Happy Halloween!

Off to a wedding in Connecticut, where I get to participate in a costume-rehearsal dinner. Have a great weekend!

To Outline, or Not to Outline?

I'm gearing up for NaNoWriMo, and I've decided to outline my fiction for the first time ever. I never outlined while I was writing fiction before, but recent experiences have led me to rethink that. Of course, I outlined my papers in grad school--needless to say, a totally different experience from writing fiction. But it really helped me organize my thoughts.

What really pushed me over the outlining edge were the scriptwriting process I went through over the last two years. If we were interested in writing a play for camp, we had to do a proposal which included an act-by-act, scene-by-scene outline. I never felt pressured to stick exactly to the script, but it helped a great deal to see where I was headed, and how I planned to get there.

I have 25 "scenes" in my NaNo outline. That's fewer than 2,000 words a scene. I can totally do this (she says now, with 5 days to go until the crazy month of November begins)!

Now Presenting...

...Cinder and Splash (aka Debbie's and my) application to the Evil League of Evil! Debbie wrote the music; I wrote the lyrics. Both of us sing, and Debbie accompanies us on the piano. The voice of "Mom" was provided by Nikki. Thanks to David Stern, Andrew Gordon, and Imagination Stage.

By the way, if you haven't watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, do so now. Our video will make much more sense if you do. (But watch our video in any case. My completely unbiased opinion is that it rocks.)

The Mystery Project, Continued.

Visuals have been recorded for our project. Editing and submission on Friday. Until then...I actually get to sleep!

The vocals are recorded and edited for the project I'm working on with Debbie. We're filming the video portion tomorrow, and then she'll edit on Friday. Deadline is Saturday, so I think we're doing just fine.

Thanks to David S. and Nikki for all of your help today.

Victories

The study guide for Playing from the Heart has been turned in to the marketing department, and I'm so proud of it! I've included an informational section for the teachers, which really hadn't been done before, as well as the usual activity guide. Thanks to everyone who collaborated with me on the "Rhythm is Gonna Get You" activity. I'll post a link once it's up and active on the website.

We had some great rehearsals for SOOS Sr. in the past week, and I'm very glad to have been included in them. The program is so cool: get a group of teenagers in a room twice a week for a whole year, and devise a full-length play on a theme about which they are passionate and have something to say. Because the kids aren't playwrights and the co-directors are wrangling teenagers, a dramaturg is essential to the process. Enter me!

It was a bit of a struggle to get people to understand what my role as a dramaturg was with this group. I had to put my job out in negative terms, which I don't usually like. As a dramaturg for SOOS, I am not:

• the playwright.
• the director.
• the stage manager.

I am there to assist in the conception of the theme (which is what we did last week) and the writing of the play, and to act as the "third ear and eye" on the production. We did some work on what "theme" means, and worked through some possible themes using tableaux, written webbing, and a lot of discussion. And the kids independently chose an interesting theme. I won't be in rehearsals for a couple of weeks, and when I reappear, the group will have more of a concrete outline.

In other news: the project I've been working on with Debbie is almost written. A YouTube link should be up by Saturday morning.