Tymelord's Journal

The Annual NaNoWriMo Whinge

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:06:20 GMT

Five days into NaNo, and I'm having my yearly "This Is Too Hard I Give Up" session. Who'd think writing 50000 words of audio drama would be so hard? I'm seriously considering cheating just that bit more and make the goal 25000 words, just like Script Frenzy...

And why is writing dialouge for Daleks so bloody hard?!?!?

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And we're off!!!!

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:44:35 GMT

It's November again, time for NaNoWriMo! Stayed up to start dead on midnight last night, which proved more of a challenge than expected - by the time midnight rolled around I was too tired to do anything more than a token scene. The Persecutors are themselves being persecuted by an unknown enemy...

300ish words down!

[anguished scream of pain]

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:21:38 GMT

I am firmly of the opinion now that writing in itself isn't the hardest part of creating scripts. Nor is the getting ideas, I find, as more and more pop into my mental inbox daily.

No, the hardest part is rewriting, where I have to take the script I've already written and then somehow find out where it all went wrong and how to make it all better. November's rolling up with its inevitable timeliness, and I've had plenty of time and oppourtunities while I've been working in slow agencies, and I still can't get The Angels Of Blinding Light finished. Arrrghhhhh!

I'm very tempted to just send the first draft to all the actors saying "stuff the quality - it's good enough, who cares that certain characters just disappear before the end of the second episode with no reason....

One Down...

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:07:26 GMT

I officially finished the second draft to "Our Best Bits II" yesterday, and realising with a bit of worry that it's somehow ended up ten pages longer than the first draft. Oh well, I'm not too sure how to cut it back down without ruining it - I guess I'm going to have to cut some of the dance breaks :( Anyways, one more pass over it to fix up obvious boo-boos perhaps, then it's time to send it out to some trusted individuals to get their feedback. And then it goes to the theatre company for their thoughts...

Either way, it's practically done now. One off the list! Wooo-hoo!

Rebel Without A Wordcount

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:26:02 GMT

Shh! I'm at work with some quiet time so I thought I'd whip out the iPhone and bash out a little blog update on my writing. Don't tell anyone!!!

(of course, I could use my work quiet time to actually write, but that would be actually productive. Maybe this afternoon if we don't get hectic...)

I wasn't going to do NaNoWriMo this year. My attempts to take a break from theatre are still failing, though I'm at least only doing a single show at a time now. The one I'm currently in rehearsals for is set to perform the last three weekends in November, and the only time I didn't win NaNo was when I attempted to write it the same month I did a show. Dress rehearsals and writing time don't mesh. And in any case, having made a list of my increasing number of projects I have before me, the last thing I need to do is drop them all to bash out yet another novel manuscript that I'd end up leaving unloved and unfinished. Best give it a miss this year, and work on my backlog.

That was until, on a whim, I checked out the NaNoWriMo forums and saw down the very bottom this section called "NaNo Rebels". Had never seen it before - full of people who are quite happily breaking the NaNoWriMo rules. And not just in the sense of invoking that unofficial clause that lets some people continue an unfinished project, people are writing non-fiction works, poems, short story anthologies and (notably) scripts. Technically not allowed under National Novel Writing Month, but still within the spirit of the thing.

So I decided - I will do NaNoWriMo this year. But i'll do it as a rebel.

I mean I've participated in and won NaNo several times now with various levels of success - some books I've enjoyed, some have been excrement and at least one I would some day like to return to and finish properly. So I've proven to both myself and anyone who cares that I can write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, it's nothing new. Meanwhile I have these Crossover Adventure scripts lying around half planned, half almost started that could use some attention, and I recall it was the April script writing sister of NaNo, Script Frenzy that got me up and finishing West Wind finally. So I'm thinking I'll follow the basic NaNo rules still - 50K words and not starting until November 1, etc - but applying it to Operation: Davros and Justice Of The Time Lords and whatever else audio drama wise I need to include to make up the word count. No, it won't be a novel, but I've done 50,000 word novels. Focussed work on this sort of thing is new.

