voted for and I will send you a 'brand' new copy of SK's book.  And if you don't want a Stephen King novel for whatever reason - I would still apprectiate you voting. 

This play needs a title :)



Midnight rambler keen to count the votes and read your responses...

A dramatic change of direction...

I’m finally in possession of the March Market edition of WQ. 

There are some fabulous articles inside:  Marianne de Pierres talks about how to be a series contender; JR Poulter goes global; Anita Bell discusses formatting.  A great article on Educational publishing by Pamela Rushby; romance by Valerie Parv; finding your niche market with Cat Sparks and Somerset author guest, Kate Hunter explores why writers’ festivals are so important.

And…

If you’ve ever thought about writing a play - you might like to check out my article where I talk about how stepping out of your comfort zone can be a highlight in your career.

You can read these articles and more by subscribing here and if you’re already a subscriber then you will agree with me - this is a great issue J

Midnight rambler is feeling inspired

Procrastination sux or does it?

"When the student is ready, the master appears"



I love the expression above because it can mean so many things.  The universe provides just when we need it, or when we are willing and ready to accept it.  Sometimes the answer to whatever worries us is in front of us all the time, and while we constantly think it eludes us, we find that it's not until we are ready to acknowledge the lesson, does it all become clear, and we knew the answer all along.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing :)

Which leads me to proscrastination.  In particular procrastination around writing.  Why do we procrastinate or more to the point why do I proscratinate?  Is it because I suck at writing and will do anything to get away from it because I fear failure or success?  Not entirely sure. Sometimes I procrastinate because I'm also a perfectionist (this is a constant work in progress) If you knew me a few years ago you will notice that I have lightened up a lot on that but still perfectionism taps me on the shoulder from time to time letting me know what I've written just isn't quite good enough.

 

Procrastination and perfectionism usually go hand in hand.  Perfectionists and expectation can hound you if something is not quite finished: that half finished novel still sitting in your bottom drawer or that short story that needs the end fixing - it keeps us feeling not quite good enough and if only we worked harder it would be a better story.  Aah, the eternal striving for perfectionism. 

And watching tele isn't procrastinating either is it? It's research! So is surfing the net, reading other writerly blogs, updating your website - it's all research!  I'm quite serious - it is, but it must have its place and the one thing I come back to time and time again is one of the things I learned at Clarion South 2007 from Rob Hood.  "Take one sentence at a time and the next thing you know you have a paragraph."  So why do I continually procrastinate?  Am I lazy, incompetent?

BTW this blog is not going to have any useful tips on how not to procrastinate because I haven't quite figured all that out yet - but one thing I do know for sure is this: 

When I sat down today to look at my rather sad looking play and stared at the blank page for I don't know how long - maybe two minutes, and then I wrote a sentence, then a paragraph and the next thing I knew it was six pages and 1300 words later!  It could all be shite but I don't care, I can fix that up later because this way whatever those words are, I'm that much closer to finishing the play...which is a darn sight closer than it was this morning.  And if I continue to write a sentence tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that - I will finish this play. 

I know I'm the kind of writer who needs to write every day, even if it is that one sentence.  I know I MUST write every day.  If I don't - I procrastinate and I prioritise other things over my writing.  I don't make my writing the priority and if I don't make the priority then I'm not allowing myself the self worth I deserve.  I'm a writer and writers write.  When I continually procrastinate the student is not ready - I know this.  I know this because when I ignore all that other stuff and just write above all else, the master appears.

How do you deal with your procrastination?  I would love to hear from you, hear your tips or simply share. If there is one tip we can come away with from hearing others stories, something that will resonate with us, then we're one step closer to finishing what we started.

The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.
~Mary Heaton Vorse~

Midnight rambler looking forward to what tomorrow's sentence will bring...

 

GALA/FINAL - SHORT + SWEET THEATRE



S+S cast

 What a week it’s been and so much to share.  Firstly, Saturday 20^th November was the Finals/Gala of the Short + Sweet Theatre Festival here in BrisVegas @ the Judith Wright Centre.  I was excited beyond words to not only be an audience participant for Week 2 of the top 20 on the Friday night but again at the final/Gala Award night on Saturday.   I not only witnessed some really amazing plays but my little play,The Corpse cannot Play was in the Top Ten alongside some of the best!

We were all winners in effect, just having made it into the top 30 was something of an achievement for all of the entrants and congrats to all those who did.  It’s been a top festival and something I’m been very proud to be a part of. 

