by Diane Grant

Looking back at my blogs, I realize that I have been whining about Writer’s Block (I do think it should be capitalized, don’t you?) since May 10, 2010!

I’ve done a number of things since then but this one play, Rondo a la Condo, would not talk to me.  I’d written it as a one act a few years ago and I wanted to expand it into a two act because I loved the characters.  And I knew that a two act has a better chance at being produced than a one act.  I could do it but How? 

“How?  How?  How?”  I asked, and… NOTHING!   I had an idea or two. I knew that the first act would be in 1979 and the second act in 1994.  I knew the last line would be “What took you so frigging long?”  I knew that a new character, Edward, would arrive.  And that’s about all I knew.

Yep.  For two years.  A long gestation period.

I even had a director interested in producing, actors who wanted to see it.  But … NOTHING.

Writing is such a mystery.  There seemed to be no way to make the words appear on the paper.  I tried all the block breaking exercises, meditation, brisk walking, a glass of wine or two.  But… NOTHING.

I kept thinking about Edward.  I’ve never been one to write biographies of characters but I wanted to know what he looked like. What did he want?  Where did he come from?  When I knew he would never be called Eddie, I had a glimmer into his attitude.  A hint.

Then one day a few weeks ago, he walked in!  Talking!

And I banged out a first draft.  I don’t know where it came from.  I gave it to my husband, the world’s best editor, who gave me notes and asked questions.  I thought about them and then I knew what the play was about!

 The words flowed from my fingers.  Last week, I wrote THE END and I had only one more question left.  What took me so frigging long?