The catch is I still have the show in November that will curtail my time substantially, so I may not have the chance to be even a rebel. Also, before I can move on to a new script I need to finish the reworking required on The Angels Of Blinding Light before October ends, as well as squeeze in some planning time so that I make this first draft easier on me. But that's all doable. But what's more annoying is that since coming to this rebel realization, I started reading Twilight and speculated that the perfect best selling novel would be a tortured vampire going to a magic school (where he has to crack a code to finding the Holy Grail). I was being funny, but it got my imagination going - a teen vamp, evil as they come, is finally caught by wizards and imprisoned in a magic school. And he spends his time trying to escape and resume his killing spree...

Oh well - perhaps I'll save it for NaNo 2010...

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It starts...

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:05:28 GMT

Finally got some substantial work done last night! Had some time to kill between work finishing at 4:30 and a meeting starting at 7:30, and while the original plan was to hit the gym, my headcold sorta made me not wanna do that. So I bought myself some dinner, let myself into the meeting hall place (cause I'm on the committee I can do that), set up my laptop and got writing.

Nine pages later, I had to stop as people began to arrive. Pretty good effort I say (ok, most of those pages are song lyrics, but still!)

Now I just have to keep this motivation going, and make sure I do some more the next time I have a free moment...

Writing update

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:44:38 GMT

Ok, so I did a pass across Lady Of The English and made all the changes we made during rehearsals, plus a few extra tweaks (Empress Matilda only refers to her destiny once now, and stops starting every other sentence with "How can that be?"). I've also made a start on the next draft of Our Best Bits II. Ok, I've written the opening description of the set - but it took ages. Also thinking I want to rename this thing, not loving the OBB moniker....

That's all thus far. Should get more work done on various projects when I stop doing theatre and actory things. Which, as I get ready to embark on my fifth production for the year, is going to be never :-S

Works In Progress

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:06:29 GMT

Another rehearsal, another long period of downtime. So why not spend it blogging? Well, I probably should spend it writing since like I did in a similar situation last year with Dimboola, but with so much going on with this show, it's impossible to get a narrative flow going. Besides, it's one thing to want to write, it's another to know what to write. I have quite a many little projects sitting around in various stages of development, and I'm having trouble deciding which one I should leap into next. Decisions, decisions...

Anyways, I was compiling a list to straighten out in my head what I've got to work on, and thought it'd be fun to go through them here. Perhaps someone can shed some light on which I should work on next. Anyway - the Letterman list!

The Doctor Who Crossover Adventures

Ahh, the bane of my writing existance! Doesn't seem likely to advance my writing career much, but these characters and their stories keep bugging me until I write them down and turn them into audio dramas. I've done the first draft of the next adventure of the series The Angels Of Blinding Light and am having difficulties working out what's wrong with the plot and things to make it not suck. It's the first story of a new arc I have in mind, and although I've plotted the arc in broad strokes I thought it could be an idea to write out the whole four adventures as a first draft then go back and edit them as a complete unit. Which means I should start drafting Operation: Davros, Justice Of The Time Lords and Title Still To Be Decided. Working on four full-length adventures at once, talk about writing challenges...

In the same lines, you'll remember I mentioned the one-act-play I finished directing, Lady Of The English. Since it used characters I originated for the audio plays, I thought it'd be fun to adapt it for audio and release it as a Christmas special. I could double it with the special I wrote last year called Let It Snow that I never got around to recording properly. I've also had ideas of another Christmas special involving Davros creating a rampaging snowman and the Doctor singing ABBA parodies. But I think I have enough scripts to be writing for the Crossovers as it is...

Lady Of The English

I've recently learned that unless you're Tom Stoppard, plays are very rarely ever finished. Even after they're performed, various ways to improve them are made apparent, and a writer should often do a new draft once he's seen his work on the stage. Lady Of The English is no exception, I have to take the time to include all the changes we made during rehearsal, plus fix anything I've seen since (such as Matilda's dialogue - could she talk about facing her destiny any more?). Shouldn't be a big task I think, and will probably tie in to the audio version I've got planned - I hope. I have a sneaking suspicion that fixing it's various problems will be a bigger job than it first appears...