It’s great to support local theatre and all of the arts for that matter and even if I hadn’t had a play performing,  Short + Sweet  Theatre is well worth buying a ticket for.  You get bite size chunks of theatre from all different genres and no chance to get bored as none of them go longer than ten minutes and what a variety you get to see over one night.  Ten plays, all different.  Some make you laugh, others cry and maybe even shiver with excitement or creeping fear.  It’s great and I for one will be supporting this every year whether I have a play being performed or not.

It was wonderful having so many of my friends come along in support for my play but also for supporting other artists, writers, actors, and directors while being entertained.

Thanks to the awesome Short +Sweet crew, Candice Diana and Sean Dennehy and the many more who I didn’t get to meet.

And now for the winners:

Nuns Gone Wild

The Short+Sweet Award Presented to the best overall production - taking into consideration acting, directing and script - performed at the Gala Final.

Nuns Gone Wild

Writer: Leon Foo

Director: Tim Driver

Cast: Bronwyn Morrow, Barbara Chaffe, Marion Welsch

Best Comedy Presented to the writer of the Best Comedy performed at the Gala Final.

Nuns Gone Wild

Writer: Leon Foo

Director: Tim Driver

Cast: Bronwyn Morrow, Barbara Chaffe, Marion Welsch

Best Drama Presented to the writer of the Best Drama performed at the Gala Final.

The Devil’s Aftershave

Writer: Pete Malicki

Director: Matthew Filkins

Cast: Jeremy Wood.

Michelle Miall & Sean Dennehy

Best Director Presented to the Best Director of plays performed at the Gala Final.

Michelle Miall 

for

Lifetime

Writer: Angie Farrow

Sound Designer: Cameron Rollo

Cast: Dirk Hoult, Emma Che Martin.

Best Actor (male) Presented to the actor who gave the most outstanding performance throughout the festival.

Jeremy Wood

for

The Devil’s Aftershave

Writer: Pete Malicki

Director: Matthew Filkins

Cast: Jeremy Wood.

Best Actor (female) Presented to the actor who gave the most outstanding performance throughout the festival.

Bronwyn Morrow

for

Nuns Gone Wild

Writer: Leon Foo

Director: Tim Driver

Cast: Bronwyn Morrow, Barbara Chaffe, Marion Welsch

The Wildcards Winner The play judged to be the best overall production (taking into consideration acting, directing and script) performed during the Wildcards.

Queen Of De Nile

Wrought Iron Productions

Writer: Carmen Cuskelly

Director: Christopher Cherry

Cast: Carmen Cuskelly

Best New Talent Presented to an emerging writer, director or actor who performed outstandingly either at the Gala Final or during the festival.

Marion Welsch

for

Scissors. Paper. Rock.

Writer: Marion Welsch

Director: Marion Welsch

Little Black Duck Productions

and

Nuns Gone Wild

Writer: Leon Foo

Director: Tim Driver

Cast: Bronwyn Morrow, Barbara Chaffe, Marion Welsch

Best ITC Presented to the Independent Theatre Company who presented the most outstanding overall production either at the Gala Final or throughout the festival.

Testy

Wrought Iron Productions

Concept: Christopher Cherry

Writer: Carmen Cuskelly

Director: Christopher Cherry

Cast: Chris Holt, Adam Drake, Christopher Cherry, Fabienne Drake, Evie Richards.

 and

Queen Of De Nile

Wrought Iron Productions

Writer: Carmen Cuskelly

Director: Christopher Cherry

Cast: Carmen Cuskelly

People’s Choice Award For the most popular play as voted by audiences throughout the festival.

Testy

Wrought Iron Productions

Concept: Christopher Cherry

Writer: Carmen Cuskelly

Director: Christopher Cherry

Cast: Chris Holt, Adam Drake, Christopher Cherry, Fabienne Drake, Evie Richards.

Congrats to all and now can’t wait for next year :)

Midnight rambler is planning.

The Corpse cannot Play



Just some of the lovely audience...

More pix of celebration from the 'Wildcard' session of The Corspe cannot Play held at the Judith Wright Centre for the Contemporary Arts Saturday 13th November can be found here

Professionals shot of the dress rehearsal coming soon...Stay tuned

Midnight rambler contemplating writing some story beats

Corpses, ghosts and broken glass...

