The Savages

Only managed to see The Savages which was well worth the trip out to Carlton and beyond. Bleak, funny, and Laura Linney's neurotic Wendy is all so beautifully, softly, subtly told. The story took its time. That was the thing that stood out for me. It didn't rush a moment, it didn't mind hanging around longer than "a good scene" should. It's something I'm going to think about for a really long time. Oh, and Philip Seymour Hoffman is a fucking genius.

Day off

Off to the movies today for cheap Monday – hoping to see The Savages and Happy Go Lucky. Or at least The Savages. There is that play that is waiting for me.

I think you kicked arse Cadel

We are trying to cope with the loss of Cadel to the second place podium. Like true Australians, we are blaming his team, his management, France, most of Europe and those stupid idiots that run out on the road and annoy the riders. Get off ya bastards – a man is trying to win the Tour de France here not be amused by your drunk dancing in the middle of the day. Idiots. Everyone has sent consolation messages to my other half who is not in the least despondent. Instead, he has turned to long didactic monologues on how emotion has no place in cycling. But we did really want Cadel to win. All the way in 09 has become our catchcry. I am trying to sing it without crying.

Snails

The snail pace continues. And it looks like I'm going back to evil cash job sometime next week which is doing my head in. I got the final dates and times for the play today and it's all so real and time to stop flaffing around and ink words into concrete and this really should have been done by now Shannon and what the hell have you been doing? Maybe I'm just one of those people that need a knife to their throat to start the words flowing. Even that doesn't seem to make them want to flow fast.

Boys in Lycra

When not sinking below water level on my play, I'm watching a lot of this. GO CADEL! The boyfriend creature is quite the bike freak – yes I share my house with two of them named Manfred and Bert – and slowly but surely he has made me quite addicted. He actually told me years ago that Cadel Evans was going to win the Tour de France. Of course, at that stage, I was like Who? The tour de what? Ah, those were the days. Actually, watching the peloton is a lot like watching fish. Very relaxing. Oh, and those boys don't look too bad in lycra.

HELP!

There is nothing more painful than this. I swear. You women and your childbirth stories can kiss my ass. Once this play is done, and god only knows when that will be, I am going to … well, probably sleep. The writing of this is so slow that I have had to remove all knives and other sharp objects in order not to draw some blood just to give myself some excitement. I AM LOSING THE PLOT! Actually, that's not true. The plot is fine and the play is working, it's just line by line. Seriously. After every line I need to take a break and think about what comes next. Not good. Not good at all. Only fame and fortune and I'm talking serious stratosphere fame and fortune will ever come close to just reward.

Struggle

Am struggling for every word in this new draft of One Cloud. It seems to be more 'accessible' whatever the hell that means and every character seems to be getting their day in the sun. I'm trying to get across the subterfuge of women against women, which is one of the themes of the play. How women bring themselves down more than any patriarchy could possibly conjure up (men just ain't that smart). But it's a struggle. I'm averaging about 10 pages a day which is pretty good but still, each word is felt somewhere deep and painful.

Navigating danger

I've figured out that the most important thing to do when planning a play is NOT TO WRITE. That's when the wheels fall off the wagon … And the wagon falls off the cliff and end up in a nasty fire with no survivors. After my dramaturgical session on Saturday (which was very, very good) I have more ideas than you can poke a stick at and I just want to write them . NO! STOP! DANGER AHEAD! Turn around and actually find out who is in the wagon and why they are there. So, at the moment, all I am doing is trying to figure out these characters down to their last toenail. Stella, the main character, wears blue toenail polish, in case you were wondering. During the session C came up with the idea that Pup, the one that turns quite nasty through the play, is actually quite a clumsy fellow who is quite weak and a failure in life. That's much better than he being this nice smart man that turns bad. Although there has to be hope that everything is going to turn out for the best or else there is going to be no point in watching the play. Hope, just like in life, is very important in a play. Wow. The truisms I come out with are quite astonishing. It also looks like a couple of characters are going to go by the wayside. I'm desperately trying to hold onto one of them and there still could be a place for her but we'll see how the planning goes.

Socks off

I've spent the last few days chilling with my thoughts. Getting ideas, thinking about new stuff, getting the imagination spinning and whizzing and doing its thing again. I've also been spending time taking notes and making plans for the next (and hopefully final draft) of One Cloud. I'm off this afternoon to get some feedback from the reader that didn't like one thing about it all. So, naturally, I'm taking many bottles of wine to get me through it.

Last night I worked on my children's play and got some great ideas for a new draft which opens it up and gives me more characters and more of a 'magical' feel. I know what that means. It's a good thing. You can trust me on that. I also wrote half of a monologue for a 16 year old girl, which was about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. Can't wait to get back to it. But now it's off to pilates and then off to my feedback session and hopefully I get something to inspire me to write my socks off.

Lions and dogs

So, I decided to be an adult, and tell my reviewer that hated my play, that yes, I did want her feedback and I want to know why you think it sucks. Are you crazy or does this play actually suck? Once you think of the question, it becomes very important to know the answer.

I spent a lovely afternoon with new research for the play yesterday and a new notebook and the process began again. But I'm actually looking forward to it and think that it's going to be a better play for all the criticism and work … well, one can only hope, can't one? But I do have an all-encompassing feeling that this play WILL BE NAILED! Can't deny the passion there.

I also came up with the start of a plan for a new play which I think will be a long one-act. I see it around about the hour mark. It's a man and a woman, and a dog that has gone missing. I think the man killed the dog. I don't know why but I think he fed it to lions. He is a lion tamer after all. That makes sense right? But here's a question for you – would a dog put up any fight against a lion? It's going to have to be a big dog. I think I want the sounds of a fight in the background. It's a metaphor people. It's all one big metaphor.

Made it

With a whopping 90 minutes to spare I made my deadline for Good World. It's done. Out of sheer panic and time constrictions I came up with a final scene that actually draws one of the character's story together and shows the theme of the play. I know. Genius doesn't even come close. I don't think it's perfect yet but when is anything perfect? There are a couple of scenes at the end of Act One that need some polishing and tweaking. But polishing and tweaking I can do. That's the easy bit. Well, not really but I feel like I've slayed the dragon and now I just need to clean up the blood.