Our Best Bits II

A year or so ago, my theatre company did a travelling musical revue called Our Best Bits which was basically compilation of various songs from previous shows we've done. Seeing it really fired up my creative juices of how I would approach such a concept without making it just a concert. So I've devised a storyline that runs underneath the musical numbers about various people competing to win this talent show (with each number being their acts). There's an emcee running the thing, his production manager who has a crush on the new girl trying out for the first time, a diva who always wins and a small ensemble who show up to do various numbers. The company have shown a bit of interest in it, and I've done a first draft which is ordinary enough that I'm going to be staring again from scratch...

>Death Defying

Earlier in the year I decided to pitch a script idea to a Melbourne-based theatre company after reading an EOI in a writing magazine. Full length play, theme of Death, young adult cast in mind. I put together Death Defying which the company rejected but I think might have some life in it. It's about a high school student, nerdy type who is told by the Grim Reaper that the school bully will die tragically and this kid has to stop it. The catch it he can't tell the bully this, and also he doesn't like the bully much anyway... Needs some extra thought with the plot definitely before I embark on draft one...

Patchwork Girl Of Oz

This ones been around for a while. I've been an Oz fan for decades and have had various ideas of ways to adapt the original material ever since I found out it was in the public domain. Patchwork is my attempt to write a musical using the plot of the book of the same name and songs from the turn of the period also in the public domain. I finished the first draft (without songs) which I'm pretty happy with. But this was quite a few years ago now, and I've still to get back to it. Perhaps now's the time?

Mona Lisa

Very vague idea this one, for a one act play (since people keep asking me to write another one). Wandering through the rehearsal venue one day I found a big Mona Lisa which had been used in some play or other and I thought it'd be fun to include that in a play. So I started thinking about an art thief showing his latest aqusition to a friend. And then, I thought, what if the painting talked? This one needs some more thought before I put pen to paper, while I work out what the story actually is here...

So that's it, my shopping list of writing tasks. Well, if nothing else I can't complain of not having anything to do. Now the problem is finding time to write them all...

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Dead blog? I hope not...

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:57:37 GMT

Egads! How long has it been since I've updated this? Way too long. And I can't use the excuse that I'm not doing anything cause I have been. Mostly theatre - since my last post I've done four shows, one of which I wrote and directed myself. But I've got a fabulous new iPhone now with lots of useful apps, including this one that lets me update my journal wherever I am. And I'm currently in a show called A Little Hotel On The Side where I have a huge amount of downtime, so why not use it to get this thing current?

It's the play I wrote and directed that I wanted to write about. It came about mostly by accident - I always planned to direct another One Act Play this year after the success of the one from last year, and I'd picked a brilliant script called No Chocolates By Request. Very funny, craftily written and would challenge me as a director. The catch? It had a cast of eight, which I had great diffilculty in fiilling. Got as far as six of them in place having called in a few favours, but with our already very short rehearsal run getting shorter, I had to make the call and quickly find a new play. I suddenly remembered a ten minute play I wrote for a workshop last year that people seemed to like, and spent a couple of days reworking it for the cast I had already signed up. And thus Lady Of The English went into rehearsal. It was surprising with hindsight how long it took me to realize what was happening - I was finally getting a script I had written performed by a reputable theatre company...

We only had three weeks left, and I had no delusions that we were going to perform any earth-shatteringly brilliant pieces of theatre, but we did well for what we had, and I really enjoyed doing it. The cast really bonded through the experience, and our only general regret was that we didn't have enough time to do the play properly. One day I'll dig out Lady Of The English again for a decent run at it, but I can't complain of the 2009 version. The cast and crew did an admirable job, especially is such a short space of time. I'm so proud of all of them.

But oddly enough (or not as anyone else looking from outside would think) it's reminded me of what my true calling should be. While I loved being a director, what I loved more was being a writer having his work put on the stage. So many people told me how much they loved my script, and it's inspired me to get back into writing again. Hopefully next time I can give the company a more substantial script to produce?

The problem is, can I get out of doing so much acting on the stage to get the time to write? When every time I finish a show, at least two directors are on the phone to ask me to join the casts of their's...

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Best Laid Plans...

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:44:38 GMT

2009 was going to be a big year for me. Well, still will be. I had a very definite two-year plan in place. Now that I was working in Traralgon in a place I enjoyed that wasn't a million miles away from the rest of my life, I figured it's time to grow up a little, buy my first house and move out of my parent's place and into my own. I sat down with the personal banker (one of the advantages to working at a bank - financial advice at your fingertips) and worked out that I could borrow around $160k for a house, which is a nice amount. So I've been looking, found some nice places, all good.

