Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Making progress...

Dear friends,

One thing I've noticed is that there seem to be tons of opportunities for playwrights these days....anything from theatres that do full productions, to festivals of ten-minute plays.

So far, I've managed to submit my full-length one act play to a contest in Texas, and have submitted my ten-minute play to three different other places, all in the last week.

My longer play is an adaption of the Cinderella story, told Texas style. I"m hoping that it becomes popular with both community theatres and high schools, since it is appropriate for both age levels and can use a larger cast if needed.

That's another thing I like about playwriting....the ability to submit them to as many places as I want. That's SO unlike other types of writing, where you send one story out to one editor, then wait, and wait,and wait.

Happy trails,

bobbi c.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

A new direction....

Welcome to my new blog, all about my adventures in playwriting! For years I've written everything else under the sun....non-fiction books, magazine articles, a novel, short stories, personal essays--you name it!

I can't pinpoint the moment when I decided to try writing a play, but at some time, I did just that. WAY back when I was a pre-teen and teenager, I'd frequently write plays that I tried to get my sister and brother to act in...they usually were outer space adventures in a rocket ship, OR underwater adventures in a submarine! I know I was influenced by the TV shows I watched back then.

In school, and in church groups, I did many musicals and other plays and have always loved attending performances by others. I majored in art in college, though, although my love of costuming and dramatics never left me. Fast forward about 30 years (YIKES), and here I am...going back to some of the types of writing that I loved as a teenager.

Two years ago I started a play that has since become a one-act with five scenes, a modern Texas style adaptation of Cinderella. I'm hoping that our local community theatre can produce it, but if not, I'm also entering it in a contest and trying to find other outlets for it.

In addition, I've written a ten-minute play featuring two sisters sitting in a diner discussing a fashion magazine. This short play started out as a comedy essay I wrote for the Erma Bombeck comedy award. Alas, I didn't win, but that's OK...it's MUCH better as a play, I think.

Both plays are comedies, and I feel like I'm off to a roaring start!

So come back and check out the blog now and then, and join me on my new journey to becoming a produced playwright.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.