Progress report.
I have started work on the actual play, which is very exciting! Over the past few weeks I’ve had a chance to start creating an outline for the play as well as getting a start on the first few scenes first draft. I’ve been doing lots of research about the differences between writing for theatre (what I’m doing for my in-depth) and writing for film, through this research I have also learned about proper dialogue formatting conventions and what details you need to have in a theatre script. My meeting with my mentor have gone quite well, so far we have discussed the differences between film and theatre, how to write an opening scene and use an opening scene as an effective tool to set the story, how to properly format a script/ what percentage of the script should be dedicated to the opening, rising action, and conclusion.
I have become slightly frustrated by a bit of writers block, getting a new project started is always difficult, especially considering how different this style of script is from what i would usually write. I’ve found that getting over the obstacle of the first scene has been the most difficult, now that I’ve gotten passed that writing the outline has gotten easier.
Evidence of progress
Scene one act one
Lian, Ryan and athellyia sit together in a sparsely decorated dorm room, lian is sitting on the floor, the other two are on chairs.
Lian
Well, that’s it, I drained my bank account today, spent my last dollar on ramen of all things
Ryan
You get paid Friday, you’ve already paid your rent, if you need help buying food you can just pay us back later, your being overly dramatic
Aethylla
Ryan’s right lian, you’ll be fine, you’ve got us!
Lian
And I’m grateful of course, but I’m sick of living paycheck to paycheck, there has to be a better way, right?
Ryan
I think that’s just how collage works? If there was a way to cheat the system someone would have figured it out ages ago
(autumn enters, holding a pizza box)
Autumn
Sorry. Traffic was a nightmare, but I brought pizza
Ryan
We all live on campus autumn
Autumn
Right. Damn, I forgot I can’t use that excuse anymore. But I still brought pizza
Aethylla
I-
Autumn
I know, I know, your not a pizza person, I picked you up wings
(she throws a takeout pox to Aethylla)
Autumn (continued)
Now what were you guys talking about before I got here, you looked really intense
Lian
I’m broke, like, zero dollar net worth
Ryan
So is every other collage student, you point was…?
Autumn
Not every collage student is completely broke
Ryan
Sure, some people have rich parents, but most of us are poor, you know, I think the government keeps collage students under funded so that later in life they can force us into the capitalist machine that we call-
Autumn
Some girl in my geology lecture had a Prada bag
Lian
Damn, I wish my parents were rich
Aethylla
(quietly) I’m sick of carrying a shopping bag to all my labs
Autumn
No, that’s my point, her parents are poor too, actually, her dad is dead and her mom is out of the picture, she’s basically self made, she said she’d tell me how to do it
Ryan
That’s an MLM
Autumn
I don’t think it is
Ryan
What’s your evidence?
Autumn
She’s not some forty year old trying to sell me lip gloss
Lian
At this point I say we hear her out, I need the money
Ryan
Don’t you dare join a pyramid scheme
Lian
Hey, I’m not saying we join a pyramid scheme, I’m just saying we hear autumn’s friend out
Aethylla
I’m with Ryan, what if you guys get involved with something illegal
Lian
One could day that the prices of education that’s required to survive in modern society is illegal
Ryan
They have a point, I mean, just hearing this person out couldn’t hurt, right? But if I get pyramid scheme vibes, we leave
Autumn
I can live with that. She said I could come by her dorm room if I wanted, lets go.
(lian, Ryan and autumn get up and exit stage. Leaving Aethylla sitting on a chair in the middle of the stage )
Aethylla
Come on guys? Really?! Ughhhh.
(she runs off after them)
Questions about mentor
What went particularly well during your mentoring sessions?
My mentor is extremely talented and knowledgeable in this area, her ability to explain these concepts to me has been extremely helpful and I feel like I am grasping the concepts quite well
What learning challenges emerged?
I found it difficult to balance time for script writing and research with my other school work and hobbies.
What did you do to hold yourself accountable for the learning?
I set aside specific times on a weekly basis where I dedicate my time and energy to learning about script writing, since I have this time scheduled it is easier to track my progress on this project and there for hold myself accountable.
What three strategies could improve the quality of your mentoring interactions?
Firstly, I think discussing more what we plan to do in the next meeting could help, often I haven’t properly researched the questions I should be asking my mentor before our meeting. Secondly we should definitely work on planning our meeting further in advance, as our last meeting was quite spur of the moment. Third of all I might try to make and then share a more in-depth meeting schedule, so that there is a clear order of what we should be work on.