Waiting and waiting.... Been there, experienced that, etc.

Hate to see a straight line indicating nobody has dropped by my playwriting blog, as is the case presently. Actually, this is applicable to all my blogs. As writers, the purpose of sharing our thoughts via a blog is to reach the public in the hope that something we have written will strike their fancy, or like the contents enough to read it to the end. A straight line means nobody finds the blog worthwhile enough to drop by. Don't like straight lines but it goes as it goes. You win some - you lose some. Anyway...

It's Friday night and I'm watching "Shark Tank", one of my favorite TV programs, while adding content to this blog. Right now all the sharks are in a bidding war for a food product with offers of $100,000 to sweeten the deal. This makes one - me - wonder how much a play is worth. It would be dependent upon whether or not its produced and how favorably the public reacts in money values. But I digress.

Me? I'm still sending out my plays and short play-ettes here, there and everywhere hoping to hit pay-dirt. Wish I could report some progress but alas and alack, it's still a waiting game. Have to confess that I've been hesitant to enter my ten-minute plays in competitions where a submission fee is required - reading fee as it is frequently called - with no financial compensation offered upon acceptance and performance. It's nice to think that our time writing the play, be it a short one, is worth a token payment. Any feedback on this?

Came across a theatre recently that was holding a competition for full 2-act plays but only snail-mail-in submissions were acceptable. There is a part of me that understands their rationale since having to print up potentially usable plays costs money and most theatres are short of funds these days. If this is the case and at least in my mind, it would be easier to read plays submitted electronically and delete those that are unsuitable, no? On a personal note my plays have been edited so many times that printing each updated copy would cost a fortune, and then there's the postage...

Amazing how easy it is to come up with complaints about how unfair the system is. I mean, who else you gonna blame? Oneself? Neh...

Right now two males have entered the shark tank with a product that they feel is worth a million dollars and there's a bidding war with all the sharks involved. maybe Mr. Wonderful, Damond, Mark, Lori, Barbara or Robert might want to produce some really great plays.

Playwright's update: a conversation with the playwright

The playwright, daring to feel somewhat upbeat and hopeful, shares her playwriting progress.

"So Eleanor - what's the latest on your playwriting projects and more specifically, you-know-who?"

Very pleased to be able to report that Joe and the gang are no longer in limbo. They have paid their bar bill and have returned to leading more normal and completed lives. Having gone through so many changes over the years, they are questioning what to do.

"I've completed my mission but feel something is missing," Joe told the guys during a get-together at their favorite watering hole, to discuss the experience.

"She took us in so many directions that I was getting dizzy," Mac added, finishing his beer and allowing a loud burp to escape. "Now why did I do that? My inner motivation is missing and now I'm forced to make decisions on my own."

"That is like...so disgusting," Mike said. "You would never do that in the past."

"Only if I was directed to do so. Life has become more complicated these days."

The only remaining task before hitting the "submit" button is to number the pages. Converting "Old Soldiers" from a short story into a radio play, a completely alien medium for me, has been a challenge to say the least. It meant having to lengthen the story and give each of the characters their own personalities. There were a number of re-writes and endings but it's over. Hopefully.

"What about your other projects?"

Progress in this area also having submitted "Retribution" to a theatre and now comes the inevitable wait to hear back one way or the other. I'm also checking into theatres for a good fit for my two two-act plays, which have been languishing in limbo for a while, now. I'm also toying with and thinking about (a good start) writing a play based on childhood experiences and characters. We'll have to see which direction to take and where the focus should be.

Arthur Miller shared at some point, "A playwright lives in an occupied country and if you can't live that way, you don't stay."

Joe McKenna and all my other characters waiting for show time would agree.