Thespian Musings & Lure of the Fox: Hazards of Being a Playwright

 So once upon a time, I went on family vacation.

My family really likes to do outdoorsy things(except me) so we planned a hike to---someplace I don't remember where exactly--so we all had backpacks and water bottles/camel-backs and snacks and the works.

And, because I write 24/7(sometimes literally) I had a notebook and a pen in my backpack--the latest draft of a script I was working on. 

We went and did the hiking thing and when we got to wherever it was and stopped for snacks/lunch/rest(or in my case recoup), I took out my notebook and my pen and did some writing. 

And when we got back to our rental house I emptied my backpack to get ready for next day activities and saw this:

Apparently my water bottle was not closed, or something because my entire notebook was soaked all the way through.

Which meant that 75 pages worth of writing were next to useless.

Which meant I had to start my script all over again.

Can you spell C-A-L-A-M-I-T-Y?

And, ok, fine, it was not the end of the world but it was still enough to make me grind my teeth and mutter about "stupid-hikes-and-stupid-water-and-ruined-have-to-stupid-do-all-over-a-stupid-gain"(and that's the filtered version).

You would think I'd have learned my lesson. 

HA.

Flash forward...several years to now. 

August.

Wolves is in rehearsal and I'm plugging away at Fox.

In a notebook. 

Which I'm supposed to carry around with me at all times.

Until one night, I left it in the rehearsal space.

I

Left 

It 

In 

The

Rehearsal 

Space.

And since we were sharing it with other people it probably got thrown away.

And it was fine.

It was fine.

It was totally fine.

I had most of Act II(which was the contents of said notebook) already typed up and I'd worry about the mini plot-holes later and just get to work on Act I--which is probably what I should have done in the first place, but as I said before, I write things backwards.

So I started writing again--this time from the actual beginning, and it was nice. I carried my new notebook around with my new pen(because yes I needed a new pen with my new notebook; it's a thing; shut up) back and forth to day job and rehearsals and everywhere else.

And somewhere between getting from point A to point B I lost that notebook too.

Just like that.

All gone.

Disappeared.

Lost.

Kuput.

Which was awesome.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Soooo I got to start over.

Again.

However,

The upshot of all this is that the old saying "third time's the charm" is actually true in this case.

Yes, I was frustrated cause I had to start from scratch each time.

But each time I was getting a new notebook and a new pen and adding to/cutting from my playlist soundtrack for this script I had a lot of time to think.

Which turns out to be exactly what I needed.

Because when it comes to my scripts and my characters I get

I was happy with what I had before.

I was.

But what I'm working on now is so much better.

Things that didn't click before now are falling into place.

Plot holes I thought I'd have to deal with aren't plot holes anymore.

And I've made new discoveries about my characters.

One of which made my head explode 😛

Lesson?

Make sure your water bottle is closed when it goes in your backpack

Make sure you know where your stuff is, and back it up(like maybe in two or three different places just in case).

Sometimes when things "blow up" in your face, it's cause your Muse is telling you that you have to start over

and you if you don't listen to your Muse or whatever the first time

your Muse will beat you over the head until you do.

Result?

"Fox" is so much better!

And so much fun!

Which means I go home every day to the Writing Cave and emerge every night from the Writing Cave with a big stupid grin on my face.

End of entertaining anecdote.