Jessica Armbrust (Director) with Moi (writer)

Finally got to meet the beautiful and talented Jessica Armbrust (Director of my ten minute play) The Corpse cannot Play and the lovely actors Susie Omar (who played Katherine) and Alex Hines (Carol).  Their performance was convincing, and exuberant bringing my characters to life.

Alex Hines & Susie Omar

I'm so incredibly excited about how this play was represented.  With no prior collaboration or discussion as planned, Jessica interpreted my vision pretty much spot on.  Susie and Alex owned their roles as Katherine and Carol giving it their all. 

It was fantastic to have my wonderful supportive friends come out and watch it along with nine other great plays.

Was I nervous on the night?  Hell yeah.  Not because I didn't trust the direction or the performances - it was more about it being out there for the world to see...but love it or hate it -  I'm still rapt my little play saw the light of day...

We didn't make the finals but nevertheless it was a blast.  It's not over yet as we enter into week two of the top 20 plays.  I have tix for Friday and Saturday night which include the Gala/Finals.

If you haven't checked out the biggest and coolest little play festival in the world then don't delay!  Do it now by booking tickets here.

Midnight rambler doing the happy dance ♥

Talking theatre: short plays, short stories, ten minutes at a time...

The lovely Rowena from ROR has invited me to talk about playwrighting vs fiction.

"I should emphasise here that I’m discussing short plays as opposed to feature length, so it might be more applicable to explore short plays (ten minutes) versus short stories.  What are the differences?" 

Read the full article here

Short + Sweet Theatre Festival 10 November – 20 November 2010



November 10 - 20, 2010

 Great newz!!
Yes, I'm just a little bit excited to announce that The Corpse cannot Play - written by moi has made the Wildcard sessions of the Short + Sweet Theatre Festival held at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts -Brisbane.

If you've been following this blog you would have read my blog post about this amazing theatre group and if you haven't read it, and would like to - you can read it here

Details for Wildcard entry:

What:     The Corpse cannot Play

Where:  Performance Space, Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts

When:    Saturday 13th November, 2010 @ 1pm & 4pm

Tickets can be purchased here or by phone (07) 3872 9000 9am–4pm Mon-Fri or email boxoffice@jwcoca.qld.gov.au

Tickets are:  Adult $28 and Concession $24.

Be sure to secure your tickets early as the season – especially the Wildcard and Gala Final performances will sell out quickly.

Check out the flyer below for full details.

Looking forward to seeing you there!



Midnight rambler is doing the happy dance…

Short and Sweet...

Bit behind in my blogs and feel the urge to do an update even if late but I will keep them short and sweet. NO - perhaps not sweet :)

I recently completed a weekend workshop with the Short + Sweet Theatre company in Brisbane with tutor and world renowned playwright Alex Broun.

The course rocked. I have always been interested in theatre and cinema as a visual means to tell a story and I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. The constructs of the course were as follows:

Friday Night: 

• Craft of writing for theatre


• Elements required for a good ten minute play


• What makes a play different from film or television

 Saturday:

• Pitch ideas


• Story structure


• How to dramatise your story


• Good beginning, middle and end


• Styles and genres of theatre


• Rehearsing and participating by performing a short moved reading


• Development of ‘page to stage’


• Explore rhythm, dialogue and use of language in theatre


• Staying one step ahead of the audience.

So my idea was hatched after taking all of the above into account. That night I put pen to paper (almost pulled an all-nighter to get it finished) but managed 3 hours sleep before it all began again the next day.

Sunday:

• Workshop scripts


• Work with actors and explore how text works on stage

Morning was spent casting and directing said play and then handing it over to the actors and letting go! (Huge learning curve for me, since I’m a control freak) It was good for me - well at least I tell myself this :)

To see your (or in this case) my play brought to life by the wonderful actors who volunteered their entire Sunday was fun, exuberant, and exciting. More importantly it was a collaboration between actor and writer as we nutted out the inconsistencies, modified the script for visual effect, and just plain had a good time in the process. I was very proud of my actors: Sharna Barker and Nathan Wright and actor/writer Belinda Small.

And after all that, I found the courage to enter my ten minute play into the Short + Sweet festival and will be keeping my fingers crossed to see if it makes the short list.

I met some wonderful writers, actors, and dramatists over this exhilarating and inspiring weekend. Learned so much from Alex, who is a mine of wonderful information and an expert in too many things to explain in this post, so do check him out here.

Short stories, short plays and short films rock! Yes, I like things short but almost never sweet….

Midnight rambler dabbling with words…