That's phase one. Phase the Second is to succumb to my horrible pangs of longing I'm getting from Ye Olde London Town and go for a great big working holiday over there. And I mean big. As in two years over there soaking up the UK culture, see everything I wanted to see last year only without having to rush to fit it in the time constraints. I'd work behind a bar or as a temp (ooh, I can be an Aussie Donna Noble!), drag my family over for their visit while I'm there, it'd be great! The catch is, however, that I need to do that before I'm 30. Once you turn 31 they don't let you do them anymore (unless you can claim citizenship or ancestory, which I can't). So it's a ticking clock. Great for drama and writing - bloody annoying when one wants to make plans.

Anyways, the plan was - buy a house in the next six months in Traralgon while the First Home Owner's Grant is nice and generous (cause the government's special ends in June). Then live in it for the following six months as per the conditions of the grant. Perhaps get a housemate to help ease costs (not so keen on that idea. Everyone I know that I could bare living with have said they're not interested in living with me and I ain't fond of living with complete strangers). But in that six months I start saving and gather together the $6k I'll need to get a working holiday visa to the UK ($4k to qualify for the visa, and $2k for the air-fare). Then, 2010, I launch into the adventure of a lifetime.

So, see, this is where I'm starting to doubt the sanity of this plan. Saving money while living with my parents is a doddle - I've practically paid out my loan for the last trip and I coudl easily whack away enough money to have $6k by the end of June. Which I'll do anyway since I need to have a deposit for the house. But once that's thrown at the home loan, I have to start again. Which, I fear will be difficult to do when I'm out on my own paying home loan, bills, food, etc...

So that's my dilemma. Part of me wants to get the house now, then rent it out while I'm overseas so I'm assured of an income while I'm there whatever happens. But the other part says I should do the holiday first while I know I can afford it, in case I commit myself to a house and find I can't save the funds for the UK. See, what I keep coming back to is that I'll have my whole life to buy a house. I only have a few more years to work an extended time in the UK...

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:07:25 GMT

Grr - I was going to do a complete in-depth reflection of 2008 and such on here, but a misstype on my keyboard meant I lost it all. So to sum up - 2008 = good year. First two weeks in London were so amazing I no longer have any more words to describe them and I must go back ASAP, work is doing great and I no longer desire to quit and become unemployed, and theatrically it's been intense and fun and lots of work - which isn't bad for a year off. And I finally got back into my writing, and not before time.

Well done 2008 - now on to 2009 which I'm getting very excited about in the sense that I have no idea what's going to happen at all. Can't wait! :D

Multiple personalities....

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:11:55 GMT

I think I broke my mental theatre bone through NaNoWriMo. Writing the latest part of this novel, not only do I have Brian Runnicles inflicting his stupidity onto File and Sherriff from The Rainmaker (which was just weird), I've just had a Crow, going Caw Caw Caw, leaping onto a bass drum and beating it every time it gets the feeling.

Day 4 - 6,896 words and counting...

The Devil Inside Me - Witches Of Eastwick Auditions Round Up

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:15:48 GMT

[taking the oppourtunity to procrastinate from NaNoWriMo and everything else to write to the blog]

Had the auditions for The Witches Of Eastwick over the weekend. I had some serious worries about how it'd go - as I mentioned before, I was sick most of the week leading up to it, and my voice coming and going as the week went on. My voice was coming back, but my concern was that even if I get my voice back up to scratch by Saturday, I wouldn't have been able to rehearse and prepare. Luckily my voice was up to around 80% by Friday night for Dimboola and Saturday morning I was closer to 90%. Enough for me to audition anyway, so I made sure I swatted up on my chosen song that morning (walking a fine line with the singing of making sure I could sing it and not destroying my voice before I got there). I was singing "Dancing Through Life" from Wicked, a song I've used before in auditions to, well, no success but I know I can do it well. I did worry if I'd made the right choice for a while, but as I reheased it I got more comfy.

