a little more to go... but it seems like forever

It's been a month and a half since I undertook this write. I was thinking I would crank out the first working draft in a couple of weeks... yet I'm still at it. I have imprisoned myself until I achieve my goal... that oh so elusive first draft.

Creating the video last week did provide me a little boost of confidence. At least it got my juices flowing again. No more videos though until this thing is completed.

In the article last week in Fresno Famous, I touched a bit on why I think this write has been so tough. All good reasons. Though by thinking about those reasons I stumbled upon another. I've been analyzing as I go along. I've never really done that before. In the 50 odd pieces that bear my name I just let it flow. There wasn't thought of technique. There wasn't analysis. There was just write. I was cranking them out too. (My personal record was 9 pieces in one year.)

So where did the analysis come from? One word: teaching. Until early this Summer, I was teaching theatre (including playwriting) ... and teaching it for the last 5 years. Coincidence? When one is teaching, analysis and technique is always present... simply because that's the thrust of the gig. It's in your thoughts when you greet the working day and doesn't leave until you put down the grading pen to fall asleep. So, perhaps it is true that one learns technique to forget it when one is doing it... but it is ever present when one is teaching it.

So, unless I can break from this cycle of thinking about technique and analysis while attempting to create this play... you may just be witnessing the slow disintegration of the playwright within me. Now back to the write.

cheers!
marcel