OriginalWorkProposal

Introduction
Asmytopicisplaywriting,itshouldcomeasnosurprisethatmyoriginalworkfor
ISMisthewritingofafull-lengthplay.ThisisbecauseIbelievethatthereisno
betterrepresentationofmytopic,andbecauseIhavewrittenshortplaysinthe
past,butneverafull-lengthone.Playsareonaverage90-120pages,oranhourand
ahalftotwohours,sothisgoalisonethatmaybehardtoreach.However,through
theprocessofwriting,Iwillgainskillsforwritingsuchasplotdevelopmentand
writingacharacter.Iwillalsobecomemoreexperiencedwitheditingmyown
work,makingsuretobemeticulousandcritical.Iwouldlikemyfinalproducttobe
agreatshowcaseofmyexperiencesandknowledgegainedthroughISM.Ialso
wantittobearepresentationofme.Ibelievethatartcomesfromadeepplacein
onessoul,andbyexaminingtheartthatonecreatesyoucanunderstandthat
persononadifferentlevel.Furthermore,Ihopethatmyplaywillinspireothersin
thecommunitytocreateartthatrepresentsthemandmakesthemhappy.

Skills
SofarIhavegainedmanynewskillsthroughmyresearchandmentormeetings
withMsFerebee,apublishedplaywright.Istudiedthedifferencebetweenwriting
forfilmandwritingforthestage,analyzingthetheatricalityoflive-theatrewriting.
Writingformostfilmprojectsallowsforshortscenesandspecificfocuseson
smallerareas.Becauseplaysareliveanddonotincludetakes,aplaywrightand
thedirectormustbecreativewithstagedirectionsandblockingsothattheplay
flows.Also,theperspectiveofthestageismuchwider,sothismustbeworked
aroundaswell.
Ialsolearnedthatplaywrightsusespecialsoftwaretowriteplayswith,notjust
GoogleDocs.Mymentorrecommendedmeseveralprogramsofvaryingprices,
andIultimatelydecidedtoinvestinaprogramcalledScrivenerthatallowsfor
individualscenestobewritten,sothattheycouldbewrittenoutoforderandthen
reorganizedlater.Anotherfunfeatureofthissoftwareistheresearchsidebar.
Withthisfeature,youcanorganizepicturesorarticlesthatyoucanquicklyreferto
forinspirationorresearchwhilewriting.
Ilearnedthetypicalprocessthataplaywrightgoesthroughwhilewriting.First,
theywritethefirstdraft.Afterwards,theyconductareadinginwhichtheycan
hearwhattheirwritingsoundslikeoutloudandinatheatre-likesetting.They
thenbeginrewritestopolishthefirstdraftintoamorefinalcopy,reworking
problemstheynoticedinthereading.Thisprocesscontinuesuntiltheplaywright
ismoreorlesssatisfiedwiththeplay.Theythenbeginworkshoppingtheirplay
withagroupofactorsand(hopefully)getanoffertohavetheirplayproducedina
professionaltheatre.

Methodology
Theprocedureofcompletingmyoriginalworkwillberathersimple.Overarching,I
willcompleteafirstdraft,thenafirstreading,makerewrites,andfinallyhavea
(staged)readinginMay.Thewritingprocesswillconsistofwritingscenebyscene,
usuallyonmycomputerinScriveneror-ifImnotaroundmylaptopatthetime-in
myjournal,whichIwilltransferatalaterdate.Iwillthencompilethescenesintoa
firstdraftandgatheractorstoaspacewherewewillhaveourfirstreading.Iwill
beabletotakenotesandhaveashortfeedbacksessionfromtheactorsandanyone
sittingin.Afterwards,Iwillbeginrewriteswhichwillbedonebythenextweek,at
whichtimeIwillconductthefinalproduct:aprofessionalreadingofmyoriginal
full-lengthplay.

Materials
ThemainmaterialsIuseforthewritingprocessaremyjournalandScrivener.For
thefinalproduct(thesomewhat-stagedreading)Iwillneedalocation.This
locationmusthaveastage-likesetting,andahouse,wheretheaudiencewillsit.I
wouldlike,atminimum,forthehousetoseatabout30people.Itwouldhelpifthe
locationwasnotextremelyfar,butDallaswoulddo.Ialsoneedadirector,which
mymentor,MsFerebee,agreedtoprovideforme.Finally,Irequireactorstoread
therolesformyplay.IthinkImgoingtoassignrolesbyaskingcertainactorsto
participate,ratherthanconductingauditions.Auditionswouldtakemoretimeand
wouldomitactorswhodontauditionthatmighthaveagreedifIhadaskedthem.

Conclusion
Imveryexcitedtopresentmyworkwiththecommunity:myfriends,fellowISM
students,andfamily.IwillbeabletoshowcasewhatIvebeenworkingonduringa
stressfulandall-nighter-filledyear.Myplayisaboutlove,andtheimportanceof
loveespeciallyinless-representedrelationships(twogirls)anditissomethingthat
Icarepassionatelyabout.Byincludingthisrepresentation,IhopethatIllstrike
inspirationinafellowcreator,ortouchayoungqueergirltotellherthatsheisnot
alone.Mostimportantly,Iwanttonormalizequeerrelationshipsintheatreand
beyond,andwriterolesinwhichthecharactersarenotdefinedbytheirsexuality.
Mygoalistobringthecommunitytogetheroverlove,andhopefullyhelpthem
learnthatlovewilltranscendhate.

Calendar
WeekOne(fromtoday):March19th
-writescenewhereEsmeexplainsmagic
-writescenewhereEsmemeetsHazel
-writeveryfirstscene
-submit(500)DaysofSummerplotstructuredocument

WeekTwo:March26th
-writetribunalscene
-readmoreSarahRuhlplays
-meetwithmentor
-editallotherscenes

WeekThree:April2nd
-continueediting
-writeinothercharactersinearthscenes
-writeanothertribunalscene
-writeanotherscenewithTheo
-findaspaceforthereadings

WeekFour:April9th
-continueediting
-writeMOREtribunalscenes
-beginputtingscenesinsomesortofplotstructure
-rewritenecessarytransitions
-gatheractorstogetherwithapreviewofscript

WeekFive:April16th
-worktheflowoftheplay
-checkforcharacterconsistency
-writeanynecessaryscenesthatwereforgotten
-sendoutinvitationsforfinalreading

WeekSix:April23rd
-completefirstdraft
-printoutcopiesforactors
-gatheractorsforafirstreadingonSaturday
-takefeedback
-reviewovernotesandbeginrewrites

WeekSeven:April30
-keeprewriting
-revisitanystructuralissues
-finalizecharacterdevelopment
-meetwithactorsagainandgetmorefeedback

WeekEight:May7th
-finalizefinaldraft
-printoutcopiesforactors
-gathersmallsnacksforthereading
-gatherbucket/bowlfordonations
-meetwithactorsthemorningofthe13thforarehearsalw/director
-FINALREADINGonthe13th