Anyway, the audition itself went really well. I had a chat with the committee-member-playing-receptionist for the auditions who was telling me how much she liked seeing me on stage in previous roles (which was just the right sort of ego boost I needed), then I got escorted to the main audition area where I got to chat with the director. And after we chatted for way too long, we got around to doing the audition. I swear, this has to be the most relaxed audition I've ever done. It wasn't just because I know the directing team (cause I've had that before), this was something different. I did my song, and I don't know what they thought, but I know it felt good, no majorly mucked up notes. I did warn them in advance I'd been sick, so hopefully anything that was slightly off will be taken into account for. Did the acting scene as well, which I found harder to do, since it was so short. And there's something slightly off about playing a love scene opposite the director's wife, but still... I felt good after. And once again, like I always seem to when I get a chance to show off my talents, I got the "hey, I didn't know you could sing like that!" response as I left...

Dancing audition was just as good, I felt. Short little dance sequence (had to be short, we were only taught it in half an hour), and as far as difficulty goes, well, I've had way worse. Managed to get it down by the time we had to do it without the choreographer doing it in front of us. Again, came out of there feeling good, though I did embarrass myself asking if I should sign myself up for the advanced group audition later that afternoon. Nobody told me that class was just for girls!

Anyway, today was supposed to be call backs if necessary, and I've heard nothing so I'm probably not needed. Which can mean a couple of things, either they're not running them, or they think I'm so fantastic that there's no point. I'm thinking I should start preparing myself to be only offered a chorus role, that way if I don't get the lead I won't be disappointed. But everyone I speak to seems convinced I'm a shoe-in - friendly reassurance or do they know something I don't?

Either way, I won't hear the results until late next week, and there's nothing I can do about it now. However, I decided on a whim to start looking up videos on YouTube and saw the character I went for doing his stuff in some overseas productions. And suddenly I'm thinking "damn, I really hope I get to do that..."

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:36:58 GMT

You know it's early November, when the NaNoWriMo website falls over and dies again. So many little writers updating their word counts...

Oh, bit of procrastination, here's the cover for this year's novel. I did toy with having pictures of my main characters from the plays they appeared in, but I figured nobody wants to see a cover with my ugly mug on it. Especially twice over...

NaNoWriMo - it starts...

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 12:45:35 GMT

First day efforts to this year's magnificent octopus? 1802 words. More than what's needed, but a bit less than I was expecting. I did the "start at midnight" thing last night, but only got to 800 words, did the rest today. But oddly enough, auditioning for a musical isn't conductive to writing (more on the auditions when they're all over - got the second round of them tomorrow).

So, a bit of a summary of the novel I plan on writing (subject to change). It's called What About Jimmy?, and will star the character of Jimmy Curry, who was a supporting role in the play The Rainmaker (played earlier this year by, well, me). It's the story of what happens after, especially when he runs into Brian Runnicles, the uptight banker from No Sex Please, We're British (also played by, erm, me. Seeing a trend here?). It's going to be a buddy story/quest adventure, as Jimmy and Runnicles work together to find a way to save the town of Three Point from ... something or other, haven't quite decided yet. At this stage, it looks like this book is going to be a nice little vanity thing with all my good roles of the past meet up. I'm thinking I'll name Jimmy's horse Radish and have three crows randomly follow them around the story. Let's hope I don't succumb and bring the Widow Twankey into things, because that would be bad...

So, opening scenes, I'm introducing the world of The Rainmaker, which has been a fun nostalgia trip if nothing else. I've been writing dialouge for Lizzie (who was the lead in that story, she isn't for this one) and it's weird how I can hear Jo's voice saying the lines. I think I may go a bit schitsophrenic when I get my first scene with Runnicles and Jimmy together. My own voice in stereo in my head - I'm so a glutton for punishment! I have to say I'm finding the act of sitting down and writing harder for this novel than others. My theory is that I've been doing so much writing on other stuff lately (Angels Of Blinding Light first draft is now complete!!!), the novelty of doing a novel isn't so unusual, it's just the next project. Let's hope I have enough fun with it that I can change all that...

