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October Review Challenge, #9 - "What was a moment in your work that was difficult to write?"
I’d love to talk about something that was, like, emotionally difficult for me, like I was writing something that was deeply challenging or personal that made it hard to get out. But honestly the thing that I struggled to get on paper the most was purely a functional challenge. Hands down, the most torturous process to generate in recent memory is the back half of scene 2.1 of Mrs. Hawking part V: Mrs. Frost, where the four women finally work together to solve the problem with the titular villain.
I AGONIZED over this. It involved one of the challenges of doing complicated capers and schemes, where you need complicated problems and very clever solutions, devised by people who are probably supposed to be smarter than you, the writer. Pacing and drama must be taken into account, so things must unfold at a good clip with the appropriate sense of escalation. That is REALLY hard. And in this case, I had to distribute the development of their plan over two scenes, beginning in 1.8 where the women first attempt to come together but find their personality conflicts getting in the way. Figuring out where each piece of information, idea, and brainwave should be was brutally difficult, particularly when I was invested in every character in the scene— Mrs. Hawking, Mary, Madam Malaika, and Clara —each making equally meaningful contributions in their own way, based on their own skillset. Bernie and I got into some pretty serious conflicts over what was revealing too much too soon, and how to best solve those issues.
I avoided finishing 2.1 for DAYS, and it was the last scene of all of them to be drafted. When it got to the point where I just had to get something on paper, it was banged out practically weeping and wailing as I rolled around under a table at a classroom at Lesley. That’s not an exaggeration, I was literally flopping on the ground under the table because I was feeling so avoidant. But I dragged it out to complete the thing.
And, as often is the case, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It needed some cleaning up, and there was a bit at the very end that over-explained way, way too much— I remember that bit survived three revisions, but when I finally cut it the whole thing felt much sleeker. But it ultimately worked. I’ve actually had a couple people tell me that these “ladies working together” scenes are their favorite part of the play. Not something I would have imagined rolling around under that table.
The moral is— GET IT OUT ON PAPER. It will at least be fixable, even if it isn’t perfect. And it’s definitely better than when it doesn’t exist!
I’d love to talk about something that was, like, emotionally difficult for me, like I was writing something that was deeply challenging or personal that made it hard to get out. But honestly the thing that I struggled to get on paper the most was purely a functional challenge. Hands down, the most torturous process to generate in recent memory is the back half of scene 2.1 of Mrs. Hawking part V: Mrs. Frost, where the four women finally work together to solve the problem with the titular villain.
I AGONIZED over this. It involved one of the challenges of doing complicated capers and schemes, where you need complicated problems and very clever solutions, devised by people who are probably supposed to be smarter than you, the writer. Pacing and drama must be taken into account, so things must unfold at a good clip with the appropriate sense of escalation. That is REALLY hard. And in this case, I had to distribute the development of their plan over two scenes, beginning in 1.8 where the women first attempt to come together but find their personality conflicts getting in the way. Figuring out where each piece of information, idea, and brainwave should be was brutally difficult, particularly when I was invested in every character in the scene— Mrs. Hawking, Mary, Madam Malaika, and Clara —each making equally meaningful contributions in their own way, based on their own skillset. Bernie and I got into some pretty serious conflicts over what was revealing too much too soon, and how to best solve those issues.
I avoided finishing 2.1 for DAYS, and it was the last scene of all of them to be drafted. When it got to the point where I just had to get something on paper, it was banged out practically weeping and wailing as I rolled around under a table at a classroom at Lesley. That’s not an exaggeration, I was literally flopping on the ground under the table because I was feeling so avoidant. But I dragged it out to complete the thing.
And, as often is the case, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It needed some cleaning up, and there was a bit at the very end that over-explained way, way too much— I remember that bit survived three revisions, but when I finally cut it the whole thing felt much sleeker. But it ultimately worked. I’ve actually had a couple people tell me that these “ladies working together” scenes are their favorite part of the play. Not something I would have imagined rolling around under that table.
The moral is— GET IT OUT ON PAPER. It will at least be fixable, even if it isn’t perfect. And it’s definitely better than when it doesn’t exist!
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