Still making progress with "Seeds" but there are signs of a slow down, which is par for the course. It's at the point where that distressing word, "blocked" begins to seep through the conscious writing areas of my brain and doubts emerge like, "maybe the story line isn't strong enough" or nagging questions that include "do you know where you're going with this?"
Rather than plug away and continue to write as is suggested in writing manuals and advocated by writing professionals, I use this as a time for reflection. Translation: time to take a rest and think about stuff. Important stuff like an analysis of the characters names and whether they match their personalities. The issue of "Hal" the latest character addition, is on the analysis block. Initially, Hal was "Chuck" and before that he assumed the temporary name of "Steve." Not that there's anything wrong with any of the above-mentioned names but the names had to have a certain mental image to match the dialogue. Important issues must be scrutinized, for example, does the name, Hal, have a park employee feel to it? As in, "Hal - a dog is off leash and chasing squirrels" type issue.
The female characters are also under review including "Sylvia" who was one of two players in the original short version of "Seeds." Assessing her character strength and longevity involved walks around the neighborhood repeating her name to decide if the name suited her personality. Did receive some suspicious looks from passer-bys but that's goes with the play writing territory. Somehow, "Julie", was never in question and seems right - so far - depending on how things progress. More delays could mean that Julie might be re-born with a new stage name.
At present I'm thinking as to whether should there be a head pigeon leading the park pigeons into a rebellion and if so, whether she/he should have a name. Further thoughts require a deep study into a strong pigeon name. Perhaps "Thor" or "Xena"..."Sunny" and whether the pigeons should have the ability to communicate to their humans in English or stick strictly to their well-known, "brrpps."
It's always a good thing to have one's writing priorities in the right place.
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