No more writing tonight though. Three shows of Dimboola, a trip to Leongatha for a ten minute audition and seeing a play in Traralgon tonight and I am worn out. And I'm off to Leongtatha again tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that as well - geeze, may as well move there.... :S

Feeling the pressure

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:30:49 GMT

You know what - being sick sucks. Not an original observation, I grant you, but it's still the most annoying thing ever. I haven't been seriously sick in ages - and by seriously sick I mean "excuse me, boss, I can't come into work today" sick - but since Saturday I've gone through high temperature, sneezing, running nose, all-over aching, headache, coughing, loss of voice ... yeah, the usual flu cycle. I haven't been at work all week (though that changes tomorrow since my medical certificate runs out then), but luckily I can tell I'm at the end of it. My big problem today is non-stop coughing, which is driving me bonkers. Especially when it's re-opening night for Dimboola, and I'm stressing that by the time I have to come on stage and do my diatribe, I won't be able to speechify as I need to. Still, could be worse - I could have half a lost voice like I did at the dress rehearsal on Monday...

And naturally the timing of being sick couldn't be worse (or maybe that was the point). This weekend is the auditions for The Witches Of Eastwick, the first set of auditions I've had to do in over a year. The info session last week was very inspiring - it's been a while since I've come out of one of those feeling so excited about the show to come. But of course, the flu's taken hold since then, and my voice has been hanging on by its fingernails. So right when I should be preparing for my audition, practising my chosen song ("Dancing Through Life" from Wicked), and so on, I can't, in case my voice goes entirely for the three Dimboola shows in between. I'm not even certain if my voice will be there on Saturday, let alone in between, so how I'm supposed to get myself sufficiently prepared I have no idea. Perhaps I should just get used to the idea of a chorus part and move on...

I had a mild moment of panic last week, as I started cataloguing my commitments coming up in November. Besides work five days a week, I have NaNoWriMo, that old staple of this time of year which I plan on winning again. Except, starting on the first, I have Witches auditions for the first weekend and part of the first week taking my time away right from the start. Auditions tend to lead into rehearsals, three times a week in the second half of the month. Dimboola's also taking up my attention for the first week and a bit, then as soon as I put that to bed, I have the final performances of Pheromone Frenzy in Wonthaggi mid-month, and the rehearsals that we'll need to have before that. I also have various meetings and such for LTC, who very shortly will be getting into picking the productionh team for Beauty And The Beast, and also deciding on a second show for next year. So most of my nights will have gone by then, but to make matters worse, I've been commissioned by an amateur production company to write a Doctor Who screenplay for them. Not to mention getting West Wind up and going - I need to set a recording date this month at some point - and I was told last week that they have a place for me at the Toongabbie Carols service this year, meaning I have to start thinking about what I want to do for that..

So yeah, looking like a busy month ahead of me. Which maybe is why I've got sick - my body is warning me about this ahead of time. Which means it could be worse - I could be sick two weeks from now, right in the thick of it...

I've found my new audios theme!

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:56:09 GMT

http://whomix.trilete.net/?wmid=video&id=265

Cool, eh? If the author says it's ok, and if I don't find someting better in the meantime, I think I'll use this to open the story arc that starts with "The Angels Of Blinding Light"

Speaking of which, I've done the first draft of episode 1 and part of episode 2. My plan is to get it drafted by the end of October (since after that NaNoWriMo takes over my life). And at the speed I'm going, it's looking kinda possible!

Aron's Adventures in Theatreland

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:51:18 GMT

This year was supposed to be my year off from most theatrical things, if you recall. Didn't actually pan out that way, though it's been a bit less rehearsal-filled than previous years. The plan was that I was going to focus more on my writing and getting some material. Which indeed I have - I've written a new full-length Crossover Adventure audio play (the first in, like, forever), just now finished the first draft of a musical revue (more of which later) and various other little bits. But somehow theatre still managed to sneak in - I can't escape the bloody place! Doesn't help when every single theatre company within driving distance rings you up and asks you to come be involved. It's nice to be wanted, I suppose, so I ain't complaining.

So, this year I finished The Rainmaker which got started mid last year (and was such a great play I still miss my imaginary family), got myself talked into directing Pheromone Frenzy again for more or less the same people, and then, most recently, took on a small role in Dimboola that I'd committed to last year. So, yeah, my year off ended up having three productions in it - so much for that theory.

But Dimboola finishes up in a month or so, and after that I'm not officially committed to anything theatrical. Nice open slate foir me to fill up. And wth my year off gone and me feeling a few withdrawals from musicals, I figure I may as well fill it up big time. So, what's on tap with musicals?

