So we already talked about the One Act that represented the first 11 pages of my Screnzy 100. But what is the bulk of my page count about.

Script #2: The Muppet Play

When I was in college, a year after I wrote The Author, I started another novella. I was going along pretty good with it when my adviser told me that novellas were a waste of time. Now this whole conversation was much longer and was mostly about The Author but the end result was that I walked away realizing that the story I was working on wasn’t going to be long enough to be a novel but was too long for a short story so, like The Author, it was going to be “unpublishable.”

So from 2002 to 2010, the story of that novella has been gestating in my head. Amusingly enough, the story is about someone who is many years out of college, trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. This is funny, of course, because when I started it, I was still in college and thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Now, I am actually in the same place as the characters which makes it that much easier to write. Of course, I know what I want to do with my life but, handily, my brother does not so I have many hours of conversations with him on this topic to draw upon. So, in many ways, it’s better I waited as I am more equipped to write this story now then when I started it.

I also went back and forth over the years as to whether the story should stay prose or become a stage play. In recent years, I’ve leaned much more towards making it a play though I still go back and forth. I figured if I committed to writing the whole thing as a play, at least I’d have the whole story down and could more easily convert to prose later if I wished. So I decided to make this my Screnzy play this year. It has a working title but let’s call it The Muppet Play for blog purposes.

Because, see, the play also deals with the Muppets. Of course, on the surface, the Muppet connection isn’t apparent. The story isn’t about the Muppets and, aside from one character that is a fan, they aren’t really a part of the story. But, to me, the Muppets are what this play is about. I think of this play as “Riffs on The Muppet Movie and Especially I’m Going to Go Back There Someday.” I’m Going to Go Back There Someday is a song that Gonzo sings in the film and it is very deep and abstract and the best way I can explain this play is that I listened to that song and this play is my interpretation of what that song means to me. If for some reason you have never heard this, greatest of Muppet songs, you can listen to it here.

I wasn’t sure how long this play would be, especially since it was originally written to be a novella but the 45 page mark was the end of Act 1 so I certainly seems like it will be near the 100 page mark all told. I am still not 100% sure that a stage play is the best way of doing this story but its working so far.

Of course, this play needs to be all about subtly and understated things to work and as you may expect, my first draft is very bull in a china shop but I’m OK with that. Second Draft Hillary is a much better writer than First Draft Hillary, what’s important now is getting it all down. I have my moments where I am afraid I’m not a good enough writer to pull this play off but I think parts of it are very good and it has the potential to be really great once finished.

So, anyway, as promised, that is what I am working on for Script Frenzy. As you see my page count change these last days of the challenge, know that The Muppet Play is what I am working on.