Well, my two favourite companies - Lyric and LTC - both have their major musicals coming up. Lyric are doing The Witches Of Eastwick and LTC are doing Disney's Beauty And The Beast. Now, normal people would have a dillemma and not know which one to choose - not me. I'm being greedy and doing both! Witches, auditioning at the end of the month, is on around May (so I'm told), whereas Beauty won't be on stage until September. Which means, while they'll overlap to some extent, there should be scope to do both! Well, I hope so anyway. I may find my best laid plans are about to come crashing down...

Ok, besides musicals, I also want to do another one-act play. Pheromone Frenzy was a lot of fun, and a great learning experience that I'd like to continue. Depends on which company will have me, naturally, and if I can find a play I like, and if I can squeeze it in (the theatre festival circuit starts around June, which means we'll be rehearsing in May, right when Witches will be going. Still, if I can make it work, I'll be in there. I'm also considering putting myself forward to direct Our Best Bits, the LTC revue show should it go ahead next year. That's the script I've finished the draft of. Once I make it not suck, I might throw it at the LTC and see if they like my approach to the concept. All the songs are from musicals that were performed in London or New York after 1999, with a nice little storyline plodding through it. Would be lots of fun to produce something like that which is my own work, but that's possibly just a hopeful dream at this point...

And if that's not keeping me busy, I've also got my audio acting on the table (yeah, I'm including my audio plays amongst the rest of my theatre stuff). I've finished the script for West Wind, and just about cast it - now I just need to wait for all my actors to get back to me with their lines. The following story, The Angels Of Blinding Light has been started and I hope it'll be ready by the end of the year. I've done some lovely cover art for it already - a bit ahead of myself, yes, but I couldn't resist.

So yes, I'm going to be a busy boy in 2009. I'd better enjoy my downtime now while I can...

The moment what's been prepared for...

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 07:17:47 GMT

Aww, the NaNoWriMo website just fell over again. A sure sign November's on its way when that site does its annual "too many users! That's it, I'm going" diva fit. Time to start plotting the novel...

Anyway, something of more import to talk about - I'm changing jobs. Kinda. You see, July 2007 I got my very first permanant job - one that wasn't temping for anywhere or a short term contract or working for Mummy, a real one. With the NAB (where I'd been temping the six months previous), stationed in the Heyfield Agency. Two staff members (including me), it shuts for lunch, serves something like 50 customers a day (if we're busy), nice and laid back. And it all comes to an end this week, when I get to start brand new in the Traralgon branch.

I'll confess, I did ask for the change. Heyfield, as friendly and welcoming as the place is, is a bit on the "middle of nowhere" side, and I'm missing civilisation somewhat. When you work from 9:30 to 4:30 each day and it's about half an hour to any decently sized town its impossible to get anything done. My coat needs dry cleaning, but there's no way I can get to a dry cleaning place without going waaay out of my way. All my friends and contacts are on the other side of the Valley as well, making catching up difficult and rarely happening. And after a year and a bit in the one place, I'm finding myself burning out somewhat on the place. And with the co-worker having been moved on to elsewhere within the last month as well, it's looking like a good time to move on. Oh, and the fact that the agency is going to become a "conversation hub" and my job will mean I have to spend my day making "courtesy calls" to customers isn't much of an incentive to stay either...

So, Monday I start a new position. I got told this Wednesday morning, giving me three days in which to tell all my regular customers that I won't be around anymore. And I'm finding it a lot harder to do than I thought. They're all reacting with the "but you just got here!" (because a solid fifteen months is nothing to country folk) and other such things. They're already reeling because my co-worker switched branches very recently now I'm going too. It's very touching that they all say "oh, but we're going to miss you!" and "you can't go! We want to keep you here!!!", hence the making it hard. It's nice to be wanted, but still - I know its time.

And there's also the standard anxieties I have about my new position in Traralgon. Yay for the fact I'll be in a real town and able to just pop round the corner to buy things waaay cheaper than in Heyfield - and I can go back to the gym regularly between work and rehearsals again! - but last time I was in that particular branch regularly I was getting ready to throw the job in completely. I'm assured the place is changed now, with a lot of new personelle around (and knowing a lot of the new staff I know it will be better), but the old worries still stick around. I meet them for the first time tomorrow morning for a breakfast thing before going back out to Heyfield for the very last time...

Sigh. Despite sadness and worries, I'm reminding myself this is good. I've been going crazy with the monotony of Heyfield, and getting too comfortable and I need something new to challenge me some more and give me some new life experiences. This change is a good change, it will stop me getting stagnant in my old role.

Right?

Proposition

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:25:21 GMT

Why is it that there are people who seem to be able to post on their LJs eight or nine times a day, and yet I can't seem to get myself motivated to post even once a month?

Merlin - The Cinema Trailer - BBC One

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 10:20:14 GMT

You know, I think I just may have found a new series for me to obsess over. Certainly has been a while...

Losing the Will to Live!

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:39:13 GMT

Ok, this month is the tenth anniversary of my starting my Crossover Adventures audio plays. I had a brilliant idea of doing some kind of short play to mark the event, and figured I'd listen to the very first story I did just to remind myself of where I had started and perhaps get inspiration on how to reflect that in a new script.

Oh my god. Let me die....

"It's so nice to have you back where you belong..." - Season 4 SPOILERS!!!!!

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:54:13 GMT

If this season finale couldn't make me squee any more, somebody's gone and turned it into a bloody musical...

(dies)

(with musical accompaniment and everything)

Omigod, ohmygodyouguys....

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:40:04 GMT

Just seen the "Next Time" bit for the season finale of Season 4 of Doctor Who...

Right, I knew that Rose was coming back - everyone and their mum knew that. Martha's barely left, so her return wouldn't be a surprise. Captain Jack, well, a push but sure, he's never been too far away. And I saw the infamous promo pic which had everyone who's ever been a regular on Dr Who over the last three years which made me think, umm, ok, squee heaven, but aren't we pushing it? Now this...

As much as the screaming fanboy within is squeeing all over the walls right now, how on earth do they expect an episode to have, not only the entire cast of new Doctor Who, but the entire (surviving) cast of Torchwood and even the bloody kids from Sarah Jane Adventures without the story collapsing under its own weight? What with the Daleks running around en masse, led by Davros himself ... squee heaven, but even The Five Doctors, when it tried something similar resorted to locking Susan and Turlough in the TARDIS and Tom and Romana in a time vortex in desperation to give them something to do. Can't help but feel the story they're telling is going to suck big time...

Ok, looking at various screencaps I now also see Judoon, Harriet Jones, and enough to get my brain going crazy with the possibilities (if I didn't know that they have a maximum of 90 mins to fit these all in). If we get Adam, Kylie and Eccleston making appearance, can I yell "BINGO"?

Oh, what the hey. [gives in to inner screaming fanboy]

Script Editing...

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:32:06 GMT

I swear this script-writing thing used to be easier when I was younger. Now I'm into my doddery old age, it's starting to feel like hard work and pulling teeth...

I've made the plunge into sorting out the mess that is the first draft of West Wind. It's been over a month since I finished it, so I've had some nice mental distance from it, so I've printed out and been reading through it with a red pen and a little notebook for jotting down important points. At first it didn't seem too bad. Episode 1 flows nicely along, with only a few issues that don't quite link up with how the story turns out (and a double-act who are in desperate need of developing individual personalities since I keep getting them confused as the story goes on). Nothing that a tweaked phrase here, switching a line with another character there can't fix. Easy peasy, and giving me some confidence this thing might get there.

Episode 2 is where the trouble starts. Turns out as I was writing it at the helter skelter speed I managed to have Destina explain who the evil invading aliens are three times. To the same set of characters. Should be easy to chop out, but a bit annoying all the same. But the mechanics of stuff doesn't work anymore - I've discovered that Destina's heading to the theatre auditorium because that's where the monsters are (that works - I've tweaked the script so it's there that we left them). But then the Doctor shows up there to have one of many (and I mean many) emo conversations with various people about existential angst without a single monster in sight. So I need to get the monsters out of there, cut down on the Doctor being so Emo (and yet give his plight some punch and purpose) and then make this trek to the auditorium different from the one I know they're about to make in the very next episode....

As I said - this used to be easy!!!